Muradel Demonstration Plant
Name
|
Muradel Demonstration Plant
|
Company
|
|
Location
|
Whyalla (Australia)
|
Category
|
Demonstration
|
Status
|
Running
|
Platforms
|
Oil and bio-oil.
|
Feedstock
|
Microalgae.
Currently,
diversifying options to include used tyres and biosolids.
|
Products
|
Biofuels,
oleochemicals, fertilizers, animal feed and building materials
|
Start-up
|
2014
|
Figure
1. Aerial view of Muradel Demonstration Plant (extracted from Reference 2)
THE
COMPANY AND THE PLANT
Muradel
Pty Ltd is a joint venture of Murdoch
University, Adelaide Research
& Innovation Pty Ltd (the commercial development company of the
University of Adelaide) and the commercial partner SQC Pty Ltd. The original focus
of this company, founded in December 2010, was to bring to commercial reality a
large-scale business that leverages the natural advantages of the Australian
environment, producing algae biomass for renewable fuel and co-products.
In
order to achieve its goal, Muradel took part between 2013 and 2105 in a project
called “Advancing Established and Integrated Marine Microalgae Biofuel to Commercialisation”
as lead organization. This project addressed all the technoeconomical challenges
of producing renewable fuels from marine microalgal biomass (Tetraselmis spp)
with the technology developed by Muradel. It was funded by shareholders and a
grant of AUD$4.4 million of the Advanced
Biofuels Investment Readiness (ABIR) Program administered by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Under
the framework of the project, Muradel carried out the design and construction
of the Muradel Demonstration Plant (MDP) in Whyalla (Australia). There, it
established an integrated production module with all the systems to develop its
microalgae to green crude process. The MDP was constructed during the first
half of 2014 and officially opened on the 31 October 2014.
The
plant comprises: 700 Ml salt water storage supplied, an evaporation pond,
several paddlewheel mixed raceway ponds (6 x 2 m2, 2 x 20 m2,
2 x 200 m2, and 1 x 4000 m2), a proprietary
electroflocculation channel, a clarification tank, a continuous centrifuge, a proprietary
reactor, laboratories, a workshop, offices and utilities.
Initially,
Muradel commenced operations based wholly on algae farming, harvesting and processing
into green crude oil. However, the versatility of the technology opens the door
to the processing of lower cost feedstocks and the company is now diversifying
its feedstock options to include tyres and biosolids. Algae farming continues
to be of interest to Muradel given the long term expertise that has been
developed in-house and the potential that exists to manufacture high-value
end-products from algae for selected markets. In fact, Muradel secured a
service agreement to scale‐up and optimize the production of algal lipids for
oleochemicals in August 2015.
THE
TECHNOLOGY AND THE BIOREFINERY MODEL
Muradel
has developed the Green2BlackTM platform: an integrated suite of
proprietary technologies for the production of green crude from a wide range of
renewable wet feedstocks.
The
process comprises five key steps (in operation at the MDP or provided by supply
chain partners):
- Feedstock access. In the case of microalgae, as mentioned above, open raceway ponds are used to cultivation.
- Feedstock pretreatment to produce a slurry in water.
- Conversion of the organic matter in a Sub-Critical Water Reactor (SCWR) into hydrocarbons. The SCWR is used for hydrothermal liquefaction (T = 350ºC and P = 200 bar) and the conversion occurs in a matter of minutes. It is able to process feedstocks with relatively high inorganic content.
- Extraction of green crude from the reactor output.
- Upgrading and fractionation of green crude to finished fuels.
Figure
2. Green2BlackTM platform diagram (extracted from Reference 2)
The
following products can be obtained through the Green2BlackTM
technology:
- Renewable “drop-in” transportation fuels which are compatible with existing fuel infrastructure (from residual microalgae biomass obtained after lipid extraction or other renewable feedstocks).
- Fertilizers, animal feed and other valuable end-products (from residual microalgae biomass obtained after lipid extraction).
- Oleochemicals (from the oil stream obtained after lipid extraction).
- Building materials. Inorganic solid co-products from extraction after hydrothermal liquefaction have potential application in construction industries.
_________________________________________________________________________________
REFERENCES
1 www.muradel.com (accessed on 30th May 2016).
2 Final Project report: “Advancing Established
and Integrated Marine Microalgae Biofuel to Commercialisation”. Available
online: arena.gov.au/project/advancing-marine-microalgae-biofuel-to-commercialisation
(accessed on 31st May 2016).
