Production and Consumption of Biodiesel at the University of Calgary

Any and all practical issues pertaining to the development of a biodiesel production facility can be segregated into the following three sections:

Collection

With a varying average of 1150L/month produced on campus, WVO collection is critical to this projects success and thus the selected system must be simple, easily repairable, robust and low investment. The system selected was a Super Sucker Vacuum Pump. As a result of the mandates to replace propane tanks every 25 years, systems from retrofitted tanks can be easily fabricated, and with monthly transportation trips, theses high volume tanks accommodate the Universities maximum WVO production rates.

Conversion

The on campus production facility will consist of the following equipment for production as listed in the Process Flow Diagram below:

To house the production facility equipment, we found a 400sqft ventilated room with a easily accessible loading bay/garage would be viable for the safe production of biodiesel. Location is to be determined via University of Calgary Staff following project approval and dependent on available space.

Consumption

The University of Calgary consumes roughly 3075 L of diesel fuel every month between the maintenance equipment and emergency backup generators. For the used equipment on campus, biodiesel can be blended to a maximum of 20% in petroleum diesel as to maintain warranties. With a 20% biodiesel consumption, a diesel fuel reduction of 615 L per month would be realized, leaving approximately 1300 L of produced biodiesel in excess. As the produced biodiesel will already meet ASTM D6751 standards, the remaining fuel will be offered to the public for retail sale in a effort to minimize the projects payback period while reducing the carbon footprint of local Calgarians.

The need for a sustainable future and responsible consumerism is greater now than ever before. The implementation of biodiesel on the University of Calgary campus is innovative in itself as it reduces the campus reliance on fossil fuel based energy, ultimately contributing to the University of Calgary’s reputation as a leader in sustainability.

Our project harnessed several key components resulting in an innovative design. A methanol distillation unit was sourced to recover up to 40% of the methanol added to the reaction. A waste water filtration unit was added to reuse water and reduce the amount going to disposal. The transportation trailer will power all its componentry through a solar array and inverter to capture the sun’s energy and reduce grid reliance. Lastly, a biocide and oxidative stabilizer will be added to the biodiesel to prevent fungi growth and improve the oxidative stability. These additives increase the shelf life of biodiesel and reduce the possibility of low-quality product.

Our design incorporates a modular production system. This allows for both ease of operation, and ease of maintenance. In addition, this design makes upgrading and up-scaling both possible, and uncomplicated.

We have incorporated two distillation units: one for the recovery of methanol, and the other to purify wastewater for reuse and to reduce waste. Compared to common biodiesel production designs, these distillation units increase the environmental and economic sustainability of this project.

All components comprising our production system are easily sourced, and have been chosen for simplicity of operation. Using on-campus chemistry labs for quality testing allows us to produce consistent ASTM standard-meeting biodiesel, which can be sold to market, or used on campus. Overall, this design allows for a range of options for the consumption of biodiesel.

An environmental analysis shows clear emissions reductions compared with the current petroleum diesel consumption at the University of Calgary. We can reduce up to 12,700 kilograms of carbon dioxide annually in addition to the CO₂. reduced by selling the additional biodiesel to the public.

Our cost-effective, environmentally conscious biodiesel production system will allow the University of Calgary to reduce waste and emissions, and produce long-term revenue for use in operations around campus. We believe that our project will fortify the university’s position as a leader in sustainable operations.

The Capstone Design Team was thankful to have numerous University ran biodiesel production facilities across North America from which the conceptual design could be validated against. Most notably, the biodiesel production facilities at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and University of Idaho served as the two benchmarks from which our design was compared against.

The University of Idaho has a impressive and historic biodiesel education/production facility. Beginning their research in 1979, the University has continually produced and experimented with various biodiesel processes and began educating both in house and online in 2013 on the science behind biodiesel. The work completed by the Biodiesel Education Program is clear, concise, and a source of optimism for the future of biodiesel in North America.
https://www.biodieseleducation.org/index.php

With a more recent start date, the UBC production facility began in 2012. Beginning as pilot project from which the products were used on campus, the facility is moderately sized, sells a portion of their product and served as a excellent comparison for our proposed design.
http://blogs.ubc.ca/sustainabilityclub/biodiesel-project/

While it was hope inducing seeing the above projects in operation, a commonality for their successes was a dedicated support staff, something which the University of Calgary currently does not posses.

The entire scope of this project has been focused on determining the feasibility of implementing a waste vegetable oil to biodiesel conversion process on the University of Calgary campus. And can it be done? In a word, yes. Examining this project from technical, environmental, and commercial standpoints, our overarching conclusion is that it is feasible to implement such a system at the University of Calgary.

We began by first researching the technical feasibility, investigating the chemical process and designing a production process. Although many people create biodiesel in their “backyard”, we needed to ensure that our process met ASTM standards. After extensive research, we were able to design a biodiesel production system that could reasonably be implemented on campus, and could meet the highest standards of quality. Having done this, we then examined the environmental and economic benefits of such a project.

We concluded that implementation of this project would result in a reduction of thousands of kilograms of CO2 released into the atmosphere every year. It would reduce the carbon footprint of the University, and improve our reputation as a leader in sustainability. The economics look equally optimistic:

Our commercial analysis showed us that payback of the capital expenditure necessary to implement this project could be possible within a decade. We believe that this could be an exciting opportunity for the University of Calgary, and could put us on the map as an innovator in sustainable resources.