{"id":931,"date":"2008-10-01T15:35:25","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T15:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=931"},"modified":"2017-05-25T13:02:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T13:02:47","slug":"clever-student-wise-professor-experienced-alum-awesome-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2008\/10\/01\/clever-student-wise-professor-experienced-alum-awesome-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"clever student + wise professor + experienced alum = AWESOME DISCOVERY"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Wendi Wheeler and Betsey Norgard<\/p>\n

\"Arlin
Brian Krohn poses with the scientists who named the process (“Mcgyan” from their own names) that they hope will revolutionize the biofuel industry. (L to R) Chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, SarTec vice president Clayton McNeff ’91, Krohn, and SarTec chief scientist Ben Yan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A student\u2019s passion for research<\/h2>\n

Brian Krohn originally came to Augsburg to study film, but after only one semester without any science classes, this lifelong scientist felt \u201cso deprived\u201d that he officially changed his major to chemistry.<\/p>\n

Even so, he was unsure where the degree would lead him. \u201cI thought with a degree in chemistry, I could only be a teacher or a pharmacist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Then in the summer of 2006, Krohn received a grant from Augsburg\u2019s Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) program. It was support to conduct research, one of his passions. He and his adviser, chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, were both interested in biodiesel, so Krohn set out to find a more efficient way to produce the fuel.<\/p>\n

\"BrianKrohn describes the research process as difficult but exciting. \u201cYou have to really dig into the whole process and read all the literature to join into the conversation about your topic before you can figure out what you can contribute,\u201d he said. Whereas most undergraduate researchers \u201cdo what they are told, like calibrate a machine all day,\u201d according to Krohn, he had more freedom to explore and experiment.<\/p>\n

Eventually his work led to the discovery of a process that converts animal feedstock to biodiesel. Gyberg advised Krohn to contact alumnus Clayton McNeff \u201991, a chemist and vice president of SarTec, a company specializing in yucca-based products and CEO of ZirChrom Separations, a chromatography company. McNeff, his chief scientist at SarTec Ben Yan, and Gyberg took Krohn\u2019s idea and created the \u201cMcgyan\u201d Process (from their three names), an efficient and environmentally friendly method that will allow McNeff\u2019s new start-up company, Ever Cat Fuels, to produce more than three million gallons of fuel per year at a first-of-its-kind biodiesel plant in Isanti, Minn.<\/p>\n

Krohn says it was his research and connections through Augsburg, not the discovery itself, that opened doors for him. In fact, he said this opportunity might never have been available if not for McNeff\u2019s ties to the College. \u201cIt\u2019s almost unheard of that the vice president of research would sit down with an undergraduate student and his old professor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A professor’s connections to industry<\/h2>\n

It’s an event, says chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, that probably wouldn\u2019t have happened anywhere else in the world.\"Gyberg<\/p>\n

He\u2019s referring to senior Brian Krohn\u2019s research, his relationship with Clayton McNeff \u201991, and the partnership that ultimately yielded the invention of the Mcgyan Process. Gyberg, who is beginning his 42nd year teaching at Augsburg, has supervised many student research projects over the years beginning with Richard Olmsted \u201969, the husband of current Augsburg chemistry professor Sandra Olmsted \u201969, in the summer following their junior year.<\/p>\n

Krohn began his research by poring over hundreds of abstracts of research on biodiesel. Eventually he found two examples of projects that had been somewhat successful, which had suggested that solid-state strong acids might be effective catalysts for conversion of plant oils to biodiesel. Gyberg knew that this material was used as a bonded solid stationary phase in chromatography, so they attempted a conversion using a batch process that had been used since World War II. Gyberg summed up the results: \u201cIt didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Gyberg recalled a seminar given four years earlier by McNeff on zirconia-based stationary phases used for liquid chromatography and the ease with which it could be bonded with various substances. Gyberg contacted McNeff, and Krohn and Gyberg went to present their research to McNeff at SarTec Corporation. They asked for some bonded strong acid zirconia and again tried a batch process experiment with no success.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere is where the confluence of events occurred that would not likely have happened anywhere else,\u201d said Gyberg. McNeff\u2019s ZirChrom Corporation is a world leader on zirconia and its properties. McNeff and fellow scientist Ben Yan had been working on oven-heated zirconia-based high temperature liquid chromatography. It occurred to McNeff that pressurized, heated, continuous column catalysis using solid-state acidified zirconia might work\u2014and it did, the very first time. The Mcgyan Process was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would appear that this is only the beginning,\u201d Gyberg said. Research continues, with SarTec and Augsburg investigating algae growth as a feedstock source for biodiesel as well as other reactions that are possible for new types of biofuels that have not been possible to synthesize before.<\/p>\n

