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#1 2004-04-13 08:34:34
- Palomar
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- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: Pee-U! technology
[http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u … rm_scene_3]New use for oinker excrement
*Interesting, though. I'm familiar with hog confinement when living in the Midwest. If this can ease our dependence on foreign oil I certainly say "go for it."
"The thermochemical conversion process uses intense heat and pressure to break down the molecular structure of manure into oil. It's much like the natural process that turns organic matter into oil over centuries, --->but in the laboratory the process can take as little as a half-hour.<---"
Another possibility: "A similar process is being used at a plant in Carthage, Mo., where tons of turkey entrails, feathers, fat and grease from a nearby Butterball turkey plant are converted into a light crude oil..."
Anticipate objections from PETA over the latter?
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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#2 2004-04-13 10:26:51
- SBird
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- Registered: 2004-03-10
- Posts: 490
Re: Pee-U! technology
[http://www.changingworldtech.com/home.html]Here is the homepage for the company that's created this technology. I've been meaning to post this for a few weeks (I stumbled across the homepage about a month ago) abut kept forgetting.
Their process is really interesting - they take organic waste and basically super autoclave it. They use high temperature steam at high pressures to reduce the organic molecules to smaller ones. The result is high grade fuel oil (the primary fuel output is comparable to refined gasoline), methane, various phosphate and nitrogen compounds for fertilizers and various mineral components. Very little waste and it's cheaper and less smelly (fewer community complaints) than the current rendering plants.
Unlike a lot of zlternative energy plans, this has promise because it not only produces fuel but also is cheaper and superior to existing methods. Unfortunately, the company won't talk too much about their methods or their initial process plant because of various non-disclosure agreements but it appears to be a highly promising technology. It's got potential Mars use as a way of converting excess organic waste into useful fuel.
It's also got the more obvious use of turning the millions of metric tons of organic waste we make in this country every year into a renewable energy source to reduce our foreign energy reliance.
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#3 2004-04-13 10:36:29
- John Creighton
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- From: Nova Scotia, Canada
- Registered: 2001-09-04
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Re: Pee-U! technology
Hmm, Maybe one could make money of sewage treatment.
Dig into the [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/2006/12/political-grab-bag.html]political grab bag[/url] at [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/]Child Civilization[/url]
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#4 2004-04-13 14:07:39
- SBird
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- Registered: 2004-03-10
- Posts: 490
Re: Pee-U! technology
That's one of their stated uses for the tech. They propose to use it for municipal solid waste, paper pulping, pood and animal waste, waste plastic, waste tires, coal gassification, medical waste processing, hazardous waste processing and petroleum processing.
The great part about this is that there is no uncontrolled venting to the air or water. Furthermore, the process by default sterilizes the material is works on. It basically uses high pressure steam which we have lots of experience handling and so represents no tremendous technical issues.
Check out the website, they've got lots of good explanations as well as some detailed technical papers.
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#5 2004-05-20 06:31:51
- Palomar
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Re: Pee-U! technology
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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#6 2005-05-03 09:10:45
- Palomar
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- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
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Re: Pee-U! technology
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … ]Pachyderm poo-poo power
*Finally found this old thread after searching multiple times. Gross, but interesting.
...is studying how feasible it would be to switch to animal waste as an alternative energy source to reduce its $400,000 annual heating and electricity bill...
Because the elephants eat mostly hay, they are the ideal waste producers for the project, Baker said. Additionally, they are inefficient digesters, which makes their feces higher in energy content...
Depending on the process, the zoo animal waste could be used to produce methane or hydrogen for powering a fuel cell or generator.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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