Environment news: energy from waste for the US army

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 03, 2009 – Generating energy from waste, while at the same time limiting the disposal problem. This is the system created by an American company, Qinetiq, which deals in military supplies for the US Army.

The PyTEC system, according to the BBC’s online website, uses the pyrolysis process for burning unsorted waste, releasing a gas that can be used to produce up to five time more energy than what is necessary for fuelling the entire process. The system was already used by the British Navy, on the Hms Ocean ship, but the novelty lies in "waste compaction" created for the US Army. The entire system was reduced to the size of a container, more easily transportable for the needs of the army and will be distributed in one of the 55 advanced operational bases in Iraq and in Afghanistan which up to now had no waste disposal policy.

According to the company that manufactures the system, this could also be used in other situations and reduce, for example, the volume of urban waste by 95 per cent while also producing energy without polluting since in the pyrolysis process, heating occurs in the absence of oxygen, generating gas that is collected and then reutilized. The debris is a sort of vitreous substance that represents barely 5 per cent of the volume of waste. According to QinetiQ, the plant designed for the army can process 100 Kg of unsorted waste an hour and produce 400 kW of power.