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Used technologies to derive fuels from waste, or to mitigate the risks to human health and the environment. Developed, evaluated, and/or engineered innovative environmental technologies as alternatives to the traditional excavation and transportation of hazardous wastes to a landfill or to an off-site treatment, storage, and disposal facility (TSDF) to minimize associated liabilities and costs. Core Biofuels and Environmental Protection Technologies: |
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ROBERT A. EVANGELISTA
TECHNOLOGIES and PROJECTS: BIOFUELS and ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Click on below links for additional information, photos, & publications regarding an abridged list of technologies & projects.
Biofuels from Waste
Conversion of Membrane Processed Whey into Protein and Ethanol using Immobilized Yeast Fermentation
Cheese whey, a food processing waste, was transformed into whey protein concentrate, one of today’s “superfoods,” and ethanol, a valuable biofuel. Ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and immobilized cell fermentation technologies accomplished this biochemical metamorphosis.
Biodiesel production from waste restaurant oil at a commercial production facility, which included engineering design of process pumping equipment. A separate project with an international consortium proposed to make biofuels energy accessable to the poor in developing countries.
Membrane Recycle of Anaerobic Microorganisms in the Membrane Anaerobic Reactor System (MARS)
Cheese whey from a large plant was converted into methane gas, a biofuel reused on site, by anaerobic digestion. The high reactor output was maintained by the optimization of the ultrafiltration membrane recycle of the microorganisms back into the bioreactor.
To reuse as process water, ultrafine particles were removed from the wastewater of one of the Synfuels Corporation coal gasification pilot plants by microfiltration.
Methane Recovery from Landfill Gas
An evaluation and design to prevent the buildup of explosive levels of methane in adjacent buildings and to recover methane from renegade landfill gas.
Organic chemicals were removed from soil by the injection of separate steam and hot air streams with concurrent in-situ soil mixing. The vaporized chemicals were cleaned and concentrated by a series of scrubbers, heat exchangers, chillers, and coalescers. A liquid fuel was created for use in a cement kiln. The air and water (condensed steam) were decontaminated and reused in a closed-loop system.
Environmental Protection
A noxious liquid leachate from an industrial landfill was treated on site with pilot-scale innovative technologies implemented as an alternative to off-site disposal. Technologies evaluated were: enhanced oxidation with ultra violet light and ozone and/or hydrogen peroxide, precipitation, flocculation, filtration, and reverse osmosis.
A French drain was designed to catch renegade groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds, VOCs. Additionally, bench-scale tests evaluated the effectiveness of soil vapor extraction and low temperature thermal treatment, and an engineering evaluation was made of steam/hot air injection with deep soil mixing technologies to remove VOCs from soil.
Biodegradation, Passive Evaporation, Soil Washing to Remove Phenol and Cresols
Three innovative technologies were appraised by bench-scale experimentation for their efficacy in removing phenol and cresols from soil; they were biodegradation, passive evaporation, and soil washing. Based on the results, an engineering design led to full-scale operations that achieved clean soil.
Mercury in a Manufacturing Building
This project focused on the determination of the extent of mercury contamination in a 34,000 sq ft military instrument building and the development and evaluation of remedial techniques to remove that mercuy.
A note to the technical or academic reader: All the innovative technology efforts were project motivated, with the exception of the research and development performed under grant funding for the US Department of Energy, Office of Appropriate Technology to convert a food processing waste to ethanol. In other words, the work was solution, not publication, driven. Public pressures, project deadlines, and funding constraints offered little luxury for elaborate and repetitive experimental procedures. Results from bench- or pilot-scale efforts, if acceptable, were quickly brought forward in an engineering design for the application and implementation of a technological solution. Otherwise, the lessons learned were later used to better solve future problems.