Cornell plant scientists have invented a new method that uses manure and other farm byproducts to remove toxic hydrogen sulfide from biogas -- a renewable energy source derived from the breakdown of animal waste.
Hydrogen sulfide can combine with water to cause acid rain and to corrode engines. Its removal makes biogas a more viable alternative fuel source. The new method will be marketed under the name SulfaMaster.
"SulfaMaster has a very large potential application for distributed bioenergy production at small sites around the country," said Gary Harman, professor of plant biology at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.
Harman and Terry Spittler, a retired analytical chemist at Cornell, own Terrenew, a small company at Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva that will market the product. In addition, Terrenew markets two other products that also use agricultural waste to help clean up environmental contaminants, including oil spills and heavy metals, from water.
With more than 9 million dairy cows in the United States, each producing on average more than 120 pounds of manure daily, biogas is already a key energy source for many sustainable farms. It's created by anaerobic digestion -- a process by which microorganisms break down manure and other organic matter in the absence of oxygen. The resulting biogas contains high levels of methane and carbon dioxide, but also a small amount of hydrogen sulfide.
Most methods for hydrogen sulfide removal require expensive industrial scrubbers that are not feasible for smaller farms.
(Image: Terry Spitler, left, director of Terranew's research and development, and Gary Harmon, Cornell professor and Terranew's chief scientific officer, pose with their pilot system for hydrogen sulfide removal. Biogas is pumped into the barrels, which contain a special medium on a manure base that removes the hydrogen sulfide.)
