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| Dr. Duane Dombek | Potential to Increase
the Value of Forestry By-Products
West Virginia produces a significant quantity of wood waste that could be used for fuel and energy in the state, according to an analysis conducted for the Southeast Biomass State & Regional Partnership (SEBRSP). The study was prepared as a cooperative effort with the Energy Efficiency Program, West Virginia Development Office. More than 2 million tons of wood waste and forest residue are produced in the state each year, less than 10% of which is profitably utilized. This wood waste could potentially serve as a feedstock for ethanol production, but commercial technology for this conversion is judged to be many years away. A technology much closer to realization is biomass pyrolysis, which can be operated to produce mainly liquid or gas fuels, along with a valuable solid char product. For example, fast pyrolysis of biomass typically produces a 75% yield of a liquid BioOil fuel, 13% fuel gas, and 12% char. The BioOil has an energy density approximately ten times as great as the biomass, greatly improving its economic transportability. A 100 ton-per-day pyrolysis unit is now operating in Canada, and several 200 ton-per-day plants are being planned. According to Dr. Lou Kapicak, the major author of the study, “Fast pyrolysis can turn West Virginia’s forestry residues and by-products into pyrolysis gas, liquid BioOil and a remarkably versatile solid char product. The gas and BioOil could be used locally for energy, the char could be used for fuel or to replenish and restore our soil, and the newly created jobs help to revitalize our forestry industry and our state’s economy. What grain ethanol has done for rural, agricultural America, renewable BioOil can do for West Virginia and other states with vast forestry resources.” | |||||
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| Keith Pauley | Significant Economic
Opportunity for West Virginia
MATRIC is pleased to announce the formation of the Appalachian Land Restoration Center. The Center will engage land owners throughout the state in order to test soils, water and plant species. These sites will be at a variety of locations, elevations and exposures including southern, northern and eastern parts of the state of West Virginia. Many potential land uses have been proposed for post-surface mine sites, including tourism, commercial, residential, agricultural and forestry uses. To date, no definitive criteria have been developed for land use selection and little science and technology have been utilized to determine the best economic value for these important lands. Furthermore, at this time, most land owners and coal companies have opted for pasture or woodland restoration in their permit applications. We believe that by focusing the strong scientific teams at MATRIC and West Virginia State University, we can create new science-based methods for soil remediation, high value plant selection, water quality stabilization and eco-system protection. We will also work closely with the West Virginia Land and Mineral Owners Council which will focus a team of land use experts on the broadest set of uses for the land including industrial parks, new residential communities, and golf courses as well as forestry and agriculture. Reforestation Focus The ability to create higher value timber on post-surface mine sites is very significant to West Virginia. The central Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and southwestern Virginia is blessed with commercially valuable natural resources, the most notable being timber and coal. Huge amounts of virgin timber were cut and marketed during a 50-year period between 1880 and 1930. Towards the end of this virgin timber harvest, coal mining became the region's economic mainstay. However, the value of the second-growth forest is resurging, with nationwide demand for hardwood products and the advent of wood-processing mills that use timber of all quality grades. This wood-product resurgence is evidenced by many new paper, fiberboard, and lumber mills built or proposed throughout the region in the early and mid-1990s. Reforestation of land after it has been drastically disturbed by surface mining can produce high-value commercial forests while providing watershed protection and wildlife habitat. Prior to passage of the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), most surface-mined land in the east and midwest was reclaimed with trees. These reclaimed lands varied in their quality and productivity, but reforestation was generally successful and commercially valuable forests were created. Many of these new forests are maturing and are providing considerable revenue to landowners. Since implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, fewer forests are being restored, although the amount varies by state (e.g., since 1991, 86% of Virginia's mined land has been reclaimed to forested post-mining land uses). Thousands of acres of Appalachian mined lands that were originally forested have been reclaimed as hay land, pasture, or wildlife habitat. Such land is usually left unmanaged after bond release and it slowly succumbs to brushy, woody vegetation with little or no commercial value. Alternatively, if the land were returned to productive forests, landowners could enjoy the benefits of commercial forestland while simultaneously creating wildlife habitat and watershed protection. Economics According to a study by professors at Virginia Tech, the economics of soil remediation are stunning. For example, using white pine species, remediated soils at mine sites can yield as much $1755 per acre in timber value compared to only $122 per acre for untreated soils. The gap widens even further for white oak, which produces $8425 per acre and only $1120 per acre for treated and untreated soils, respectively. These concepts are illustrated below.  Uses of the land other than forestry are also viable including agriculture (e.g. switch grass for ethanol), residential and commercial purposes. MATRIC, by bringing together the key players and key technologies, seeks to ensure that the efforts of the Appalachian Land Restoration Center will result in significant economic opportunity for West Virginia. | |||||
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| Mark Dehlin | CRADA with Naval
Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division
MATRIC has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division. The focus of this research is to facilitate an efficient and effective agent-based, unmanned vehicle simulation tool. The agents of this tool will perceive their environment and take the best course of action in order to achieve a predetermined goal. Each agent contains components such as sensors, weapons, propulsion, communications, etc. This simulation tool will allow users to:
Photo Credits: http://uav.navair.navy.mil/ | |||||
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| Charles Price | Infotech@Aerospace
Conference in May 2007
MATRIC has been asked to present our Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Virtual Leader concept at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Infotech@Aerospace Conference in May 2007. The UAV Virtual Leader concept was developed for semi-autonomous control of UAV swarms through the simulation of a leader UAV whose state information provides a reference for the real UAV swarm members to follow. The members are sent “delta state” commands relative to the virtual leader for flexible formation flying, and additionally can be authorized to diverge away from the leader’s trajectory under limited autonomous control. The Virtual Leader can be commanded with joystick controls, waypoints, or destination coordinates. While physical UAVs are subject to battle damage and destruction, the Virtual Leader can never be shot down – thereby providing a stable, robust reference for the swarm’s operations. The Virtual UAV Leader enables operation of multiple UAVs from a single ground control station, keeps the human intelligence close to the operation, and provides a practical system that can be operationally deployed in the near-term. Photo Credits: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/budget/ fy1997/dot-e/navy/97tcs.html | |||||
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| Keith Pauley |
MATRIC's senior robotics engineer, Charles Price, recently met with staff of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Price is the former head of the Robotics Branch at NASA-JSC where he originally proposed the development of the Robonaut, which is pictured. | |||||
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 Detailed presentation detailing Sago mine disaster. http://www.msha.gov/sagomine/ PowerPoint/mine_overview.ppt  Miners still waiting on air packs. http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/ 2006122330  How To Win SBIR Awards Conference http://www.win-sbir.com/course.html Photo Credits: MSHA.gov | ||||||
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