Electromechanical Algae Oil Extraction
The University of Texas at Austin is conducting a multidisciplinary research and development program directed toward extraction of triglycerides from algae for the production of transportation fuels. The triglyceride extraction is widely recognized as a key impediment to the commercialization of this biofuel. Current extraction technologies are too expensive to be competitive. The process area in which the program is focusing is summarized in Figure 1.
 Summary of algal oil production process showing where the development program at UT is focused.
The present emphasis on the process development is on the electromechanical process for opening the algae cells and extracting the algal oil from inside of the cells. A theory has been developed as to how the process will work. Several algae species from open ponds and closed bioreactors, as well as algae grown in the laboratory environment, have been tested. Preliminary verifications of the theory have been performed using both photography and chemical analysis. For the EM extraction to be commercially viable, it must be effective on a range of algae species that are capable of sustaining a monoculture in varying environments. Optimization of the process, however, requires good knowledge of the algae to select and prepare algae to produce significant quantities of triglycerides. CEM is collaborating with several groups within UT on this effort:
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Modeling Hybrid Vehicle Performance
With the development of advanced hybrid vehicle architectures, new prime movers, and energy storage technologies, computer modeling and simulation are becoming necessary tools to evaluate vehicle design and efficiency. The Center for Electromechanics is currently using PSAT (Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit) to evaluate the performance of a plug-in series hybrid fuel cell bus and to correlate model predictions to measured data from the bus. PSAT is a commercially available forward looking model based in Matlab and Simulink, which was developed by Argonne National Laboratories (www.anl.gov). PSAT offers a large library of component models with flexibility to integrate new models and vehicle control schemes. The goal of this program is to develop a computer model of the hydrogen fuel cell Ebus which will provide accurate performance and fuel consumption simulations for any given route.
Powertrain model of plug-in hybrid series fuel cell bus in PSAT
The Center of Electromechanics selected five different demonstration routes in Austin TX for bus evaluation. The data collected from the bus on these routes was used to refine parameters in the PSAT model for accurate model correlation. Two different models were developed to compare the performance of the bus operating as a purely plug-in vehicle (i.e. on battery charge only) and as a plug-in series hybrid fuel cell bus. The developed models were able to match vehicle energy consumption to within 5% of measured data.
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