Des Moines Business Record Daily
07-31-06
ISU team converts waste to fuel
A team of researchers at Iowa State University is working on a project to turn
farm waste such as cornstalks and manure into a bio-oil that could be used for
boiler fuel and possibly transportation fuel.
The project is being supported by $190,000 in grants from the Iowa
Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium. The process involves drying the waste for
over 25 days in a large drum and then rapidly heating it. The vapors from this
process are condensed to produce a thick bio-oil. The process also produces
charcoal that can be used to enrich soil. Early tests indicate that every kilogram
of the dried mixture produces 0.2 to 0.5 kilograms of bio-oil.
According to Samy Sadaka from ISU's Center for Sustainable Environmental
Technologies, if half the animal manure in the country were processed into biooil, it would produce the equivalent of 45 million tons of oil. Sadaka said the biooil conversion process can help solve some of Iowa's challenges with agricultural
wastes while producing renewable energy