With recent developments towards producing a viable green fuel nothing is more exciting than the new centrifuge cleaning system. This new cleaning system does a double scrape of the centrifuge that allows for a better separation of solids and liquids, leading to a cleaner fuel.
Where we stand
Australia’s biofuel or green fuel industry is still pretty new. We only produce about one percent of the fuel we use. The reasons behind this are complicated, it includes that the current system of delivery is the Ethanol ten or E10 blend that is currently at the bowsers. In the last couple of years E10 use has been declining based upon a couple of factors; firstly, people are still preferring to use regular unleaded and the second being that there is not a large enough price difference to make the change to E10 worthwhile. Lastly we have the smallest production of any country with only fifty million litres produced last year (2015), this was in decline due largely to a surge in imports.
Enter the Centrifuge Cleaning System
The process of converting algae to biodiesel is a complicated procedure that requires the algae to be exposed to concentrated sunlight which forces the algae to rapidly grow. At a certain point the algae are then processed and then the liquids and solids then separated. This is where the Centrifuge Cleaning System comes into its own. The best way to separate solids from liquids is through the centrifuge process. The product is placed into a large vat and then spun at high velocity where the heavy solids sink to the bottom and the liquids rise to the surface.
The new Centrifuge Cleaning System is designed to have the mixture fed through the system ejecting the liquid out one end and the solids are then compacted and sent down to the bottom. Because the centrifuge is vertical the solids are passed out below the centrifuge, meaning that there is minimal waste and you can extract out the maximum product.
Implications of the process
Australia has the largest concentrations of unique algae that can be converted into the highest quality biofuel, if we took advantage of our own renewable resources. With this Australia could lead the world in the production of Biofuel and even export it to many countries around the world. If we converted just one percent of our land mass to algae farming, we could theoretically produce more than five times more oil than we currently consume.
Conclusion
With such vast land mass and with huge exposed sunlight areas that could then be intensified with ease here in Australia and with current technology improving so rapidly, Australia could become an ‘oil rich’ country with the production of biofuel. Manufacturing biodiesel from our unique high yield algae, we have the potential to offer the best quality biofuel to the world.
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