SBIR Phase II: Heterogeneous Catalytic System for Biodiesel Production from Alaska Fish Oil

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目涉及一种创新的高通量、高效率、低成本的多相催化固定床技术，用于从阿拉斯加鱼油中生产生物柴油。大约200个偏远的阿拉斯加村庄的能源成本是全国平均水平的三到五倍。阿拉斯加的渔业正受到柴油价格高企的影响。将低价值鱼油转化为生物柴油是一个有吸引力的解决方案。然而，市售的均相碱催化生物柴油生产工艺对鱼油效果不佳。第二阶段项目的目标是扩大固定床反应堆的规模，生产原型反应堆，在阿拉斯加进行现场测试，并为商业生产做准备。这项研究的广泛影响如下：该项目的成功将为鱼油创造一个增值和有利可图的市场，减少对海洋环境的破坏，并为阿拉斯加提供一种可再生燃料，从而减少柴油排放和偏远社区和渔业的燃料成本。固定床反应器可以作为小型鱼油生产实体的移动装置，也可以很容易地为生产大量鱼油的潜在客户扩大规模。除鱼油外，该反应器还可用于加工植物油和黄色油脂，并可应用于美国其他生物柴油生产厂。这项新技术的成功将给传统的生物柴油生产工艺带来革命性的变化。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project concerns an innovative high throughput, high efficiency, and low cost heterogeneous catalytic fixed-bed technology for biodiesel production from Alaska fish oil. Around 200 remote Alaskan villages have energy costs of three to five times the national average. Alaskan fisheries are suffering from high diesel fuel cost. Converting the low-value fish oil to biodiesel is an attractive solution. However, the commercially available homogeneous alkali-catalyzed biodiesel production process does not work well for fish oil. The objectives of this Phase II project are to scale-up the fixed-bed reactor, produce prototype reactors, conduct field testing in Alaska, and prepare for commercial production. The broader impacts of this research are as follows: the success of this project will create a value-added and profitable market for fish oil, reduce damage to the marine environment, and provide Alaska with a renewable fuel that will in turn reduce diesel emissions and fuel costs for remote communities and fisheries. The fixed-bed reactor can be a mobile unit for small fish oil production entities or can be easily scaled up for potential customers that produce a large quantity of fish oil. In addition to fish oil, this reactor can be used to process vegetable oil and yellow grease and can be applied to other biodiesel production plants in the U.S. The success of this new technology will bring a revolutionary change to the traditional biodiesel production process.