Researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have developed a new catalytic process that allows the effective conversion of biopetroleum from microalgae into diesel fuels. The lead researcher Johannes A. Lercher claims that their process produces “close to theoretical yields”. The findings are published in Angewandte Chemie. Previously known methods for refining oil from microalgae suffer from various disadvantages. The resulting fuel either has too high an oxygen content and poor flow at low temperatures, or a sulphur-containing catalyst may contaminate the product. However, other catalysts are still not efficient enough. The Munich scientists now propose a new process, for which… Login to continue

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