USDA Awards Research Grant to APS
June 26th, 2009 at 12:00pmAgri Processing Services, LLC (APS) has been awarded a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This $79,219 grant will be used to fund the six month APS research project titled “Diversion From Land Application Of Nutrients Recovered From Non-MPP Processing Plant Wastewater To Value-Added Use In Multi-Species Feed Ration.”
APS is involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of PFC™, a patented specialty wastewater treatment compound developed by Dr. Bud G. Harmon, Professor Emeritus in Animal Science at Purdue University. PFC™ was designed for use in the food processing industry to recover valuable nutrients without degrading the captured material. By reclaiming unadulterated nutrients from food processing plant effluent, the opportunity exists to decrease the amount of material disposed of into landfills and increase the amount of valuable feed ingredients available for use by livestock producers. The recent and dramatic upward price spiral of feed grains due in part to the rapid expansion of ethanol-from-corn production and other related biofuel initiatives can be seen to act as a further catalyst for the development of products like PFC™ that improve the overall environment while also enhancing the value of recovered materials in an economically beneficial manner.
Previous efforts in the development of PFC™ have focused primarily on the Meat and Poultry Products (MPP) food processing industry. This Phase 1 SBIR research effort by APS will expand this work into the non-Meat and Poultry Product (non-MPP) food processing industry by conducting a feasibility study to estimate the potential economic impact on a cross-section of non-MPP processing plants that is expected to include snack food production (corn and potato), bakeries/cereal production, vegetable processing, and fruit processing. The successful completion of this Phase 1 SBIR project could carry forward to the award of a Phase 2 SBIR grant to APS of up to $350,000 that would be used to conduct the relevant research and development work needed to demonstrate the viability of utilizing PFC™ in thousands of non-MPP processing plants operating domestically and internationally.
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