Story posted Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wood Into Gas? DP Lab Rolls Up Sleeves
By TIM O'CONNOR Journal & Topics Reporter
In the movie "Back to the Future" time-traveling inventor Doc Brown drops a banana peel into his DeLorean to fuel the futuristic car. Powering your vehicle with leftovers seemed a far-fetched concept when the film was made in the mid-1980s, but thanks to a Des Plaines company the technology might not be that far off.
The Gas Technology Institute, 1700 S. Mt. Prospect Rd., is working on turning wood into gasoline. According to a statement from partner company Haldor Topsoe, the process could eventually enable all biomass to be turned into transportation fuel — including household waste.
The project is being funded by a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The money will go toward preliminary engineering design for a process to produce green gasoline and diesel from woody biomass, agricultural residues and algae. The goal is to build a one-ton test biorefinery.
The project will have three phases spanning four years. The preparation stage will be completed in 2010. The second stage, consisting of design, construction and testing, is expected to take two years. Data analysis and the final report will take another year, ending the program in June of 2014.
The Gas Technology Institute is part of a larger project. Denmark-based Haldor Topsoe, which has a subsidiary in Houston, was also awarded $25 million for a gasification process to convert wood to gasoline. The pilot plant is expected to process 21 metric tons of wood a day.
"For the most part the grant is for the application of our facility to conduct (Haldor Topsoe's) testing," said Rod Rinholm, director of business development and education for the Gas Technology Institute.
The Department of Energy announced $564 million in grants to 19 biorefinery projects, including the Gas Technology Institute, earlier this month. The goal of the funding is to lay the foundation for full commercial-scale development of an American biomass industry.
Speak Out!
Comments are edited first by Journal staff before running in print and appearing online.