PFI:AIR - TT: Design, development, and demonstration of a pilot-scale mobile Flash Hydrolyzer for algae processing

这个PFI：空气技术转化项目的重点是开发一种中试规模的移动闪光水解器(FH)装置，以快速、经济地收集从微藻中提取的产品。微藻作为生产液体运输燃料、生物制品的替代原料，以及用于废水处理以回收营养物质的原料，一直走在前列。FH技术提供了一种更经济的方式来收获这些产品，这些产品是石油燃料和化学品的可持续替代品。该项目将产生一种新型的移动式藻浆处理闪蒸水解装置，该装置将用于以下示范目的：(I)在商业藻类养殖设施进行现场藻类处理；(Ii)在藻华滋生地点回收生物产品和营养物质；(Iii)处理来自废水三级处理的藻类；以及(Iv)整合到城市固体废物处理设施中。移动式装置的独特之处在于其快速加热藻类浆液的能力，以及具有较短(和可调)停留时间的高压推流反应器的设计，由于反应器尺寸紧凑和水热反应堆之间的设备占用空间较小，因此可大幅节省成本。该项目解决了在亚临界水/热液介质中快速加热生物质组分领域的知识差距，以及在高压下投加藻浆和扩大工艺规模的工程挑战。这种系统的成功演示将鼓励利益相关者(包括行业)在快速增长的生物经济中采用这项新技术。项目团队由研究生和跨学科本科生组成，他们将在基于项目的学习和过程设计方面获得经验，并有机会与众多利益相关者互动。这个项目平台将帮助学生参与者与潜在的客户、合作伙伴和竞争对手交谈，以及在成功的学术研究之后的创业机会。暑期生物燃料研究学徒计划和当地高中生对项目现场的访问将被用作吸引K-12学生参与的工具。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on developing a pilot-scale mobile Flash Hydrolyzer (FH) unit to rapidly and economically harvest products made from microalgae. Microalgae have been on the forefront as an alternative feedstock to produce liquid transportation fuels, bioproducts, and for wastewater treatment for nutrients recovery. The FH technology provides a more economical way to harvest these products, which are sustainable substitutes for petroleum-based fuels and chemicals. The project will result in a novel mobile algae slurry processing Flash Hydrolysis unit which will be used for following demonstration purposes: (i) On-site algae processing at commercial algae cultivation facilities; (ii) Recovery of bioproducts and nutrients at algae bloom sites; (iii) Processing algae from the tertiary treatment of wastewater effluents; and (iv) Integration into a municipal solid waste processing facility. The mobile unit will be unique with respect to its ability for rapid heating of algae slurry and the design of a high-pressure plug flow reactor with short (and tunable) residence times resulting in substantial cost savings due to compact reactor size and equipment footprint among hydrothermal reactors. The project addresses the knowledge gap in the area of rapid heating of biomass components in subcritical water/hydrothermal media and the engineering challenges of algae slurry feeding at high pressure and process scale-up. The successful demonstration of such a system will encourage the stakeholders (including industry) to adopt this novel technology in a rapidly growing Bio-economy.The project team consists of graduate students and interdisciplinary undergraduate students who will gain experience in project-based learning and process design, as well as an opportunity to interact with numerous stakeholders. This project platform will help engage student participants in talking to potential customers, partners and competitors, and entrepreneurial opportunities that follow successful academic research. A summer biofuel research apprenticeship program and visits of local high school students to the project site will be used as a tool to engage K-12 students.