Meet You in Atlanta
September 20, 2010
BY Ron Kotrba
Get your plane ticket, make your hotel reservations and register for BBI International's Southeast Biomass Conference & Trade Show, Nov. 2-4 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta. While much of the conference will be about biomass heat and power, refining biomass and similar topics, one panel at the show will be dedicated exclusively to methyl esters, titled, "Biodiesel from Waste and Low-Value Feedstocks."
I will be moderating this group of presenters. Christina Borgese, president of PreProcess Inc., a company that focuses on scaling up alternative energy systems from bench- to commercial-scale, will present on converting problematic material such as sewer sludge into process-ready feedstock for biodiesel production. Borgese, who comes from BioFuelBox, winner of a World Economic Forum award last year, said much discussion of low-value feedstock centers on conversion technology, not on pretreatment, economic separation or reducing the overall costs associated with such undesirable inputs. "We focus on a heated, intensified, layered approach," she said of PreProcess' separation technique. Borgese will cover the engineering and economics of grease separation-what has been done in the past, what is currently on the table, and what the future can hold.
Frank Yeboah, an assistant professor with North Carolina Agriculture and Technical University, will discuss his three-year biodiesel project with the U.S. Department of Defense. "We look to develop a simple computer model" that speaks to the economic viability of producing biodiesel from waste materials generated on military bases, such as used cooking oil from canteens, he said. But the computer model will also generate data on how much petroleum the military can displace from such activities, in addition to the environmental (i.e., greenhouse gas emissions reductions, etc.) and energy security benefits offered. Yeboah is in year two of the three-year DOD project and anticipates having the very latest data from the project to share with the audience in Atlanta.
Ming Chai, a Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati will discuss his collaboration with Bluegrass Biodiesel out of Falmouth, Ky., and plans to delve into the particulars of kinematics and acid-catalyzed esterification of free fatty acids. Chai will focus on issues associated with biodiesel conversion of used cooking oil and animal fat feedstock, in addition to trap grease, and will relay to the audience insights from his research.
Finally, Brandon Spence, CEO of Winnsboro, S.C.-based Midlands Biofuels, a 300,000 gallon per year community-scale biodiesel plant, will round out the biodiesel panel in Atlanta by discussing plant operations using waste vegetable oil, and the new Southern Fried Fuels initiative Midlands Biofuels just recently kicked off (see page 10). The initiative offers individuals a place to dispose of their used fryer grease instead of dumping it down the drain or throwing it away in landfills. Midlands Biofuels picks up the used oil from the drop-off center at the city of Columbia's Public Works Facility, and hauls the material to its Winnsboro-based methyl ester plant for conversion to quality biodiesel.
To register for the Southeast Biomass Conference & Trade Show in Atlanta Nov. 2-4, go to www.biomassconference.com/southeast.
I will be moderating this group of presenters. Christina Borgese, president of PreProcess Inc., a company that focuses on scaling up alternative energy systems from bench- to commercial-scale, will present on converting problematic material such as sewer sludge into process-ready feedstock for biodiesel production. Borgese, who comes from BioFuelBox, winner of a World Economic Forum award last year, said much discussion of low-value feedstock centers on conversion technology, not on pretreatment, economic separation or reducing the overall costs associated with such undesirable inputs. "We focus on a heated, intensified, layered approach," she said of PreProcess' separation technique. Borgese will cover the engineering and economics of grease separation-what has been done in the past, what is currently on the table, and what the future can hold.
Frank Yeboah, an assistant professor with North Carolina Agriculture and Technical University, will discuss his three-year biodiesel project with the U.S. Department of Defense. "We look to develop a simple computer model" that speaks to the economic viability of producing biodiesel from waste materials generated on military bases, such as used cooking oil from canteens, he said. But the computer model will also generate data on how much petroleum the military can displace from such activities, in addition to the environmental (i.e., greenhouse gas emissions reductions, etc.) and energy security benefits offered. Yeboah is in year two of the three-year DOD project and anticipates having the very latest data from the project to share with the audience in Atlanta.
Ming Chai, a Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati will discuss his collaboration with Bluegrass Biodiesel out of Falmouth, Ky., and plans to delve into the particulars of kinematics and acid-catalyzed esterification of free fatty acids. Chai will focus on issues associated with biodiesel conversion of used cooking oil and animal fat feedstock, in addition to trap grease, and will relay to the audience insights from his research.
Finally, Brandon Spence, CEO of Winnsboro, S.C.-based Midlands Biofuels, a 300,000 gallon per year community-scale biodiesel plant, will round out the biodiesel panel in Atlanta by discussing plant operations using waste vegetable oil, and the new Southern Fried Fuels initiative Midlands Biofuels just recently kicked off (see page 10). The initiative offers individuals a place to dispose of their used fryer grease instead of dumping it down the drain or throwing it away in landfills. Midlands Biofuels picks up the used oil from the drop-off center at the city of Columbia's Public Works Facility, and hauls the material to its Winnsboro-based methyl ester plant for conversion to quality biodiesel.
To register for the Southeast Biomass Conference & Trade Show in Atlanta Nov. 2-4, go to www.biomassconference.com/southeast.
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