ASU PROFESSORS WORKING ON COST EFFECTIVE FUEL CONVERSION PROCESS

Two professors at Arizona State University are exploring the feasibility of producing aviation fuel from the most humble of organisms – algae. Researchers Qiang Hu and Milton Sommerfeld are part of a university-industrial team that received a $6.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop and commercialize the process.

With the grant, the researchers will screen for oil-rich algae strains and develop an algae production system that will yield competitively priced oil that can be converted into jet fuel for the U.S. Air Force.

Certain strains of algae are especially rich in oil. The key is finding a way to produce it cost-effectively, Sommerfeld said. He thinks it could happen on a commercial scale in five to 10 years.

"It's all a matter of how much money is put into it," he said. "If we spent as much money on this as we are on corn-based fuels, it would happen quickly."

Arizona is a promising location for algae farming, he said. There's plenty of vacant land and lots of sunshine necessary for growing masses of the stuff. And because algae thrive in nutrient-rich water, wastewater can be used as the medium for growing the plants, reducing the impact on Arizona's scarce fresh-water resources.

"The water is recycled in closed reactors, so there is very little evaporation," Hu said.

Hu and Sommerfeld envision commercial operations with thousands of acres of Arizona land covered with bio-reactors producing enough fastgrowing algae to furnish 100 barrels of oil per acre daily.

Sommerfeld said the researchers have identified about 10 strains of algae that have sufficient oil content and grow quickly enough to be candidates for commercial oil production.

He said the search for the best strains and mutations is continuing.

The professors, who work in the School of Applied Arts and Sciences, have already proven that the process works in the lab, and they have tested a larger bio-reactor outside of their lab building at ASU Polytechnic. Now they are working with ASU engineering students to build an even bigger bio-reactor for the defense program.

By the end of 2008, the program is expected to be producing fuel certified for use in military jets.

Task 4.Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases from the article:

Task 5.Make up a list of questions you would like to ask ASU professors. Discuss your questions with a partner and answer those ones you can. Why would you like to know it?

Task 6.Work in groups. Write a list of advantages and disadvantages for the use of alternate fuel in different spheres of life. Compare your lists with other groups and discuss your ideas.

Task 7.Summarize the article.

Task 8.Answer the questions using the Internet, the library, and any other relevant resources.

1. How do present-day internal-combustion car engines work? How is fuel processed in the engine in order to make the car operate?
2. What can be done to increase a car's fuel efficiency?
3. What types of alternative energy sources are being developed for future cars? How do these energy sources power the car? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of energy source? Which energy sources seem most likely to be commonly used in cars of the future?
4. What environmental, political, and cultural factors might contribute to a desire for cars with higher fuel efficiency or cars that use alternative energy sources?
5. What factors might detract from creating cars with higher fuel efficiency or cars that use alternative energy sources?

The following Web sites will be helpful in students' research:

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

ADDITIONAL TASKS.

Task 1a. Watch the video “Future Car: Gasoline Inefficiency and Alternative Fuels” and look through the text and answer the questions.

1. What are the most promising alternative fuel sources for cars?

2. What are the advantages of these sources?

3. Why is solar power not one of the alternative fuel sources for cars?

4. Is burning of vegetable oil efficient? Why? Why not?

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 719