Catilin has landed $150,000 to put its test biodiesel plant into continuous operation — not to scale up to commercial-scale production, but to prove its catalyst technology can help other biodiesel producers make fuel for less money. The Ames, Iowa-based startup is developing a catalyst for other biodiesel makers, one that it says beats existing catalysts on the amount of water, energy and toxic additives needed to turn oils to fuel. The solid, granular catalyst — different from liquid catalysts used today — can also be recycled for multiple uses, and is based on research out of Iowa State University The stuff also does its job on a variety of feedstocks, including lower-quality ones like used animal fats and cooking oils, which could be a boon to producers worried about prices for soybeans, palm oil and other commodity feedstocks for biodiesel. With a $150,000 grant from Iowa's Economic Development Department, Catilin intends to prove its catalyst works at a continuous production level, the company announced Wednesday. It has been testing it in batch biodiesel production at its Nevada, Iowa pilot plant. Catilin raised $3 million in a 2007 series A round led by Mohr Davidow Ventures, and CEO Larry Lenhart is a former Mohr Davidow "executive in residence." Lenhart said in a 2007 interview that Catilin's catalyst could cut  production costs by 50 cents a gallon — a big deal in a market where a $1-per-gallon subsidy is necessary for biodiesel to remain price-competitive with standard diesel fuel. The company noted Wednesday that the "T300 series" catalyst can be easily integrated into existing biodiesel production facilities — meaning it doesn't need to build its own plant to see a path toward profitability. That's probably a good thing, since financing for new biofuel facilities is getting harder to come by. Some biofuel companies are being pushed into bankruptcy, and others are struggling (see The Year in Biofuels). Catilin also touts its research into making biodiesel from algae — a field that has seen a lot of venture capital interest, but has yet to yield commercial-scale production at affordable prices (see Algae Biodiesel: It's $33 a Gallon). Catilin says it is developing technology that strains oil from algae without killing it — something that startup Phycal is also working on.