The developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae into a source of renewable oil, OriginOil, has announced that Phase 1 of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been completed. This being the first step to making renewable oil a viable competitor to petroleum.

INL and OriginOil have been working together to process a model for the production of algae for biofuels and other value-added products commercially. A comprehensive mass-energy balance of OriginOil's proprietary process was the focus of the CRADA in Phase 1. During this phase the company was able to develop its comprehensive productivity model, which was presented recently to the National Algae Association's Quarterly Forum in Houston, Texas. Core data on the project efficiency and recovery values for the steps involved in the algae-growing process was provided by INL researchers.

The scope and terms of Phase 2 and 3 of the CRADA are being negotiated by OriginOil and INL currently. Biological and chemical feedstock evaluation needed for systems integration design and scale-up demonstration will be looked at for the additional phases. Minor feeds, recycle streams, intermediate storage, utilities needed and waste streams will be determined with this work, and the same goes for sizes for equipment and the number of parallel units needed, all in order to allow for a more robust economic analysis of industrial scale systems.

The first-ever productivity model for algae production are represented by the results of Phase 1 according to reports from the company. Industry leaders readily received the model because the sets of data are comprehensive, assumptions are transparent and commercialization challenges are clear. Specialized calculators and a detailed model for researchers will be made available by OriginOil on the company's website.