Improved biomass processing at a Saskatoon facility could have net benefits for prairie producers.
New solvent-recovery equipment at POS Bio-Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan will allow the private research and development organization to better serve its clients in the cosmetics, nutraceuticals, food supplement and bio-fuels industries.
In the biofuels field, that means the organization can more efficiently process oil-containing plants like canola.
“The demand for bio-oil, such as from algae and other plants, is growing very rapidly,” said John Cross, chair of the POS board of directors.
Cross explained how a solvent is used to extract oil from the biomass material before the oil is extracted from the solvent. With the new equipment — funded in part by a $261,000 shared investment from the Saskatchewan and federal governments — POS can recycle more of that solvent and reduce water use.
“It’s more efficient (and) environmental, but it’s also more efficient from an energy and solvent point of view,” said Cross. “So the cost of extraction is being reduced substantially as well.”
The savings can total $16,000 per ten tonnes of biomass material, Cross said.
“Just imagine that transferred to the commercial scale where you’re running maybe 100 tonnes a day,” said Cross.
If it’s cheaper to take biofuel from the field to the fuel tank of an airplane, that can increase the demand for bio-oils, Cross explained, and benefit producers.
“Hopefully the field price for your canola will go up too,” he said. “It just cascades through the whole chain.”
With increased demand, there’s also opportunity for growth of new crops which have good oil contents — like camelina — he said.
“That’s another alternative crop for Saskatchewan farmers to move into and it gives them alternative marketing opportunities as well,” he said.
Installation of the new equipment is expected to be complete in the summer of 2012. The cost of the project is expected to total $440,000.