Gyberg is also working on a project with a University of St. Thomas engineering professor who believes that in three years all biodiesel will be made using the Mcgyan Process. They are developing a \u201cpickup bed biodiesel plant\u201d that the individual farmer could use to make his own biodiesel fuel. This would also benefit Third World countries where jatropha, a weedy bush that grows on noncropland and needs only about eight inches of rain or so a year, is readily available. Jatropha can produce about five times more plant oil a year for biodiesel than soybeans, and the Mcgyan reactor is the only one that can completely convert the oil efficiently and cleanly to biodiesel with virtually no waste and no pollutants.<\/p>\n

Rather than spend his summers on the golf course or on the lake, Gyberg supervises research because, he says, \u201cIt keeps things interesting and exciting, keeps one up with current science, and keeps the mind sharp.\u201d He adds, \u201cOne of the great pleasures over the years is using my background and experience to work with students, some of whom are smarter than I am.\u201d Gyberg says students are fortunate to be able to do research at Augsburg, since faculty there can spend more time working with students than at large research institutions.<\/p>\n

\"Clayton<\/p>\n

A chemist on the cutting edge<\/h2>\n

In March 2008 at a press conference at Augsburg College, Clayton McNeff became somewhat of a media sensation in the biodiesel world. He is vice president of SarTec Corporation, and together with his chief scientist Ben Yan, his former professor Arlin Gyberg, and Augsburg student Brian Krohn, McNeff announced a discovery they said would revolutionize biodiesel production and lessen or eliminate the country\u2019s dependence on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

This was the first public announcement of the Mcgyan Process and the biodiesel fuel it can produce more efficiently, less costly, and without harmful byproducts than existing processes. He went on to announce that the group was already successfully producing 50,000 gallons per year at a pilot plant, and even powering the plant with it. Through a new company, Ever Cat Fuels, a new large-scale production plant is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2009 that will yield three million gallons per year, using non-food grade corn oil from ethanol plants and free fatty acid waste products from the current conventional biodiesel industry.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt can be cost effective and environmentally friendly\u2014and it\u2019s portable.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

In July the Star Tribune<\/em> described the Mcgyan production process as immensely appealing to countries and companies around the world because \u201cit can be cost effective and environmentally friendly\u2014and it\u2019s portable.\u201d The goal is for farmers to be able to produce the biodiesel they need to run their farms completely on site. More than 35 countries have contacted SarTec inquiring about the technology.<\/p>\n

Algae is a large part of McNeff\u2019s vision. He refers to it as the \u201choly grail\u201d of biodiesel production because it can be grown utilizing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from bioethanol and coal-burning power plants, and it can potentially yield enough oil for biodiesel to replace all U.S. petroleum needs without competing for food crops or cropland. SarTec, in partnership with Augsburg and Triangle Energy, is pursuing this research with grants from Great River Energy and Xcel Energy.<\/p>\n

McNeff is a 1991 Augsburg chemistry graduate, who pursued his PhD in analytical chemistry at the University of Minnesota. He joined SarTec, the company founded by his parents where he first worked as a high school student, fostering his love for science.<\/p>\n

In 1995, as he became known for his expertise with zirconia, McNeff co-founded ZirChrom Separations, Inc., along with Steven Rupp and University of Minnesota professor Peter W. Carr. Carr has won numerous awards in the field of analytical chemistry and has been announced as the recipient of the 2009 American Chemical Society Award in Analytical Chemistry.<\/p>\n

In 2002 McNeff was awarded the Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration\u2019s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This award was given in recognition of McNeff\u2019s achievement in innovation, research, and business that contributed to the commercial success of ZirChrom Separations.<\/p>\n

McNeff considers the success of the experimentation leading to the Mcgyan Process as \u201cserendipity,\u201d but it\u2019s a success that can extend far beyond their projected goal of three million gallons per year and be licensed worldwide to companies seeking more efficient and sustainable fuels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Wendi Wheeler and Betsey Norgard A student\u2019s passion for research Brian Krohn originally came to Augsburg to study film, but after only one semester without any science classes, this lifelong scientist felt \u201cso deprived\u201d that he officially changed his major to chemistry. Even so, he was unsure where the degree would lead him. \u201cI <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-stories","tag-fall-2008"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7953,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931\/revisions\/7953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}