Biofuel has long been an idea floating throughout the alternative energy community, and it has gained some fairly serious traction in the past several years. Last week, though, it got just a little more when the US EPA announce that during the first quarter of this year, more than a million gallons of biofuel were produced, the single highest level we’ve ever seen. Throughout all of 2015, just 2.2 million gallons were produced. Clearly, this is finally a technology that is taking off.

It seems many of the biggest industry players are finally working out the kinks in their processes, and that may mean production on a much larger scale is starting to take off, and the industry will grow and begin to truly compete in the marketplace in the way that alternative energy enthusiasts have always known that it could.

Making Komax Part of the Equation

Komax has kept an eye on the biofuel industry for some time. Just a few years ago, Threemile Canyon Farms in Boardman, Oregon, became part of the family of Komax customers. Known for their green practices and reliance on sustainable farming, they implemented an animal waste sludge digester to capture methane gas for energy production. A unique design, it had one primary problem: the solids content of the sludge often hit as high as 7%, and constant plugging, fouling, and scaling began to really change the operation.

To help eliminate the problem, we customized our Klean Wall Heat Exchanger. Utilizing our patented Hi-Pass technology, it built a turbulent flow at the boundary wall to help eliminate the wall fouling. It also uses a non-clog spiral shell design that ensures the passage of large debris and further reduces energy costs.

Since installation, the operation hasn’t had any problem, and they began producing the methane they needed after only ten days.

While biofuel means many things to many people, for Komax, it will always mean one thing – the chance to help more operations across the country.