Scientists Study Microwave Technology to Reduce Cost of Biodiesel Production

A scientific team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (United States) has received a research grant to study the use of microwave technology for faster and less costly production of biodiesel. The research grant amounting to about 280,000 Euros, will be for the project on “Microwave Enhanced Catalytic Production of Biofuels”. The present methods for biodiesel production involve high inputs of thermal energy to drive the necessary reactions. Conventional heating methods in biodiesel production utilize either electrical or chemical energy. Associated costs for these types of heating are high, hence the need to explore cheaper methods of heat generation. In microwave heating, electromagnetic waves are passed through the material, and cause the molecules to oscillate. The molecular oscillations generate heat which starts within material and then spreads over the entire volume at about the same rate. Microwave heating has been shown to have some advantages over conventional heating because it decreases the energy requirements for a number of reactions in the biodiesel production process. It also decreases the reaction time. The team will couple microwave technology with the use of a solid catalyst which is said to save about "50% of the current costs”.

Related information on microwave heating: http://www.ecw.org/prod/433-1mh.pdf