PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Synthetic fuels research aims to reduce oil dependence

Synthetic fuels research aims to reduce oil dependence
2010-09-15
(Press-News.org) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers at Purdue University have developed a facility aimed at learning precisely how coal and biomass are broken down in reactors called gasifiers as part of a project to strengthen the scientific foundations of the synthetic fuel economy.

"A major focus is to be able to produce a significant quantity of synthetic fuel for the U.S. air transportation system and to reduce our dependence on petroleum oil for transportation," said Jay Gore, the Reilly University Chair Professor of Combustion Engineering at Purdue.

The research is part of work to develop a system for generating large quantities of synthetic fuel from agricultural wastes, other biomass or coal that would be turned into a gas using steam and then converted into a liquid fuel.

Other aims are to learn how to generate less carbon dioxide than conventional synthetic-fuel processing methods while increasing the yield of liquid fuel by adding hydrogen into the coal-and-biomass-processing reactor, a technique pioneered by Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue's Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.

Researchers are using the facility to learn how coal and biomass "gasify" when exposed to steam under high pressure in order to improve the efficiency of the gasification process.

"We want to show that our system is flexible for using coal and biomass," Gore said. "The aim is to create a sustainable synthetic fuel economy. What's daunting is the size of the problem - how much oil we need - how much energy we need."

Findings published last year showed carbon dioxide might be reduced by 40 percent using the technique. And new findings will be detailed in a research paper being presented during a January meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Orlando.

The research is based at the university's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.

Synthetic fuels currently are being blended with petroleum fuels for performance improvement in automobile and aircraft applications and also are used in equipment trials in commercial aircraft. However, new techniques are needed to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of making the fuels.

"At the right price, synthetic fuels could replace fossil fuels in all conceivable applications," Gore said.

The 2-meter-tall stainless steel reactor is part of a system that borrows technology from aerospace applications, including a "spark igniter" used in space shuttle engines. Materials inside the spark igniter may briefly reach temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Celsius, or more than 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit - hot enough to burn holes in steel.

The researchers also integrated an advanced optical diagnostics system: A laser is transmitted through a window in the stainless steel vessel, passing through the gases being processed inside. An optical sensor on the other side of the vessel decodes the light to determine the precise temperature and composition of the gases.

"It's a modular design, so the optical diagnostics part can be moved to various points to analyze how the gasification proceeds," said Robert Lucht, the Ralph and Bettye Bailey Professor of Combustion in Mechanical Engineering.

Doctoral students also designed a special feeder to transport the coal or biomass into the reactor vessel.

"One of the challenges is feeding this at high pressure - about 10 atmospheres," Gore said. "This sort of feeder could not be bought off the shelf, so it had to be specially designed."

Gore and Lucht are working with faculty from Purdue's schools of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Chemical Engineering and other Purdue faculty members, as well as mechanical engineering doctoral students Anup Sane, Indraneel Sircar, Rohan Gejji and Brent Rankin.

Students are working on doctoral theses on the system's mechanical design, the optical diagnostics and approaches for integrating aerospace-related technologies.



INFORMATION:

The work is funded by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

The project also involves Li Qiao, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

Writer: Emil Venere, 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu

Sources: Jay Gore, 765-494-1610, gore@purdue.edu
Robert Lucht, 765-494-5623, lucht@purdue.edu

Related websites:
Jay Gore: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/People/ptProfile?id=9892
Robert Lucht: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/People/ptProfile?id=28413

PHOTO CAPTION:

Purdue doctoral students, from left, Indraneel Sircar, Brent Rankin, Rohan Gejji and Anup Sane created this gasifier to learn precisely how coal and biomass break down in the reactors. The research, funded by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, aims to strengthen the scientific foundations of the synthetic fuel economy. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons)

A publication-quality photo is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/2010/gore-fuels.jpg

Abstract on the research in this release is available at: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100914GoreFuels.html

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Synthetic fuels research aims to reduce oil dependence

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Fountain of youth in bile? Longevity molecule identified

2010-09-15
Montreal September 15, 2010 – The human quest for longer life may be one step closer, thanks to research from Concordia University. Published in the journal Aging, a new study is the first to identify the role of a bile acid, called lithocholic acid (LCA), in extending the lifespan of normally aging yeast. The findings may have significant implications for human longevity and health, as yeast share some common elements with people. "Although we found that LCA greatly extends yeast longevity, yeast do not synthesize this or any other bile acid found in mammals," says ...

Electron switch between molecules points way to new high-powered organic batteries

Electron switch between molecules points way to new high-powered organic batteries
2010-09-15
AUSTIN, Texas—The development of new organic batteries—lightweight energy storage devices that work without the need for toxic heavy metals—has a brighter future now that chemists have discovered a new way to pass electrons back and forth between two molecules. The research is also a necessary step toward creating artificial photosynthesis, where fuel could be generated directly from the sun, much as plants do. University of Texas at Austin chemists Christopher Bielawski and Jonathan Sessler led the research, which was published in Science. When molecules meet, they ...

Sequencing of cacao genome will help US chocolate industry, subsistence farmers

2010-09-15
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their partners have announced the preliminary release of the sequenced genome of the cacao tree, an achievement that will help sustain the supply of high-quality cocoa to the $17 billion U.S. chocolate industry and protect the livelihoods of small farmers around the world by speeding up development, through traditional breeding techniques, of trees better equipped to resist the droughts, diseases and pests that threaten this vital agricultural crop. The effort is the result of a partnership between USDA's Agricultural ...

