Picatinny Arsenal Engineers Develop Process to Produce Biofuel from a Demilitarization Process
December 9, 2015http://www.army.mil/article/159178/Picatinny_Arsenal_engineers_cook_up_new_recipe_for_biofuel/
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In the U.S., Picatinny engineers have partnered with private industry to harness the photosynthetic ability of algae to develop a way to recycle M6 artillery round propellant and create biofuel.
Propellant is the chemical in the M6 artillery round that ignites and propels the round out of the howitzer tube. Currently, it is disposed via incineration, which produces carbon dioxide. Eliminating the release of carbon dioxide during destruction of propellant helps the Army reduce its carbon footprint.
The algae-based demilitarization method would allow the U.S. Army to recycle nitrogen, which is present in all propellants and explosives. The nitrogen from propellant will be extracted through hydrolysis and will be used to grow algae in a reactor. The algae will then produce ethanol as well as an oil product which can be refined into biodiesel. By creating biofuels, the process will allow the Army to create a source of revenue from a waste-stream.
The Picatinny team is working with the industrial biotechnology company Algenol Biotech LLC, which has a patented algae technology for the production of ethanol and other biofuels.
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