Solix Biofuels Update

My last post was based on a article that was published in 2007, so I wanted to find some updates on the project and see where things were at here in 2011.  After searching both New Belgium's and Solix Biofuel's websites it appears that Solix has decided to implement its technolgy else where.  After reading a post on New Belgium's blog, investors thought that it would be a better investment to implement a demonstration plant near a coal bed methane plant where more carbon dioxide is available and on a more reliable basis.  The demonstational plant is known as the Coyote Gulch Plant and is located in Durango, CO.  The waste water streams from the coal bed methane plant are utilized as well as carbon dioxide from a amine gas scrubbing plant nearby.  The amine gas scrubbing plant cleans raw natural gas streams. Raw natural gas can contain large amount of carbon dioxide and must be removed from the natural gas.  Carbon dioxide is considered an acid gas and when mixed with water can produce carbonic acid.  After the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the amine solution in an amine scrubbing unit the amine solution that is rich in carbon dioxide can be regenerated by both heating and reducing the pressure of the amine solution.  This is analogous to opening a bottle of soda.  Carbon dioxide is used to carbonate the soda and as many of you know that when soda gets hot and you take the lid off large amounts of fizz is produced.  This is because the carbon dioxide in the soda wants to escape and does so when the cap is opened or when the pressure is dropped.  So overall an amine scrubbing plant takes the carbon dioxide from the natural gas stream and moves it to an amine solution stream, and finally the carbon dioxide is released from the amine solution.  Where the carbon dioxide can be utilized, like it is here at the Coyote Gulch Plant,  it is fed into the algae bio reactors and used by the algae to grow and produce oils.