Tactical Biorefineries

The objective of this proposal is to study then demonstrate the feasibility of converting military waste and locally available biomass into fuel in a division level encampment. The fuel produced would be used to power contiguous stationary devices such as mess burners, immersion heaters, generators, etc. This opportunity is presented as a product of recent advances in biotechnology, in particular our ability to engineer organisms and molecules to specific tasks, as well as improvements in biomass refinement, such as pyrolysis and gasification. During Phase I military context will be studied to determine the available material and energy flows. We will then identify the optimal candidate bioprocessing technologies and conduct preliminary bench- testing to create sufficient data to generate estimates of the energetics. Next, models of candidate biorefinery versions will be developed and used to evaluate candidate processes. Upon identification and down-selection of the best feasible version, bench- scale tests will be carried out utilizing field waste to produce the desired fuel for purposes of preliminary characterization of the design of a conceptual system. Our Phase I Option will consider the adoption of bio-based plastics and the results of our study will be captured in conceptual diagrams for phase II prototyping.