Team Members & Role:

• Ethan Gorman
• Joseph Manchester
• Conor McGovern
• Jack Sunko
• Lincoln Wiggan

Abstract:

Throughout the history of brewing beer there has always been a natural balance between the brewers and the farmers. Farmers were always nearby and more than willing to take the massive quantities of spent grain produced by the local breweries. Now many breweries establish themselves in large cities where the nearest farm is a two-hour drive away through narrow streets rush hour traffic. This has led to many breweries sending their spent grain to a landfill where it releases methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This adds unnecessary disposal costs for the breweries as well as hidden costs to the environment.

SequesChar is pursuing an alternative method of treatment for these grains using pyrolysis. Pyrolysis brings the grain to high temperatures without being exposed to oxygen to break it down into flammable vapors and biochar. The vapors can be combusted to provide the heat to dry the grain prior to pyrolysis. Biochar is a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. It sequesters carbon in a stable form for hundreds to thousands of years. When stored in farmland it helps to retain moisture, prevent nutrient runoff, and mitigate topsoil erosion. For the breweries is can provide an additional income source.

The goal for the spring semester is to build an operational pyrolysis system as shown below using electric heating. The system will operate as a batch process but will be adaptable to continuous process once connected to an airtight continuous feed mechanism which is out of the scope of this project. The system will have controlled exit of vapors and biochar however the vapors will not be used for drying at this stage.