Who Knew Agricultural Waste Could Taste So Good?

London, ON - New portable technology unveiled this morning at The University of Western Ontario facilitates the production of bio-oils, which have many uses in the development of pharmaceuticals, alternative fuels and even cooking.

Developed by Franco Berruti and Cedric Briens, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering professors at Western, the first pilot of the Fast Pyrolysis Machine produces bioproducts and renewable energy from such agricultural materials as raw sugar cane, tobacco, rice straw and coffee husks. The machine converts materials into bio-oil through pyrolysis, which is the chemical process of decomposition through heating. Liquids produced can be further processed into fuels, pharmaceuticals and food additives - including flavour for BBQ sauces and browning agents for meat. Solid residues can be used as fertilizer.

This morning's announcement was a joint venture between Western and Dorchester-based Agri-Therm Limited, one of the University's spin-off companies. Agri-Therm develops, manufactures and markets portable and stationary equipment for producing bio-oils and products from bio-mass, specifically agriculture residue, wastes and transition crops. Currently, Agri-Therm and the University are pursuing a partnership with tobacco farmers to extract nicotine for pharmaceutical purposes, including nicotine patches, as well as for insecticides. Additionally, Egypt and Mexico have expressed interest in the technology as a means of reducing pollution and helping farmers.

"Agricultural wastes are typically seasonal and spread over large areas; consequently, stationary processing plants may not be economically viable," says Berruti. "Agri-Therm's mobile technology offers an innovative solution for the efficient transformation of a wide variety of waste materials into valuable green chemicals or carbon dioxide-neutral renewable energy."

"We have designed and patented a unique fluid bed reactor that addresses issues associated with agricultural products," says Jim Weaver, Agri-Therm's Vice-President. "We are extremely excited to announce the formal signing of a partnership agreement with Western."

This novel technology also addresses all three recently articulated priorities of the Ministry of Research and Innovation: energy, the environment and bio-processing.

Media Contacts:

Franco Berruti, Professor, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering: 519-661-2128, berruti@eng.uwo.ca
Cedric Briens, Professor, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering: 519-661-2145, cbriens@uwo.ca
Jim Weaver, Vice-President, Agri-Therm: 519-268-2123, jweaver@agri-therm.com
Douglas Keddy, Research Communications Coordinator: 519-661-2111 ext. 87485, dkeddy@uwo.ca