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BloomNG

Small-scale Conversion of Macroalgae Biomass to Natural Gas Product

 

Member profile details

Membership level
2013-2014 Team
Project Thumbnail Image
Team Name
BloomNG
Project Title
Small-scale Conversion of Macroalgae Biomass to Natural Gas Product
Design Challenge
Design of a small-scale, mobile plant to produce a natural gas product from a non-food cultivated feedstock. Design criteria includes sizing equipment to fit in approximately six (45'x8'x9') trailers.
Design Summary
BloomNG has designed a process for the production of natural gas from the clean up of harmful algal blooms off the eastern coast of China. Our novel design includes using Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) to pretreat the algae along with enzymatic hydrolysis, loading the treated biomass into an Anaerobic Digester (AD), upgrading the biogas to pipeline conditions with membrane technology, and storing the upgraded biogas in activated carbon. Our equipment fits on 3 truck trailers (45’x8’x15), which are mounted on a barge used to easily acquire the algal feedstock. Our project takes a traditional strategy to produce biogas and transforms it into an innovative and self-sufficient process by implementing cutting edge technology and recovery systems into the design.
Department(s)
  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
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Faculty Advisor 1 - Name
Dr. Kenneth Cox
Faculty Advisor 1 - Department
  • CHBE
Faculty Advisor 2 - Name
Professor Rick Strait
Faculty Advisor 2 - Department
  • CHBE
 

Team Members

Award(s) and Recognition
2014 Brown School of Engineering-Engineering Design Showcase and Poster Competition: Best Energy-Related Engineering Design Award
Winner

Contact us

Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
Rice University

6100 Main Street MS 390 | Houston, Texas | 77005

Phone: 713.348.OEDK

Email: oedk@rice.edu

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