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Waste Management and Energy Opportunities (EDITED) Steve Cox Anaerobe Systems 3/09/2007
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Founded in 1975 Microbiology supply company Primarily deal with anaerobic bacteria Make culture media for growing anaerobes Petri plates Test tubes Research
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Hydrogen Production Hydrogen can be produced through fermentation Bacteria use sugar for energy, but throw away the hydrogen Basic process: 1 C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 H 2 O -> 12 H 2 + 6 CO 2
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Control the Process Currently, wastewater is filtered and treated in ponds Transform the ponds into monitored and controlled environments Combine engineering with microbiology
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Organism Selection Millions of microbes that will break down organic matter Byproducts of one are food for another Choose an organism based on your food and what you want produced
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Production Strictly under anaerobic conditions Control pH, temperature, and nutrients Collect, process, and store gasses (CO 2, H 2, others) Process our own waste (yes, processing food waste gives us even more waste!)
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Our Process 1. Determine the best microorganism to use based on the food waste 2. Filter large solids from the waste stream 3. Supplement the waste stream with essential nutrients
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Process, cont. 4. Sterilize and inoculate 5. Control and monitor fermentation 6. Collect gasses 7. Process waste
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What About Our Waste? Hydrogen Carbon Dioxide Organic Acids Dead Bacteria Unused nutrient
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Hydrogen Used on-site, not stored Consumed in a combustion engine, turbine, or fuel cell Electricity supplied to the the processing plant Waste heat used to sterilize initial waste stream or to heat fermentors
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Using the Hydrogen 1,300 gallon fermentor run continuously can yield about 5 kW of power per day Consumes about 7,000 gallons of feed stock per day Pepper Plant: 100,000 gallons per day 70 kW of power per day
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Carbon Dioxide Can be used in refrigeration system to freeze peppers Can be separate, stored, and sold Dry Ice Compressed CO 2
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Organic Acids Acetic acid is main waste product Distilled out from waste water Used to make plastic, as a food additive, and as vinegar Market price is $5/gallon ($215 per barrel) U.S. Demand is 1.5 billion gallons
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Other Leftovers Distilled Water – reused in the process or sold Solid Waste – reused in the process as food source or tilled into fields
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