Biofuels from the toilet

Koreans have implemented a public toilet project that will pay for your visit

Dronk company blog.Ru, Geektimes

On May 25, 2016, the Science Walden Pavillion opened on the campus of the National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) Ulsan in South Korea.

Here and below are photos from the press release of UNIST Don't Waste Energy, Turn Waste Into Energy – VM.

A huge tent that does not outwardly evoke any associations with anything related to high technology, in fact, has every chance to become a prototype of anhydrous bio toilets of the future, for which customers will be paid a symbolic amount for visiting. At first glance, all this seems somewhat utopian, but those who visited the biolab of the project manager, Professor Jaeweon Cho, speak of this amazing complex as a promising scientific, cultural and social phenomenon.

Scientists from South Korea have demonstrated how a public toilet made using modern technologies can look like. It is curious that the economic effect that the owners of the institution receive in the form of biofuels allows them to compensate for the time spent in the institution by visitors in the material equivalent. Of course, the amount looks more symbolic and is rather cumulative, but the fact itself and the result achieved are impressive.

Interestingly, the main designer of the project was Seung-hyun Ko, co–founder of the Korean National Association of Arts (YATOO).

The scientists did not offer any breakthrough and innovative ideas and decided to simply use what is already working, having slightly modified the installation scheme. For the production of biofuels and fuel for boiler houses, the two-storey bio-studio Science Walden Pavillion with a total area of 122.25 sq. m. uses an anaerobic system.

The shredder located inside the fillers dries and grinds the waste to a dry, odorless powder, which is subsequently moved to the anaerobic digestion chamber, where microbes are taken up. Here the compost decomposes, generating methane and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is used for the cultivation of green algae, further used as biofuels, and the collected methane can be used in heating systems as fuel for boilers.

The value of the development is not limited to the economic effect of the production of biofuels and methane. Of course, such systems cannot yet offer ultra-high productivity at this stage of technology development. But if we look at the problem more broadly and take into account the amount of water and electricity spent on maintaining the functioning of an average public toilet, add the negative effect associated with the spread of intestinal diseases in the warm season, the environmental pollution factor and the amount of money spent annually on maintaining the operation of sewage treatment plants, then the potential of a biocomplex on an anaerobic platform similar to UNIST, increases significantly.

"Our ultimate goal is not only to create an advanced toilet system that will save water and reduce operating costs at wastewater treatment plants. It is very important for us to create an ecosystem that, using technological innovations, at the same time encourages the diversification of the economy, where human waste literally acquires financial value," concludes Jaeweon Cho, outlining the essence of the project concept in a few words.

It is going to stimulate the interest of the potential audience in the development of Jaeweon Cho financially. And since money is known to love the account, users are invited to download a special smartphone application capable of: 1) estimate how much you "earned" for a visit, 2) send the fee to the user's current account by instant electronic transfer. For connoisseurs of a healthy lifestyle in the same pavilion, and in the future – in the Jaeweon Cho retail chain, it will be possible to convert electronic currency into environmentally friendly and inexpensive vegetables.

How thoroughly, thoughtfully and meticulously Korean engineers approached the creation of their Science Walden Pavillion inspires optimism and faith that the technology will not only take root on the campus of one individual institute, but will give a start to its development within the framework of a nationwide, and in the future, a global trend. To date, this is nothing more than just a public demonstration. Interestingly, a method of extracting methane from coffee grounds was found a little earlier in the walls of the laboratory of this particular institute.

The Walden Science Pavilion is open daily from 9 to 18-00 on the territory of the National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) Ulsan in South Korea. The scientific group is open for consultations on the Associate Professor program, which can be signed up on the official website of the project.

The site, however, is completely and only in Korean, but Chrome translates its content into Russian quite decently – VM.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  15.06.2016