MixAlco

[Mark Tomlinson]

Here's one that has credibility - MixAlco (http://engineering.tamu.edu/research/magazine/2006/nonstop/). It's late, so I'm not going into a long discourse of the pros and cons. But I find it interesting that the major oil companies have not jumped on it as a "flex-fuel".

Dr. Holtzapple is a pretty level-headed genius who's also behind the Starrotor (http://www.starrotor.com/) engine. But about a year ago all news on the Starrotor and MixAlco just stopped. Wikipedea has more information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioconversion_of_biomass_to_mixed_alcohol_fuels), stating that pilot plants are under construction and will be on-line as soon as next year.

Let's hope so.

[RAN]

I like the Starrotor engine. And anybody who's working on turning garbage into fuel should at least get treated to dinner now and then. They're on the right track.

Maybe the fact that the major oil companies *haven't* jumped on this technology is why these guys are playing things close to the vest for now. The biggest stumbling block to solving our problems isn't technology... it's greed and politics. The same greed and politics that got things this bad in the 1st place.

I wish these guys every success. I hope we hear something definitive from them soon.

[WattGas?]

In the MixAlco process, the biomass feedstock is treated with lime and then fermented to form organic salts. Water is removed and then the mixture is heated to become ketones, such as acetone, a common ingredient in nail polish remover. Adding hydrogen to the ketones forms mixed alcohols, which can be used as biofuels."the mixture is heated"

How much heat? Where does the heat come from?

"Adding Hydrogen"

Where does the hydrogen come from? Water Electroly$i$? Natural Ga$?

They describe a whole lot of energy going in. Does more energy come out in the form of usable fuel? Seems doubtful.

That's the problem with a lot of alternative fuels -- it takes more energy to manufacture the fuel than you get out of it, rendering it economically useless...

I wonder if some of the "mixed alcohols" are Butanol:

http://www.butanol.com/

[Mark Tomlinson]

"the mixture is heated"

How much heat? Where does the heat come from?

"Adding Hydrogen"

Where does the hydrogen come from? Water Electroly$i$? Natural Ga$?

They describe a whole lot of energy going in. Does more energy come out in the form of usable fuel? Seems doubtful.

That's the problem with a lot of alternative fuels -- it takes more energy to manufacture the fuel than you get out of it, rendering it economically useless...

I wonder if some of the "mixed alcohols" are Butanol:

http://www.butanol.com/

Some specifics can be found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixalco). Reference #1 at Wikipedia is a presentation where Dr. Holtzapple describes the process and the economics at Texas A&M (note his comment, "Good Aggies"). It's a full refinery process and lots of chemicals come out, I'm sure Butanol can be produced.

Since my original post, I've discovered that they've set up a company to commercialize the process and have received $125 million start up funds.

I've also received a newsletter from Starrotor that mentions the compressor business has five customers now, including a medical corporation that will be wanting thousands of "fist size" compressors. There's a Chinese company that has commercialized Starrotor's air conditioner technology, and I suspect they are going for the commercial rather than residential market. Plus, they've filed patents on a Starrotor motor/generator aimed at the automotive market. No word on the Starrotor engine.

The successes so far seem to indicate to me that Dr. Holtzapple knows what he's doing. I have no doubt that MixAlco will be a success, especially considering that he has his PHD in chemistry.

[Andrew Hill]

I did extensive research on MixAlco a couple of years ago. It does work but the the problems lie with the licensing of the process. Texas A&M sold the license to an individual who demands control and also wants more than 50% of anything. Other long-term asset investors that I have approached are all content to wait for the important patents to expire and then work around the minor patents. Expect this process to gain momentum around 2010.

As for the hydrogen, and heat involved, not to mention the water, the cost of these relative to the energy created is very small.

We solved a couple of problem areas that the professor had not thought of and we beleive we can produce a mixalco fuel that can blend 60/40 with gasoline with octanes above 90 and rvp well with acceptable ranges. Total cost is about 85 cents per gallon at wholesale distribution points. Probably $1.00 gallon to distributors. Mixed 40 percent with $2.20 gasoline (gulf coast), that equates to $1.72 per gallon wholesale fuel. Or about $2.35 at the pump. Loss of mileage associated with ethanol is minimal due to a higher energy content.