SBIR Phase I: Application of Pulsed Electric Fields to the Extraction of Oil From Algae

这个SBIR一期项目将开发一种脉冲电场预处理藻类细胞的装置，以促进油的提取。这项创新是对藻类培养的脉冲电场进行优化。第一阶段项目的主要工作是开发脉冲电场装置，优化参数，评估成本效益。长期目标是将优化的脉冲电场系统与藻类生物燃料工业相结合。该项目的更广泛/商业影响将是，如果证明成本有效，所提议的脉冲电场系统的成功开发及其与藻类生物燃料系统的集成将对藻类衍生生物燃料工业产生积极影响。生物燃料生产中PEF处理的好处简单明了。如果pef预处理可以降低生产生物燃料的成本，这些可再生能源就会比石油产品更具竞争力。由此产生的对生物燃料需求的增加减少了对进口石油的需求，并使能源美元保持在美国经济中。正如去年夏天油价飙升所表明的那样，一旦替代可再生燃料的成本低于石油，它们将被迅速采用。

This SBIR Phase I project will develop a device for pretreatment of algal cells with a pulsed electric field to facilitate oil extraction. The innovation is the optimization of a pulsed electric field to an algal culture. The main activities of the Phase 1 project will be to develop the pulsed electric field device, optimize the parameters, and assess cost effectiveness. The long term goal is to integrate the optimized pulsed electric field system with the algal bio-fuel industry.The broader/commercial impact of the project will be that successful development of the proposed pulsed electric field system and its integration with the algal bio-fuel system will have a positive impact on the algae-derived bio-fuel industry, if proven cost effective. The benefits of PEF processing in biofuel production are simple and straightforward. If PEFpretreatment can reduce the costs of producing biofuels, these renewable energy sources become more competitive with petroleum products. The resulting increased demand for biofuels reduces the demand for imported oil, and keeps energy dollars in the US economy. As the oil price spike last summerdemonstrated, adoption of alternative, renewable fuels will happen extremely rapidly once they are less costly than oil.