"SRS Extraction Technology has allowed us to take our Algae-to-Fuel program to the next level. With the installation of the SRS AlgaFrac™ system in Carlsbad, we will be the first fully integrated site in the US."
-Douglas Lynn,
Executive Director,
CEHMM
Energy Balance
Home » Technology » AlgaFrac™ » Energy BalanceEnergy Consumption Comparison
In the SRS process, thermal drying is not required (in fact, the SRS process will work at biomass slurry concentrations below 10%.) For traditional hexane extraction, the biomass should be dried normally to less than 20% moisture which requires considerable thermal dehydration.
The SRS extraction technology process does require more energy for purification, due to the dilution effect of additional moisture in the feedstock. However, the total energy requirement is much less than hexane extraction, as shown in the below analysis.
To replace 1% of US liquid transportation fuels, a total of 2 billion gallons per year of biofuel is required. A comparison of the energy required for producing this biofuel from algae using conventional hexane extraction and the SRS extraction process is provided below.
Energy Requirements to Produce 2 Billion Gallons of Biofuels
| Process | SRS Wet Process | Conventional Hexane Extraction |
Hexane Extraction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yield on Nannochloropsis | 42% Yield (Proven) |
6% Yield (Proven) |
42% Yield (Not Possible) |
| Fuel Consumed for Drying and Extraction (Millions of BTUs) | 66,600,000 | 1,465,600,000 | 209,400,000 |
| Electricity Consumed (Millions of kWh) | 1,575 | 18,268 | 6,905 |
Even if hexane extraction exhibited similar yields to the SRS wet extraction technology, the SRS process consumes only one-quarter of the energy in extraction. However, dry hexane extraction has proven to be grossly ineffective in extracting high percentages of lipids from wild-type algae. As such, the SRS process is seen to use only one-twentieth the energy for extraction on a per gallon lipid basis.