Perception of emotion is culture-specific

2010-09-15
Want to know how a Japanese person is feeling? Pay attention to the tone of his voice, not his face. That's what other Japanese people would do, anyway. A new study examines how Dutch and Japanese people assess others' emotions and finds that Dutch people pay attention to the facial expression more than Japanese people do. "As humans are social animals, it's important for humans to understand the emotional state of other people to maintain good relationships," says Akihiro Tanaka of Waseda Institute for Advanced Study in Japan. "When a man is smiling, probably he is happy, ...

Scientists find gene for high cholesterol in blood

2010-09-15
Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) in San Antonio have found a gene that causes high levels of bad cholesterol to accumulate in the blood as a result of a high-cholesterol diet. Researchers studied a strain of laboratory opossums developed at SFBR that has normal blood levels of "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol when fed a standard low-cholesterol diet, but extremely elevated levels of LDL cholesterol when fed a high-cholesterol diet. These high-responding opossums are used to identify the genes and the underlying mechanisms ...

Chocolate farmers could benefit from newly sequenced cacao genome

Chocolate farmers could benefit from newly sequenced cacao genome
2010-09-15
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A first draft of the cacao genome is complete, a consortium of academic, governmental, and industry scientists announced today. Indiana University Bloomington scientists performed much of the sequencing work, which is described and detailed at http://www.cacaogenomedb.org/, the official website of the Cacao Genome Database project. Despite being led and funded by a private company, Mars Inc., Cacao Genome Database scientists say one of their chief concerns has been making sure the Theobroma cacao genome data was published for all to see -- especially ...

Commercial-scale test of new technology to recover coal from sludge successful

2010-09-15
A new technology for removing water from ultrafine coal slurry has been successfully tested at the commercial scale at an operating coal cleaning plant. The technology offers the possibility of reducing the coal slurry impoundment problem from the source. A peer-reviewed paper on this new technology was presented Sept. 15 at the 13th Australian Coal Preparation Society Conference, Cairns, Queensland. Cleaning coal after it has been mined is done with water. The bulk of the coal mined is relatively coarse in size and, therefore, can be readily washed of impurities and ...

Death at home less distressing for cancer patients and families

2010-09-15
BOSTON—Cancer patients who die in the hospital or an intensive care unit have worse quality of life at the end-of-life, compared to patients who die at home with hospice services, and their caregivers are at higher risk for developing psychiatric illnesses during bereavement, according to a study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. One striking finding of the study, reported in the September 13th issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, was that bereaved caregivers of patients who died in an intensive care unit (ICU) were five times more likely to be diagnosed ...

A new understanding of 31 years of Chesapeake Bay nutrient trends

2010-09-15
Reducing the delivery of nutrients to the Chesapeake Bay is one of the most important components of restoration efforts to achieve a healthy Bay ecosystem. The USGS has developed a new method for tracking the progress toward reducing nitrogen and phosphorus delivery from the watershed to the Bay. "The public and public officials care deeply about progress towards clean water goals for the Chesapeake Bay and other impaired waters of the Nation," said Robert Hirsch, USGS Research Hydrologist who led the development of this new method. "We developed the new technique and ...

Protein clamps tight to telomeres to help prevent aging...and support cancer

2010-09-15
The number of times our cells can divide is dictated by telomeres, stretches of DNA at the tips of our chromosomes. Understanding how telomeres keep our chromosomes – and by extension, our genomes – intact is an area of intense scientific focus in the fields of both aging and cancer. Now, scientists at The Wistar Institute have published the first detailed report on the structure and function of a crucial domain in the protein known as Cdc13, which sustains telomeres by clamping to DNA and recruiting replicating enzymes to the area. While the nature of this portion of ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Reality check: making indoor smartphone-based augmented reality work

Overthinking what you said? It’s your ‘lizard brain’ talking to newer, advanced parts of your brain

Black men — including transit workers — are targets for aggression on public transportation, study shows

Troubling spike in severe pregnancy-related complications for all ages in Illinois

Alcohol use identified by UTHealth Houston researchers as most common predictor of escalated cannabis vaping among youths in Texas

Need a landing pad for helicopter parenting? Frame tasks as learning

New MUSC Hollings Cancer Center research shows how Golgi stress affects T-cells' tumor-fighting ability

#16to365: New resources for year-round activism to end gender-based violence and strengthen bodily autonomy for all

Earliest fish-trapping facility in Central America discovered in Maya lowlands

São Paulo to host School on Disordered Systems

New insights into sleep uncover key mechanisms related to cognitive function

USC announces strategic collaboration with Autobahn Labs to accelerate drug discovery

Detroit health professionals urge the community to act and address the dangers of antimicrobial resistance

3D-printing advance mitigates three defects simultaneously for failure-free metal parts 

Ancient hot water on Mars points to habitable past: Curtin study

In Patagonia, more snow could protect glaciers from melt — but only if we curb greenhouse gas emissions soon

Simplicity is key to understanding and achieving goals

Caste differentiation in ants

Nutrition that aligns with guidelines during pregnancy may be associated with better infant growth outcomes, NIH study finds

New technology points to unexpected uses for snoRNA

Racial and ethnic variation in survival in early-onset colorectal cancer

Disparities by race and urbanicity in online health care facility reviews

Exploring factors affecting workers' acquisition of exercise habits using machine learning approaches

Nano-patterned copper oxide sensor for ultra-low hydrogen detection

Maintaining bridge safer; Digital sensing-based monitoring system

A novel approach for the composition design of high-entropy fluorite oxides with low thermal conductivity

A groundbreaking new approach to treating chronic abdominal pain

ECOG-ACRIN appoints seven researchers to scientific committee leadership positions

New model of neuronal circuit provides insight on eye movement

Cooking up a breakthrough: Penn engineers refine lipid nanoparticles for better mRNA therapies

[Press-News.org] Synthetic fuels research aims to reduce oil dependence