Cyanobacterial Inoculants for Arid Land Reclamation

Engineering Technology, Inc. (ETI) proposes the investigation of deagglomeration and dissemination of cyanobacteria as an arid land inoculant. Dissemination technologies developed for the agriculture industry and by the U.S. Army for the formation of battlefield smokes/obscurants will be evaluated. These technologies will be assessed for their viability in the dissemination of cyanobacteria as an arid land inoculant, which share size, shape, and density characteristics with existing powder dispersions used in battlefield smoke dissemination and agricultural fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. The effort will investigate the physiology of the various bacteria of interest (microcoleus vaginatus, and others) and their ability to withstand the mechanical, chemical and storage environments adopted for the successful dissemination of centimeter or smaller sized materials. Techniques to be examined for particle formation and dissemination include spray drying agglomeration, mechanical chopping/pelletizing equipment, flash atomization dissemination, and large scale smoke generator technology. Approaches will focus strictly upon methods that involve no water for the dissemination process. In addition, based upon current limitations in the rapid growth of cyanobacteria, the effort will examine non-traditional methods for large scale, economical growth of the bacteria directly onto suitable substrates that permit their ready drying and packaging for storage, dissemination, and rapid adherence to the soil upon contact with the arid land environment. BENEFITS: This technology represents the only reasonable approach to cost-effective, large-scale reclamation of arid areas. As such, there should be a significant market among Federal and State agencies involved in reclamation of disturbed lands in arid regions of the country, e.g., the DoD, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service.