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

该PFI：AIR技术转化项目的重点是开发一个中试规模的移动的闪蒸水解器（FH）装置，以快速经济地收获微藻产品。微藻作为生产液体运输燃料、生物产品和用于回收营养物的废水处理的替代原料一直处于最前沿。FH技术提供了一种更经济的方式来收获这些产品，这些产品是石油基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的藻类浆液处理闪速水解装置，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）在藻类水华现场回收生物产品和营养物质;（iii）处理废水三级处理产生的藻类;以及（iv）整合到城市固体废物处理设施中。该移动的单元在其快速加热藻类浆料的能力和具有短（和可调）停留时间的高压活塞流反应器的设计方面将是独特的，由于水热反应器中紧凑的反应器尺寸和设备占地面积而导致大量的成本节省。该项目解决了在亚临界水/热液介质中快速加热生物质成分方面的知识差距，以及在高压下喂入藻类浆液和扩大工艺规模的工程挑战。该系统的成功演示将鼓励利益相关者（包括行业）在快速发展的生物经济中采用这种新技术。项目团队由研究生和跨学科本科生组成，他们将获得基于项目的学习和工艺设计的经验，以及与众多利益相关者互动的机会。该项目平台将帮助学生参与者与潜在客户，合作伙伴和竞争对手以及成功的学术研究之后的创业机会进行交谈。暑期生物燃料研究学徒计划和当地高中学生对项目现场的访问将被用作吸引K-12学生的工具。

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.