GARBAGE TO ENERGY
TGER Roars Into Action at Camp Victory.
by Don Kennedy
by Don Kennedy
As much of a pain as trash day is at home, it could be much worse. The weekly trek to the curb with a can full of garbage in tow represents mere seconds of discontent, and then our trash becomes someone else’s business for the rest of the week. That’s not the case at forward operating bases in Iraq. There, taking out the trash is a monumental undertaking. Bagging and delivering garbage to trash receptacles is just the beginning of the chore. At Camp Victory, for example, 25,000 soldiers produce mounds of garbage—roughly 100,000 pounds a day. And when the trash is picked up, that’s when the job really gets rough. Convoys of garbage trucks heading to landfills outside the safety of the compound require security escorts that put soldiers in harm’s way.
Every day is trash day at Camp Victory. The problem is so pronounced, in fact, that some very smart people have given a lot of thought to finding a better way to dispose of garbage. It was Dr. James Valdes of Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) who, four years ago, came up with the concept of the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery (TGER) that converts garbage to electricity that can help power the facility where it is located.
Garbage to energy is not a new concept. Indeed, a Google search reveals dozens of hits of how similar technologies have been applied across the country. “What sets TGER apart,” said Valdes, “is its portability. It is designed so that it can be loaded on the back of a flatbed truck or in a cargo plane and delivered to where it is needed. That is why ‘tactical’ is part of its name.”
Two separate models of prototype technology, TGER I and TGER 2, were shipped to Iraq and sent to Victory Base Camp in Baghdad on April 29, to begin the initial 90-day field test, which will provide the project team with a clear understanding of the unit’s performance capabilities under extreme conditions.
“The units reached Camp Victory May 2 and were fired up May 10,” Valdes said. “And reports to date are that they are performing well.”
TGER may seem like an odd project for ECBC, whose primary focus is on chemical and biological defense, but the Center’s technical director does not see it that way. “At the end of the day, our job is to put cutting-edge technologies into the hands of the warfighters to make their missions and their lives as simple and effective as possible,” said Rick Decker, technical director of the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. “TGER offers troops an alternate energy resource in a time and place where fuel is scarce. Because it is fueled by garbage, it also offers troops a proven way to reduce trash overages and therefore enhances security.”
How does it work? Various wastes including food slop, plastic, paper and Styrofoam are fed into TGER and converted by the hybrid systems using thermochemical and bio-catalytic technologies into either synthetic gas (similar to low-grade propane) or hydrous ethanol, respectively. The ethanol combined with the synthetic gas can be used to power a 60 kilowatt generator.
“That is enough power to maybe run a mess hall or to power a dozen air conditioned tents,” said John Spiller, who was involved in the TGER project through the Rapid Equipping Force prior to his current job with OSD Power Surety Task Force.
But, Valdes points out that power produced by garbage in the TGER represents more than just a small gain. “You also must consider that trash is currently being fed into incinerators and burned. Incinerators use a significant amount of fuel,” he explained. “And delivering that fuel to the incinerators requires using even more fuel. So, it’s not only the amount of energy the TGER produces that has to be considered, it’s how much energy in the form of fuel that is saved as a result. Thinking of it in those terms, there is a fairly large net gain.”
Valdes believes with some minor improvements, the TGER could potentially double its power output. He also points out that it is capable of converting the nonbiological materials into fuel pellets and the biological waste into ethanol that can be stored and burned later. Power from the TGER could be stored in batteries or the technology itself could be literally plugged into the local power grid, a large electrical network that powers basic appliances on demand.
“But, the fact that it produces power is just a bonus,” said Valdes. “What commanders really like about TGER is that it reduces the garbage volume from 30 to 1. They also like the fact that it has the ability to get rid of wet waste, like food slop. In fact, that is the TGER’s favorite fuel. But, while TGER does not have enough capacity to completely fix the trash problem at a forward operating base the size of Victory Base Camp where it is being tested, it is important to understand that it was designed for a forward camp of about 600 or 700.”
TGER was created through a partnership with Defense Life Sciences, LLC, the visionary and system Lead for TGER, its academic partner Purdue University and ECBC. Motivated by a study conducted by the National Research Council in 2001 which identified opportunities in power and energy, Valdes responded by writing a Small Business Technology Transfer Research Program (STTR) topic on tactical energy.
After receiving proposals in response to this STTR topic, a review committee selected Defense Life Sciences LLC and its partners for an award. The team conducted an exhaustive assessment of technologies with potential to generate energy for tactical scenarios and created the hybrid approach TGER uses. The first prototype, TGER 1, was developed and tested in December 2006 at Purdue University. The project was funded through the STTR program. TGER 2, which includes engineering enhancements from the first model, was finished in mid-April.
TGER 2 and the deployment to Iraq are funded by the Rapid Equipping Force, an Army group responsible for distributing technology to the warfighter as quickly as possible. “We are the venture capital guys,” Spiller explained of his former organization. “We recognized the potential that TGER had in addressing a need in Iraq.”
Now, four years after the project was conceptualized and after spending $2.2 million, TGER is in its final test at Camp Victory. It’s an exciting time for the scientist who has overseen the project from the beginning by managing partnerships, soliciting funding and giving presentations to defense leaders.
“It’s rare that a scientist gets to see something that will end up in the field — something that the troops get to touch and use,” said Valdes. “It’s been a great pleasure to be engaged in this effort”.
Valdes added that be believes TGER will be “a rousing success” when the test is completed, “and it will be transitioned to a program manager.”
Project team members envision the technology will one day be used in homeland scenarios or to mitigate disasters similar to Hurricane Katrina, when a city’s power grid is down but garbage is readily available. However, TGER could be useful wherever there are high concentrations of people such as at hospitals, schools or camp grounds, explained Valdes, since TGER is able to consume 1,300 to 2,500 pounds of waste a day and can be readily scaled up.
Following a successful deployment and assessment in Iraq, the TGER units will be considered for deployment to Bagram AFB, Afghanistan. •
Don Kennedy is the public affairs officer for the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
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