US army to be powered by waste
October 12, 2009 by Lin Edwards
Qinetiq's PyTEC system undergoing trials.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Defense company Qinetiq has been awarded a contract to supply the US army with a system that generates electricity from garbage.
The PyTEC system includes a pyrolysis tube capable of continuously consuming up to 100 kg (220 lb) of garbage an hour. Mixed waste is heated to high temperature in the pyrolisis tube, a process that releases combustible gases, which are then stored and later burned to generate electricity. The system produces five times more energy than is used to power the system.
The pyrolisis process differs from other systems that generate energy by heating waste in that the heating takes place in the absence of oxygen. Aerobic systems generally need waste to be of only one type, whereas the pyrolisis system works with untreated mixed wastes.
The thermal systems also need waste to be diced before being fed to the incinerator, and have problems with some components of waste, such as tin and glass. The PyTEC system does not require finely diced waste, and can handle the difficult waste sources with ease.
The end products of the PyTEC system are energy and a glassy waste product that is only 5% of the volume of the original garbage.
The system has been in use for a year on a British ship, the HMS Ocean. According to Qinetiq spokesperson Pat McGlead, the system has been "containerized" for the US army to make it easier to deploy.
Up to ten systems will eventually be deployed, many of them in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they are expected to dramatically reduce the army's use of fossil fuels, and take care of waste disposal at the same time. Until now the "forward operating bases" in Afghanistan and Iraq have had no formal arrangements for disposing of their waste.
The PyTEC system may also find application outside the military, since many people in both commercial and private premises are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint and produce energy from renewable sources. Turning waste into energy has many attractions for a wide range of people.
A side benefit of the PyTEC waste disposal system in conflict areas may also be a saving of lives, since there will be less need for garbage trucks to be on the roads, where they risk land mines, and other forms of attack. The systems are expected to be delivered by mid 2010, and the period of testing and evaluation is expected to last until early 2012.
© 2009 PhysOrg.com
Feb 02, 2009 |
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What about the exhaust from the burning process itself? Are they claiming to burn fossil fuels without releasing any polution?
After the doubts, can this system be used to reduce landfill, and the costs of sub-optimal 'recycling' systems, for small towns and cities?
That would appear to be the most hopeful of all the options- considering the amount of already in-situ waste, and the never-ending supply being generated.
My concern would be: just what is the composition of this "glassy" waste, and how readily decomposeable/reactive? There would be some benefit to concentrating toxins, but only if they were then sequestered or better yet de-toxified somehow.
It would be interesting to see if this process could be coupled to or combined with the "incandescent metal" process- which is said to reduce waste to its constituent atomic elements. If the two could be combined, theoretically you could dispose of 100% waste, and convert it into pure elements, ready for industrial application.
Sorry for the double quote above.
The article is misleading. After an examination of PyTEC's website (http://www.pytecs...e_1.htm) I think they use this process to create fuel. They are not using the waste as fuel.
They anaerobically and thermally decompose the waste to create a synthetic oil, as well as charcoal - the glass - and "gas", which I am assuming means exhaust emissions.
If this waste pyrolysis is anything like landfill gas combustors or waste incinerators, the effluent emissions would be very dirty.
the u.s. army is wasting power. afghanistan , iraq? nation building? maintaining a world wide 'empire' of over 250k troops deployed plus as many private contractors?
all this while our own country is broke and the dollar approaches its next round of death throws? how much more power can be wasted before there's nothing left worth fighting for?
Our country will always be worth fighting for. Quit complaining.
Look for this in Hawaii very soon where they're just about out of viable landfill space
As a former infantry soldier, I can say that this country is not worth fighting for, nor has it been for long before my birth. Why fight for corporations to bone us even more, and a government that claims we are free, yet, you can't even drink a beer on your porch legally (public intoxication anyone)...that doesn't sound very free, or worth fighting for.... Personally, I'm sick of being bent over. The next military force I'm in will be in the form of a resistance force to get rid of this shotty government and allow me, you, and everyone else on here to actually vote on topics personally, and not leave it in the hands of some schmuck on the hill (in fact, those schmucks should not even have a vote if representing their states best interest of the PEOPLE). Our country is modeled after an already extinct civilization...it will surely fall as well.
As far as the invention...agreed with most others on here, not near enough info provided....
NotAsleep...good comment