According to Jimmy’s Comment -> ISA.org :
A portable refinery can now efficiently convert food, paper, and plastic trash into electricity.
Originally designed for the military, the machine allows soldiers in the field to convert waste into power. “This is a very promising technology,” said Michael Ladisch, the professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University who leads the project. “In a very short time, it should be ready for use in the military, and I think it could be used outside the military shortly thereafter.”
The “tactical biorefinery” processes several kinds of waste at once, which it converts into fuel via two parallel processes. The system then burns the different fuels in a diesel engine to power a generator. Ladisch said the machine’s ability to burn multiple fuels at once, along with its mobility, make the machine compelling.
The size of a small moving van, the biorefinery could alleviate the expense and potential danger associated with transporting waste and fuel. By eliminating garbage remnants—known in the military as a unit’s “signature”—it could protect the unit’s security by destroying clues the trash could provide to enemies.
Researchers tested the first tactical biorefinery prototype in November and found it produced 90% more energy than it consumed, said Jerry Warner, founder of Defense Life Sciences LLC, a private company working with Purdue researchers on the project. He said the results were better than expected. The U.S. Army subsequently commissioned the biorefinery upon completion of a functional prototype, and the machine is now under consideration for future Army development.
The tactical biorefinery separates organic food material from residual trash, such as paper, plastic, Styrofoam, and cardboard. The food waste goes to a bioreactor where industrial yeast ferments it into ethanol, a “green” fuel. Residual materials go to a gasifier where they get a heat treatment under low-oxygen conditions and eventually become low-grade propane gas and methane. The gas and ethanol are then combusted in a modified diesel engine that powers a generator to produce electricity.
Ladisch and Warner said the machine eventually could see use in disaster situations, similar to Hurricane Katrina, or at any crisis location where people do not have power. Emergency crews could then use the machine to turn debris such as woodchips into much-needed electricity, Warner said.
The refinery also could provide supplementary power for factories, restaurants or stores, Ladisch said.
“At any place with a fair amount of food and scrap waste the biorefinery could help reduce electricity costs, and you might even be able to produce some surplus energy to put back on the electrical grid,” he said.
Much of the fuel the system combusts is carbon-neutral, said Nathan Mosier, a Purdue professor of agricultural and biological engineering involved in the project. Carbon-neutral fuels like ethanol do not cause an appreciable net increase in atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
The biorefinery generator initially runs on diesel oil for several hours until the gasifier and the bioreactor begin to produce fuel, Warner said. In the initial commissioning test, researchers measured the amount of diesel oil burned and electricity produced to calculate its efficiency.
The machine produces a very small amount of its own waste, Warner said, mostly in the form of ash that the Environmental Protection Agency has designated as “benign,” or non-hazardous. Any leftover materials from the bioreactor go into the gasifier, which they have to empty every two to three days.
“It’s about enough to fill a regular sized trash bag, and it represents about a 30-to-1 volume reduction,” Warner said.
-This is a much better technology! very promising… sounds like the movie “Back to the Future” when Michale J Fox’s professor came back from the future….with the same “bio-refinery” attached behind the car…that recycle the trash into fuel for the car!! 
GREAT!! Let’s get the system distributed here in SINGAPORE!!! LET”S GO !! Who want invest in this let me know!!
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