OriginOil is going to try to prove later this year that oil and water just don't mix.
The Los Angeles-based company has come up with a technique to extract oil out of algae that it says will cost far less and consume far less energy than conventional processes. The key is that the algae don't have to be extracted from the water they are growing in first, according to CEO Riggs Eckelberry. It is working the Desmat Ballestra, a large oil and fats company from Belgium, to erect a pilot later this year and start selling the equipment and/or know-how in 2010.
After that, it will later concoct pilots for an LED-based grow light system for algae and follow that up with a feeding system it has invented to force-feed algae carbon dioxide more efficiently than conventional processes.
Despite the name, OriginOil is not in the oil business, said Eckelberry. Instead, it wants to make tools that it can sell to algae growers, similar to how Applied Materials and others sell equipment to solar providers. (Watch. Some CIGS solar panel makers could become tool companies.)
"We would like to be part of the operating system," he said. "Algae is a very low tech activity with a little high tech."
So how does the first tool work? The company blasts a tank full of algae with electromagnetic pulses and microbubbling technology to crack the cell membranes of the algae. When the cell membrane is opened, the oil contained inside floats to the surface of the water where it can be skimmed off. (The electromagnetic pulses also help dislodge any oil clinging to cell membranes.)
Meanwhile, the cell proteins sink to the bottom where they can be skimmed off and sold for animal feed.
De-watering is one of the big roadblocks on the way to algae nirvana. Typically, there are only one to three grams of algae per liter of water. To get rid of the water takes about $3,000 per ton of oil. OriginOil claims it can do it for $200.
"De-watering is the hidden gotcha in algae production," he said.
The grow light system sounds like what it is: light is directed from all sides on the growing tanks. Although free, sunlight is directional: it shines where it likes. The feeding system, meanwhile, sort of works on the carbonated beverage theory. By breaking down the carbon dioxide into microbubbles, it stays suspended in the growing water longer, which gives the algae more time to feed. Carbon dioxide is another big issue: Solix, another algae grower, says that the vast majority of energy required in the growing phase revolves around circulating carbon dioxide.
Will it work? Who knows. Algae took a big hit earlier this month when Greenfuel Technologies went under. The company was one of the earliest and burned through $70 million in VC funds.
