College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

ME grad student works with next generation biofuel technology

One ISU researcher plays an important role in designing the future of next generation biofuel technology. Nicholas Creager, graduate student in mechanical engineering, designed and built a prototype gasifier, which combines elements from gasification and fast pyrolysis to produce transportation fuels.

This gasifier is part of a two-step process. The first step is to convert bio-oil into a gas mixture called synthesis gas or syngas and the second step is to synthesize the product into transportation fuel, said Song-Charng Kong, associate professor in mechanical engineering.

”We are focusing on the first step,” Kong said. “We gasify bio-oil to produce syngas.”

Traditionally, gasification uses a biomass feedstock, such as corn stover, corn cobs or wood chips, and exposes the material to high temperatures of 700 C or greater with controlled amounts of oxygen and/or steam to produce a mixture of gases called synthesis gas, Kong said. The end product can be processed into transportation fuels.

Read the full story at the Iowa State Daily.

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