Profile: Jason Strull
University of Nevada-Reno
Oh the power of YouTube. It was back in 2005, when the YouTube sensation was just catching on, that Jason Strull, then a sophomore at the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR), first learned about biodiesel. After watching videos of biodiesel being made, Strull immediately saw the potential of biodiesel as a way to offset petroleum fuels and reduce harmful emissions.
“Living where I do in Nevada, I’ve always felt strongly about the need to protect the environment and reduce our dependence on petroleum,” Strull said. The recent disaster in the Gulf is a good example of what can happen with petroleum fuel. Biodiesel is a great alternative to petroleum that can help reduce our carbon footprint.”
Strull’s interest in biodiesel soon turned to action. During the fall of his senior year (2007), Strull worked to produce biodiesel meeting national standards from virgin oils. He began to look at the economics of producing biodiesel for his senior project, and wrote a business plan based on his research. He began to look into the profitability of untapped waste sources.”
During this time, his mentor at UNR, Dr. Mano Misra, noticed a glimmer of oil on his day-old coffee and hypothesized that coffee contained oil and could be made into biodiesel. Strull quickly jumped on the idea and began working on this hypothesis with another student.
Using a solvent extraction, Strull was able to extract coffee oil from spent coffee grounds and make it into biodiesel. With this research proven, Strull and his partner published a paper in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (Spent Coffee Grounds as a Versatile Source of Green Energy: 2008, 56 (24) pp 11757 -11760). He also created a business plan based on this idea which won the 2008 Nevada Lieutenant Governors Cup, a $5,000 award for the business plan which best employs clean and renewable energy services or technology.
After graduating with a major in Material Sciences & Chemical Engineering in 2008, Strull went to work as a research assistant for Dr. Misra where he worked on enhancing the fuel properties of coffee biodiesel. After it became apparent that the biodiesel they produced had unusually high sulfur content, Strull worked to improve it. He and a colleague developed a washing method to remove the sulfur and produce ASTM certified fuel.
After that, Strull continued to work on biodiesel research and went on to convert fats from chicken feather meal into biodiesel. This research was also published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (2009, 57 (14) pp 6163-6166).
During the summer of 2010, Strull is working at Bently Biofuels, a biodiesel producer based in Minden, NV. While there he has had the opportunity to produce biodiesel on an industrial scale and continue with research and development.
Strull plans to return to UNR in the fall of 2010 where he will pursue a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering. He also plans to continue working with Dr. Misra in the field of alternative energy. Strull would like to remain involved with biodiesel and is very interested in algae as an emerging feedstock for biodiesel production.
“I think the industry is still a couple of years away from algae-based fuel being produced on an industrial scale,” Strull said. “The way I see it, by pursuing a masters, the timing will be right and I’ll be in a position to make a greater contribution to the future of the biodiesel industry.”
Strull is excited about the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel initiative and says, “I feel I could make a significant contribution to this cause and therefore offer my full support.”
Other Profiles:
Bernardo del Campo
Lucas Ellis
Mikkel VandeBergh
Back to main Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel page.
