Air Force Microbiologist Patents Anti-Microbial Fuel Additive
by Troy Carter (TechLink Center) Available to industry via license agreement — A scientist at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has discovered that special proteins can keep microbes from colonizing inside fuel tanks and degrading the fuels–especially biodiesel.
Dr. Oscar Ruiz, director and lead scientist at the lab’s Fuel Biodeterioration Research Program, found that dipeptides can be used to stop the efflux pump, a component of the microbial membrane that pushes toxic substances out.
Through technology transfer, Ruiz’s discovery could become a product for energy companies to use, and a business opportunity that benefits the military and taxpayers.
“Bacteria have been isolated for fuels, fuel storage tanks, aircraft wing tanks, and offshore oil platforms, in which the bacteria may cause problems, according to U.S. Patent 10,487,281, which was issued to the Ruiz and the Air Force on Tuesday.
“Such as tank corrosion, fuel pump failures, filter plugging, injector fouling, topcoat peeling, engine damage, and deterioration of fuel chemical properties and quality.”
Contamination and degradation is especially problematic for biodiesel, which often contains fatty acid methyl esters that can be metabolized by microbial organisms.
Business Opportunity
In support of the Air Force’s Technology Transfer Program, TechLink, the Department of Defense’s national partnership intermediary for technology transfer, is helping qualified industry partners review the fuel additive’s commercial potential and understand the patent licensing process that is part and parcel of commercializing government research. READ MORE
U.S. Patent 10,487,281 – Method for Prevention of Biodeterioration of Fuels