The Automated Remote Real-time Integrated Energy System: Community Scaled Bioenergy System Project investigated a single saltwater crustacean that eats saltwater algae as feedstock for biodiesel production, and biodiesel co-products as anaerobic digestion feedstock. The project also developed the methodology for biodiesel reaction monitoring in-situ and quality control by spectroscopy.
The goals of ARV-10-024 were to: (1) reduce GHG emissions by eighty percent over petroleum diesel; (2) reduce operating costs by 65 percent; and (3) improve revenues by 200 percent over conventional biodiesel production.
The objectives were to improve the economic viability and sustainability of biodiesel production systems through stable low-cost feedstock supply, reduced operating costs, reduced GHG emissions, reduced air toxics and water waste, additional revenue from renewable energy production, and incorporating stakeholder feedback.
The results of ARV-10-024 showed that (a) the biodiesel production process can be optimized through the use of byproducts to produce renewable combined heat and power, (b) effluent from anaerobic digestion and glycerin bottoms from biodiesel production can be used to enhance algaculture populations of Artemia franciscana and enhance anaerobic digestion, (c) GHG can be substantially reduced with increased sustainability bringing the carbon intensity of Artemia franciscana oil biodiesel to -1.43 gCO2e/MJ (d) feedstock costs, Capital Expenditures and Opex can be reduced and profits enhanced through Artemia franciscana, process automation and additional revenue streams, (e) distributed generation controlled by the Automated system is a worthwhile business model ready for a commercial feasibility study, (f) biodiesel batch production is much faster with spectroscopy, and (g) documentation for ARV-10-024 is valuable for technical training with complete instructions for biodiesel testing analysis and in-depth chemical content in plain English.
This is the first system of distributed biofuel and bioenergy production to have remote access and monitoring for key systems components.
