Students, faculty discuss research with governor's agriculture commission

September 18, 2006 —

Members of the Governor's Commission on Agriculture visited SVSU last Wednesday, so the faculty and students that received them made the obvious gesture - they held a pig roast.

The food was accompanied by several exhibitions meant to inform the commission as to what SVSU's students and faculty were researching and developing. The theme of the displays was alternative energy, and specifically "bio-fuels," or energy sources that originate from organic matter, like corn, soybeans, or even waste.

The displays contained a wealth of information on the research being carried out at SVSU: the theoretical approaches to bio-fuels, the practical uses of such fuels, and the marketing aspect of it all: how much does it cost? What kinds of bio-fuels are available? How are they made? How do they stack up - financially and otherwise - against traditional energy sources, like natural gas?

Third-year business student Hank Metzger was one of the students involved in the research.

He explained the process of turning some unsuspecting crops into full-fledged bio-diesel fuel.

"You first need to get the oil out of, say, soybeans, sunflowers...any oil crop," he said.

A device called an extruder is used to get the oil out using a simple screw and plate mechanism that creates enough friction and heat to essentially "cook" the crop. He held up a jar of oil that was formerly the home of some J.I.F. peanut butter as testimony to the machine's work.

"Once you have this oil, you have to clean it and filter it. Once it's filtered properly, you have to boil it to get the water out...you actually cook the oil," he added.

After all the water and sediment has been removed from the oil, a hot water heater can be used to process it. One of the exhibitions concerned this process, and Metzger was eager to explain it in further detail.

"You have to have the oil at around 90 degrees Celsius. Once it's heated for a certain period of time, you add a mixture of methanol and lye - or basically, Drano. That reacts to the soybean oil."

The end product of the reaction is bio-diesel fuel, mixed with glycerin, a kind of alcohol, which settles from the fuel. After removing any excess water, methanol and/or lye, there is just pure bio-diesel, which people can burn to run an ever-increasing variety of machinery.

Metzger mentioned that he had become involved in the research through his father, Dave Metzger, who works on alternative fuels with some professors at SVSU.

"I'm really fascinated into how we can get these types of projects up-and-running so that it can become profitable," he added.

The Metzgers are working at SVSU with people like Dr. Dulcey Simpkins, who works for the Center for Business and Economic Development as the Director of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. Simpkins has been cooperating with Dr. Chris Schilling, Dr. David Swenson and a lot of students coordinating plans for getting alternative energy projects off the ground.

She spoke on the efforts of the students and faculty: "One of the things that Chris and students have done...is to look at corn from beginning to end. Look at the stalks, look at the fibers, look at the oils and the meal that is left over from processing and say 'How can we use these things in different ways to replace...petroleum products?'"

The volatility in gasoline prices has made people cognizant of the fact that most petroleum is imported from overseas. Simpkins suggests that one of intentions of bio-energy research is to help decrease the overwhelming reliance on foreign oil.

"Plastics - as many people are starting to become more aware of - involve the use of petroleum products, which are mostly imported," Simpkins added.

She mentioned that "biomass" alternatives to plastic could be used in particleboard, pointing to a display that visually described the process.

Biomass has the potential to be the defining alternative energy of the future. A lot of people at SVSU know this, and it appears as though a lot of people elsewhere appreciate the work that is being done at the University. Even if that is not the case, most people can appreciate roasted pig.