Scientist Attempts to Speed Biodiesel Process

Dr. Jonathan Wenzel, an assistant professor of Chemical Engineering at Kettering University, is attempting to speed up the process of making biodiesel by hastening the reaction of soybean oil methanol.

"Our approach was to take methanol, heat it and pressurize it beyond its critical point to create supercritical methanol," Wenzel said. "Supercritical methanol can more readily dissolve the soybean oil, and combined with the higher temperatures we can react it without a catalyst."

Supercritical methanol is created by elevating the temperature and pressure of methanol to the point that it acts as a liquid and gas simultaneously. Using this methodology, Wenzel asserts that biodiesel can be made in under 10 minutes. The methodology, when increased in scale, may serve as an economic opportunity.

"There are no supercritical methanol biodiesel plants in the United States," Wenzel said. "With the data we produced, we had chemical engineering students conduct plant simulations to see if this was economically viable. The answer is yes, you can make a profit by producing biodiesel using this methodology."