Can swine manure be converted into pavement?
A team of University of Illinois researchers thinks so. The proposal, “Pave the way: From Organic Waste to Renewable Roads With Advanced Resource Recovery Delineation (FORWARD),” is one of three projects funded through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Bioproduct Pilot Program, which supports research and development of value-added products from agricultural commodities to enhance a circular bioeconomy, according to a University of Illinois College of ACES release. The team received a $2.5 million USDA grant to explore conversion of food waste and swine manure into pavement binder and transportation fuels.
“Many of our daily-life products are created from derivatives of crude oil. That includes not only fuel, but also lubricants, heating oils, asphalt, and plastics. Petroleum will eventually run out, and we need to find alternatives that are recyclable and renewable,” Yuanhui Zhang, Founder professor of agricultural and biological engineering (ABE) and principal investigator on the grant, said in a release.
The researchers will use a hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactor system to convert biowaste into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process. Zhang explained that this mimics petroleum formation in nature, where biowaste buried deep underground gradually turns into crude oil over millions of years. However, in the HTL reactor, the process takes under an hour.
The HTL reactor’s main output is biocrude oil, which will then be separated into transportation fuel and a biobinder that can be mixed with gravel to create asphalt for road pavement, the release said. The wastewater from the process is high in nutrients and can be recovered for use as fertilizer. In addition, the research team will also study the viability of the process via technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle analysis (LCA).
The U.S. produces millions of tons of food and agricultural waste each year. This costs billions of dollars to collect and manage, the release says. Creating bioproducts can help lower the high costs of managing waste while mitigating adverse environmental impact and sustaining economic development. Recycling biowaste can also reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills, which often are disproportionately located in underserved communities, the researchers pointed out.
“Adopting a more circular economy ensures that wealth and other economic benefits in the form of jobs and other opportunities are created, and stay, in rural communities,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a press release announcing the NIFA grants. “We must support and incentivize practices like these, because it’s what consumers want — and what farmers, and our planet, need.”
The research team also includes Paul Davidson and Cody Allen of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Ramez Hajj of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Yalin Li of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment (iSEE).
Other grants were awarded to:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, for a project that proposes to convert food waste into biodegradable, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-based bioplastics that can be used for a variety of consumer plastics, including flexible and rigid packaging and containers for food and beverages.
Soylei Innovations, of Ames, Iowa, for a project that proposes to transform high oleic soybean oil into thermoplastic rubber for pavements, which has the potential to extend repair longevity for existing surfaces. Low-cost paving solutions are particularly important in rural and underserved communities where road paving and maintenance budgets are underfunded due to a reliance on local tax revenues.
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