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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Anaerobic digestion of marine biomass

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5491653

The Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) is actively involved in research on conversion of marine biomass, terrestrial biomass, organic wastes, and blends of biomass and wastes to synthetic fuels. Conversion processes under investigation include anaerobic digestion for production of methane, fermentation for production of alcohols and other liquid fuels, and thermochemical gasification for production of methane or medium-Btu gas. This paper discusses IGT's program on conversion of kelp marine biomass to substitute natural gas (SNG) via anaerobic digestion. It discusses advantages of marine biomass over other forms for large-scale energy conversion, reasons for selection of Macrocystis pyrifera as the first species for study, the overall concept of the kelp farm and conversion system, the integrated research program sponsored by the Gas Research Institute (GRI) and the Department of Energy (DOE) for research and development of this concept, the projected schedule for the research program, a summary of IGT's results to date on anaerobic digestion, and future work planned for development and optimization of the anaerobic digestion process.

OSTI ID:
5491653
Report Number(s):
CONF-7910126-2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English