Waste Management and Energy Opportunities (EDITED) Steve Cox Anaerobe Systems 3/09/2007

 Founded in 1975  Microbiology supply company  Primarily deal with anaerobic bacteria  Make culture media for growing anaerobes  Petri plates  Test tubes  Research

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 H 2 O -> 12 H CO 2

Control the Process  Currently, wastewater is filtered and treated in ponds  Transform the ponds into monitored and controlled environments  Combine engineering with microbiology

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

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!)

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

Process, cont. 4. Sterilize and inoculate 5. Control and monitor fermentation 6. Collect gasses 7. Process waste

What About Our Waste?  Hydrogen  Carbon Dioxide  Organic Acids  Dead Bacteria  Unused nutrient

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

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

Carbon Dioxide  Can be used in refrigeration system to freeze peppers  Can be separate, stored, and sold Dry Ice Compressed CO 2

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

Other Leftovers  Distilled Water – reused in the process or sold  Solid Waste – reused in the process as food source or tilled into fields