SBIR-STTR Award

While renewable diesel and biodiesel production is projected to increase over the next several years, feedstock supplies are limited by mature markets for yellow grease and refined vegetable oils- Brown grease refers to organic fats, oils, and greases extracted from wastewater residuals- Brown grease has the potential to alleviate the shortage of biofuel feedstock, but it is dirty, inconsistent in composition and higher in contaminants that make meeting specifications for on-road diesel fuel difficult- Brown Grease is primarily free- fatty-acids, which are suitable for biofuel production and have been thoroughly studied for over a century- Brown grease has often been considered for biofuel production but problems with purification and highly-variable composition have yet to be overcome- The novel approach in this project involves upgrading brown grease into pure free fatty acids, which then can be readily used by biodiesel or renewable diesel companies for fuel production-