Biodiesel Research
Biodiesel Fuel Production:
Work on the production of biodiesel fuel from various
feedstocks (waste and virgin oils, animal fats, micro-algae oils) was performed
in Dr. Dubé’s lab for many years.
We have developed a membrane reactor for the production of biodiesel fuel and
are currently commercializing the technology with a spin-off company, BioDiesel Reactor Technologies Inc. Other
work included studies on various alternative process designs, reaction
kinetics, process monitoring and sample
characterization.
Biodiesel
Research Projects: Please note that Dr. Dubé is no longer seeking researchers for
biodiesel-related projects.
Graduates of
Dr. Dubé’s Biodiesel Research Program: (in reverse chronological order)
Michele Hastie completed her M.A.Sc. degree under the co-supervision of myself and Dr. André Tremblay
(Chem. Eng., Univ. of Ottawa) in 2011. Michele investigated the
use of ion-exchange resins for the purification of biodiesel produced from high
FFA feedstocks.
Jehad Saleh completed his Ph.D. degree under the co-supervision
of myself and Dr. André Tremblay (Chem. Eng., Univ.
of Ottawa) in 2011. Dr. Saleh studied the separation of biodiesel reaction mixtures
for downstream processing.
Raghda Abo-Hasswa completed her M.A.Sc. degree under the co-supervision of myself and Dr. André
Tremblay (Chem. Eng., Univ. of Ottawa) in 2010. Raghda investigated the
impact of using a membrane reactor with high FFA feedstocks.
Sara Dastjerdi finished her M.A.Sc. thesis in 2010 on a process to produce biodiesel from
algae-based lipids. This project was conducted in collaboration with members of
the Dept. of Biology at the University
of Waterloo.
Peigang Cao completed his Ph.D. studies in 2008 under the
co-supervision of myself and Dr. André Tremblay (Chem.
Eng., Univ. of Ottawa).
Peigang helped construct and develop a novel membrane
reactor for the production of biodiesel fuel.
Fadi Ataya developed a packed bed reactor for the production of
biodiesel from waste vegetable oils. Fadi earned his Ph.D. in 2007 under the
co-supervision of myself and Dr.
Marten Ternan (Chem. Eng.,
Univ. of Ottawa).
Yongjun Zhang is a 2007 graduate of the M.Eng.
program under the co-supervision of myself and Dr.
André Tremblay (Chem. Eng., Univ. of Ottawa). Yongjun
worked on the downstream purification of biodiesel.
Jie Liu is a 2004 graduate from the M.A.Sc.
program under the co-supervision of myself and Dr.
André Tremblay (Chem. Eng., Univ. of Ottawa). Jie
was successful in building and testing a novel membrane reactor for the
production of biodiesel fuel.
Sheng Zheng is a 2003 graduate from the MASc program. She examined
the reaction kinetics of a process for the conversion of waste frying oils into
biodiesel fuel. Her work also included
in-line monitoring of the biodiesel process using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy
compared to GPC. She was co-supervised
by myself, Dr. David McLean (Chem. Eng., Univ.
of Ottawa) and Dr.
Morris Kates (Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of Ottawa).
Yi Zhang completed her MASc degree in 2002. She designed
several competing processes for the conversion of waste frying oils into
biodiesel fuel. This work included an economic feasibility study. She was co-supervised by myself,
Dr. David McLean (Chem. Eng.,
Univ. of Ottawa)
and Dr. Morris Kates (Dept. of
Biochemistry, Univ.
of Ottawa).
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