Researchers at UTA work on turning lignite into oil
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, June 15, 2008
Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington think they can turn the state's 200-year reserves of lignite into a supply of heavy crude that will return Texas to its glory days as one of the oil capitals of the world.
As a result of their research, they say, the cost of heavy crude could eventually drop to around $30 a barrel. Heavy crude sells for slightly less than the light, sweet crude that is trading in the $130-a-barrel range.
Their research could also drastically reduce the cost of synthetic biodiesel fuels for diesel automobiles and trucks by reducing processing times and increasing yields with a product that's superior to diesel fuel made from petroleum.
The time frame? They say they could have biodiesel fuel available in quantity in about two years and liquid lignite converted into heavy crude in four or five years.
Micro-reactors
What makes this possible are micro-reactors invented by UTA engineering professor Dr. Brian Dennis that are being patented by the university.
"Dr. Dennis has shown that his micro-reactor creates a continuous production of biodiesel fuel," said Dr. Richard Billo, UTA's associate dean of engineering and research.
"It can reduce a 90-minute process to convert vegetable oil to biodiesel fuel to less than four minutes, and some oils to six seconds.
"Biodiesel is a clean-burning, efficient fuel that makes engines run better and last longer and is produced from inexpensive renewable resources readily available in the United States," he said.
Dr. Billo also noted that it's less toxic than table salt, reduces greenhouse gases and contributes 50 percent less than conventional diesel fuel to the ozone level.
"The use also reduces cancer risk from exhaust emissions by more than 90 percent while producing a substantial new market for America's farmers.
"The product is already widely used in Germany, where it is commonly available at the gas pump.
"By comparison, the United States produces a mere 30 million gallons a year but has a total diesel consumption of 36 billion gallons annually."
Dr. Dennis, whose research initially used cottonseed oil, got tremendous support from the Texas Department of Agriculture because the state has long been a leading cotton producer. Now he has extended his research to using animal tallow and the plentiful but inedible jathropha bean to produce biofuels.
"Because the mixing of the reactants takes place on a micro scale, the complete chemical reaction is much faster than in a traditional batch reactor," Dr. Billo explained.
"When many micro-reactors are used in parallel, one large operation can produce the same amount of biodiesel per year as a traditional batch production plant."
Size of a suitcase
Dr. Billo also pointed out that traditional plants costs tens of millions of dollars, but a micro-reactor plant would cost tens of thousands of dollars to process the same amount of biodiesel fuel. And each micro-reactor will be about the size of a small suitcase.
Now Dr. Dennis has added an emphasis on turning liquefied lignite into heavy crude oil that could be used by existing refineries to produce gasoline, motor oil and other petroleum products such as plastics.
The leap to lignite as a possible source for heavy crude, Dr. Billo said, was facilitated by research at West Virginia University and by his close relationship with the engineering faculty there.
After Dr. Billo heard that West Virginia had learned to liquefy bituminous, or soft, coal, he hopped a plane in February 2007 to see it firsthand.
Dr. Billo thought their methods would work just as well with lignite, and he was also spurred on, he says, by the impatience of U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, with the country's failure to confront the energy crisis.
Thus a partnership was formed between the two universities.
The positives
Dr. Bill Carroll, dean of the UTA Engineering School, said that lignite "is obtained by strip mining, which makes it more easily accessible."
And changing lignite into crude oil involves a chemical rather than a combustible reaction, which means that the process creates no air pollution.
"Once you demonstrate the lab models and the prototype models, the important modular approach to plant construction can expand rather easily," Dr. Carroll said.
The only hitch is that the number of refineries has not increased much in decades.
Actually, turning coal into oil dates back to its discovery by two Germans in the early 1920s. The process was used by Nazi Germany to fuel its war machine during World War II and later by the Union of South Africa when its apartheid policies sparked oil embargoes.
Even Exxon thought about entering the field in 1982 but ceased its activities when crude oil prices stabilized.
What goes around comes around.
UTA's micro-reactor project no longer needs luck, Dr. Billo says – it needs investors. Interested parties can reach him by calling the school at 817-272-2571.
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