Probing microbial emulsions to break barriers to green oil production

本计画旨在了解超音波处理含油酵母及藻类之浓缩浆液。人类必须减少对石油的依赖。虽然微生物可以产生油作为替代燃料和基础化学品，但提取这些油的过程效率低下。超声波可以通过替代有毒溶剂来提高原油采收率。了解超声波对微生物乳状液的影响，有望开发出无溶剂采油工艺，提高微生物采油的经济效益和环境效益。这种方法将大大提高生产微生物油的效率并降低成本，微生物油可用作石油燃料和化学品的绿色替代品。

This project aims to understand ultrasonic processing of concentrated slurries of oil-bearing yeast and algae. Humans must reduce their dependency on petroleum. While microorganisms can produce oils as replacement fuels and base chemicals, the processes for extracting these oils are inefficient. Ultrasound could improve oil recovery by replacing toxic solvents. Understanding the effects of ultrasound on microbial emulsions is expected to develop solvent-free oil recovery processes that improve the economic and environmental benefits of microbial oil production. Such processes would greatly increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of producing microbial oils that can be used as green alternatives to petroleum fuels and chemicals.