DURHAM – Grease-filled fryers throughout the state could contribute to more than just waste if a student-assisted project at the University of New Hampshire becomes reality.

Conway-based MBP Bioenergy turned to UNH's chemical engineering department when it decided to automate its Weevo processor, which turns vegetable oil into biodiesel, which can be used to run diesel engines, or bioheat, which can be used as a heat source.

After two years of work, the project is getting closer to completion. Students have created a plan to automate the system that could expand its use and allow more businesses and organizations access to the technology.

Chemical engineering senior Joe Pearson of Barrington and recent graduate Kristopher Cui, also of Barrington, spent countless hours programming a system that would automate the Weevo.

Pearson and Cui are tinkering with the Weevo to create the most effective, and cheapest, way to automate it.

Pearson and Cui, with help from their professor, Ihab Farag of UNH's Biodiesel Group, have laid the ground work for plans that will eventually automate the Weevo. Automation would allow much larger systems to be built without needing people to constantly move levers and add fuel throughout the process, Pearson said.

"The biggest challenge for me is learning how the programming works," said Pearson, who is in the midst of learning much of the material he is applying.

Pearson said they are currently working on a demonstration project that will prove the automation technology works and hope to build an automated Weevo prototype some time next school year.

Cui, who graduated with honors in May, has been hired by OSRAM Sylvania. Cui won an Award of Excellence for his presentation at the Vice President for Research Symposium at the Undergraduate Research Conference. He was one of 20 students to receive the honor.

The potential for the Weevo is great, MBP president Jim Proulx says, and can produce upwards of 50 million gallons of biofuel given enough input fuel, such as vegetable oil. For now MBP has found success with its manual Weevo system, using the technology at schools including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, he said.

Proulx said he hopes to install small-scale Weevo systems first at colleges around the country as a demonstration of the technology that could teach more people about biodiesel and expand its use.

"The real challenge to the whole biodiesel industry has been to educate," he said.

Biodiesel can be used as fuel in diesel cars with some stations, including one at the Lee traffic circle just outside Durham, already serving the fuel. But widespread acceptance remains elusive.

Professor Farag said biofuels will become more popular once their price matches that of regular diesel, though right now it's significantly more expensive. He said a key to creating cheap biodiesel will be to find an effective fuel source.

Soy beans, a popular crop used to make biodiesel because of its abundance in the Midwest, is not nearly as efficient as other possible crops, Farag said. An acre of soy beans produces only about 60 gallons of biodiesel per year, he said, which according to some estimates would require land equal to three times the size of Texas for it to meet the U.S.'s fuel needs.

On the other hand, Farag said, algae are showing huge promise with the possibility of one acre producing enough in one year to make 10,000 gallons of biofuel.

"You need a more steady source of feedstock, that's the big issue," he said. "That certainly will help improve the price."