For Immediate Release

Contact: Carla York
(703) 931-1410
carla@innovationdrive.net

Connecticut Biodiesel Manufacturer BioPur
Launches Green Power Project

BioWatz Project to Provide Clean Biodiesel Power to Connecticut Light & Power,
Critical Environmental and Operational Data to Federal Government

Bethlehem, CT (September 25, 2009) BioPur, a local biodiesel manufacturer, will commission their new BioWatz electrical power generation station and data information center here, September 28 at 10 am. Representative Christopher Murphy of Congressional District 5 of Connecticut was instrumental in securing more than $500,000 from the federal government towards the implementation of this project.
A joint project between the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition, BioPur and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); BioWatz provides multiple benefits and solutions for future alternative energies. The project not only yields a new and innovative way to generate cleaner electricity from recycled cooking oil, but will also serve as a power generation source to Connecticut Light and Power (CL & P) and a training/data collection center for biodiesel research.
“We are very excited about this project,” said BioPur owner and project demonstration site director Christos Glynos. “We are generating self-sustaining power and we will provide power for the community and at the end of the project, our data will be used as a model for peak efficiencies in biodiesel power generation for the future,” he added.
According to Glynos, because of the highly sophisticated control systems used at BioPur Light & Power for the BioWatz project, the demonstration program will be used for testing the efficiencies of various biodiesel blends under disparate electrical load conditions—something of great interest to the DOE.
“Biodiesel is an exceptional source of alternative energy that combines diesel fuel with any variety of recycled feed stocks including used cooking fats (called yellow grease), and surplus/outdated cooking oils from various sources. Biodiesel blends also offer us some relief from foreign oil because the feedstocks can be cultivated from existing agricultural resources for specific use in generating plants like the BioWatz program,” said Gibson Asuquo, Project Manager of the DOE’s Golden Field Office in Colorado.
“The key to widespread biodiesel success is determining how well the feedstocks perform under various blends and conditions. We expect the BioWatz project will provide us many of those insights,” he added.
In addition to recycling used oil that would otherwise end up in a landfill, the BioWatz project also offers reductions in air pollution and yields improved air quality.
According to controls designer Bob Schmitz of Sabre Engineering, the BioWatz project will monitor various pollutants including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrous oxide and solid particulates among other things.
By capturing this data in real time, BioWatz project researchers will be able to correlate the amount of contaminants with the specific biodiesel blend, feedstock source, generator load and other factors that should help determine not only how efficiently a particular blend is in fuel economy, but also the amount of pollution generated in contrast to the amount of electricity generated.
An additional benefit of the control system is the ability to adjust the efficiencies of the generator virtually via a password protected Internet site.
“This project offers an opportunity to set the standards for efficiency, optimization and data reporting within the emerging biodiesel to electricity energy sector,” said Lee Grannis of the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition. “Data we are collecting in this project will shape the future of cleaner, more efficient energy generation and yield greater opportunities for reducing dependence on foreign oil,” added Grannis.
Besides recycling used oil, reducing air pollution and generating self-sustaining power, the BioWatz project also provides a unique fertilizer product from their patented filtration process. Using a dry diatomaceous earth “wash” to remove particulates from the feedstock, BioPur dramatically reduces water usage in contrast to traditional production methods for biodiesel and E85 ethanol blends. In addition, the used diatomaceous earth product is composted and serves as a nutrient-rich fertilizer for area farms and pasture land.
About the BioWatz generation system—
Powered by a diesel generator, the BioWatz generator produces a baseline a 225 kilowatts of power at a consumption rate of 18.2 gallons of diesel per kilowatt- hour. Biodiesel consumption vs. power generated is one of the main variables being explored in the BioWatz project. For more information on results as the demonstration proceeds, check out www.biowatz.com.
The project has three fuel tanks. Each tank holds 330 gallons of fuel (2,409 lbs.). At 100% load fuel consumption rate of 18.2 gallons per hour, the expected time that the genset can run on one tank is 18.1 hours. While at present there is one generator on site, the BioWatz project and BioPur plan to increase the number of generators as the project matures.
Currently there are plans to render other feedstocks including:

• Tallow
• Vegetable oil
• Olive oil
• Waste fry oil (yellow grease)
• Soy
• Corn
• Canola oil
• Sunflower oil
• Other feedstocks that may become available, including jatropha oil and algae derived oil

For more information, go to www.biowatz.com or contact Carla York, (703) 931-1410, carla@innovationdrive.net.