SBIR-STTR Award

Manures contribute to pollution of the environment and create disposal problems for animal producers. At the same time, farms and foresters in NYS need new outlet for waste products. In addition, oil spill recovery materials are either inconvenient, environmentally unfriendly and nonrenewable, or both. Our products address all of these problems. The purpose of this project is to produce products for oil spill recovery that are made wholly or partially from agricultural waste products. This will create new markets for NYS growers and additional employment in this State. OBJECTIVES: Terrenew has discovered that manures, and barks as well, make highly efficient oil absorption products. The oil absorption marketplace is dominated by loose granular clay materials, e.g., the kitty litter type products, that are sold in large volumes. The company will begin to sell products for this purpose, beginning in the autumn, 2006. However, for more sophisticated markets, such as oil removal from water, melt blown polypropylene is the material of choice. The objective of the proposed research is To develop cost-effective pads and sheets that include manure as an absorbent for absorption of liquid oil and aqueous wastes and spills. Bark is an alternative material. The pads and sheets are expected to contain about 50% manure as the absorbent in a nonwoven fabric that may be composed of natural or synthetic fibers. The first prototypes have already been produced and are highly effective; but for different uses, a large array of pads and sheets with different properties are necessary. These will be developed in this project. This research is expected to provide a major market for agricultural wastes and to provide at least a partial alternative to the use of expensive nonrenewable polypropylene sheets for oil and other spill remediation. APPROACH: The systems we are pioneering will use substantial amounts of processed and dried manures for oil removal and remediation. We expect to sell loose bags of product, in products similar to, but much more effective than, clay based absorbents of the kitty litter type that are typically used for many applications. These loose products are essentially ready for commercial production; marketing issues and issues of large-scale production are the primary challenges now. In addition, we are proposing to, and have already created prototypes for pads and similar materials for oil removal from oils and waters. The pads are prepared primarily by nonwoven technologies and contain at least 50% manures. While manures are the favored materials for our uses, it also is possible to use barks, especially after aging, for similar applications. These are potentially very large uses of these materials. Based on research already completed, we will further define pads and products to ensure that our products will be cost competitive and also as effective as existing products. We expect to produce prototype commercial pads initially using facilities at Southeast Nonwovens, Clover, SC, and will use to seed the market. As time progresses, we will make pads for different applications and purposes and hope to reach full-scale production in the near future

Manure is very abundant, with more than 100-fold more animal manure produced than human waste in the US. Most of this is disposed of by land spreading, but soil and water pollution issues make this an expensive operation for large animal producers. Terrenew is developing a series of products that use dairy manure to produce useful products. Among these are OilMaster 7x, a loose bagged dried manure material for oil and other spill pickup; this product is renewable and is expected to replace a material with a large carbon footprint, clay granules. We also are producing pads, sheets, booms and the like for oil removal from solid and water surfaces. This is expected to replace nonrenewable polypropylene sheets for the same uses. We also have a series of horticultural uses for pads. Terrenew expects to need to produce about 1 million pounds of dry manure for its various uses in the coming year, with rapid growth of its products nationwide. This provides an alternative to landspreading for manure, can provide revenue for companies and provides very environmentally products for environmental cleanup and for horticultural purposes. OBJECTIVES: Terrenew is developing systems and products for environmental remediation and for horticultural uses that are composed entirely or partially of dairy manure. The objectives are (1) to develop larger-scale and more economical drying processes than those which we currently have developed; (2) To develop manure-based and premium OilMaster pads for oil and aqueous spill removal, plus filled socks, booms and pillows, and (3) to develop a series of horticultural pads for a variety of purposes. In Phase I research, OilMaster 7x was produced; this product is a loose bagged dried manure product that is intended to replace high carbon footprint clay-based oil absorbents. This product is superior in performance and handling and is already achieving market acceptance; the need at this time (objective 1) is to develop drying and handling automated processes to economically produce at least 1 million of dried manure products annually. Current systems are adequate for production of only 100,000 pounds or so and are labor intensive. Terrenew also has produced a series of oil- and/or water-absorbent pads (objective 2), most based primarily on manure, for a variety of purposes. However, economical large-scale manufacturing processes have not yet been developed. The materials produced thus far are superior in performance to oil-derived polypropylene pads, which they are intended to replace. In objective 3, we intend to use the basic concepts of the spill removal pads for horticultural purposes. APPROACH: For objective 1, the company must find large-scale automated drying equipment that is appropriate to the need. Consequently, many different manufacturers have been contacted. Once equipment appears to be suitable, then pilot scale tests are conducted with the appropriate manufacturer. It is anticipated that suitable equipment will soon be found. Then, all of the ancillary equipment, such as conveyers, dust collectors and the like must be integrated with selected system and installation and operation begun. For objective 2, Terrenew contracts with an R&D company that specializes in the production of nonwoven pads and fabrics. Materials are produced, tested and evaluated both by laboratory tests and by potential customers. Manufacturing techniques also will be developed. Once useful products are produced, then we will test these with customers. The processes in objective 3 are basically similar except that development will be done primarily by Terrenew and its Cornell collaborators