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Dirk C. Benedict
LSU AgCenter scientists continue to bring scientific discoveries to the world marketplace through the Office of Intellectual Property. Since the inception of the office, new companies have been started based on licensing technology from the AgCenter, and established companies have been able to introduce new products to the world. Royalties from these companies and from other licensing agreements have generated tens of millions of dollars since 1999. Following are three of the current “hot” properties showcasing these impactful university and industry partnerships as well as high-value research projects that could become future products.
Retired professor Gary Breitenbeck, formerly of the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, developed a technology meant to protect and reestablish vegetation in coastal erosion zones that has successfully been commercialized by Louisiana-based Delta Land Services LLC under the trade name SHORE|LINKS.
“Plantings of marsh plant species are frequently subject to failure in areas of significant water movement due to flow or waves,” Breitenbeck said. “There was a clear need for a vigorous, lightweight system that is resistant to erosion caused by water energy.”
Mats containing plants, heavy clay and soil are typically used for this application with concrete revetment walls needed on coastlines where the waves are strongest. Each mat can weigh several hundred pounds, and concrete walls can weigh several thousand, which makes them difficult and expensive to transport and install. Patented by the LSU AgCenter with exclusive license rights to Delta Land Services, the products are composed of a lightweight clay aggregate in a poly mesh fabric casing. The mesh material contains multiple aggregate-filled lobes, which minimizes the weight of the units while maximizing unit height. These features allow for interlocking of the units and the entrapment of sediments to facilitate growth of vegetation.
The SHORE|LINKS system offers articulating revetments and tiling mats for armoring and revegetating shorelines and embankments and a breakwater log that aids in dissipation of wave energy at shorelines.
The technology is currently sold under the trade name SHORE|LINKS and is one of several tools that Delta Land Services LLC uses to restore coastal areas. For areas with moderate wave energy, tiles as light as 25 pounds can be installed with minimal equipment and labor; however, for large areas with severe wave energy, revetment mats weighing less than 1,000 pounds can be installed. Neither mat will sink in fluid marsh sediment. They remain on the marsh surface or water bottom on which they are placed which provides additional stability.
George Guerin started Delta Land Services LLC in 2009 in Port Allen, Louisiana. He and his team have been working over the past decade to stem the tide of Louisiana’s ever-deteriorating coast and permanent loss of productive marsh.
“Using SHORE|LINKS, we have been able to restore over 32,000 linear feet of vegetation to Louisiana and parts of Texas through projects like reestablishing coastal protection for Lake Lery in Delacroix, Louisiana, and rehabilitating detention ponds (used to prevent flooding) in Fort Bend County, Texas,” said Burt Brumfield, project manager for SHORE|LINKS products. “We are always looking for new projects to fight erosion, and each mat we lay down is a step in the right direction.”
An automatic irrigation control system has been developed by Jeffrey Beasley, Edward Bush and Maureen Thiessen of the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. The system, with a patent issued in January of 2019, uses a simple method to control watering that does not require expensive parts or great technical knowledge to operate.
When plants are overwatered, it compromises the roots’ ability to absorb oxygen from the soil and allows nutrients to leach into the surrounding water instead of feeding the plant. Plants damaged this way are more susceptible to harmful soil organisms and grow more slowly. Leached fertilizers can also run off into the environment.
“Improving irrigation efficiency has been of particular interest within the agricultural industry for the past two decades,” Beasley said. “Irrigation practices traditionally lack precision and efficiency due to the lack of inexpensive instrumentation and simple protocols that do not sacrifice plant quality.”
With any automated system, a primary challenge is determining how and when to water. In some cases, this can involve networks of sensors and probes that monitor plant and environmental vital signs, such as moisture, temperature or soil chemical composition. This invention simply turns water on or off based on how much water has exited a plant’s container. More specifically, as water exits the container, it fills a tipping bucket underneath the container that generates a pulse when full. Once a certain number of predetermined pulses are reached, watering stops.
This will help facilities like plant nurseries reduce their overall water usage and costs while improving plant quality. In experiments using the irrigation system with local nurseries, water usage and leaching were significantly reduced with an increase in plant size. Now, the inventors seek to spread the use of this work into the commercial sector so that more nurseries can benefit from its results
Qinglin Wu, Roy O. Martin Sr. Professor at the School of Renewable Natural Resources, has developed an artificial turfgrass infill meant as a safer, eco-friendly alternative to current infills. The material is a blend of recycled products, such as thermoplastics and cellulose fibers, combined with minerals and blending agents to form small granules.
Artificial turfgrass is a synthetic grasslike cover used in some football fields and parks that replicates many features of natural grass. Infill is used in the backing systems of artificial grass and resembles the earthen material, such as dark soil, beneath the grass. It is part of what allows the artificial system to feel natural by deforming when pressed. One key difference is that infill is a collection of small artificial particulates, unlike natural soil, which can lead to unique problems.
Artificial infill materials currently include inorganic materials, such as crumb rubber from scrap tires and silica sand, or organic materials, such as walnut shells. Because of the small particle size, these materials cause respiratory problems when breathed through the nose because they can directly enter the lungs. In addition, inorganic materials can contain harmful chemical residues and cannot be recycled after their useful life. Organic materials can promote the growth of bacteria, mold and fungi and attract termites and other pests.
“Experimental data so far show that on our patent-pending sustainable composite, infill materials are highly effective against termites and mold,” Wu said.
The LSU AgCenter infill is formed through an extrusion process that can inexpensively create several forms of dynamic, natural granules that are a large enough particle size not to be absorbed into the lungs and contain biocides to resist biological attack. The granules can also be recycled after use. Dr. Wu is positive about the potential of this work.
“This work can lead to an environmentally friendly, highly marketable green material made in Louisiana and help sustain a strong material-based industry in the state, while maintaining a high environmental standard,” Wu said.
Dirk C. Benedict is the assistant director of marketing technology with the LSU AgCenter Office of Intellectual Property.
(This article appears in the summer 2019 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.)
Read Dirk Benedict's article about four other inventions in the Winter 2018 issue of Louisiana Agriculture: Buck Forage Oats, Bitter Blocker, Magnetic Biochar, and Testing for Chronic Wasting Disease.
New plantings of marsh plants often fail because of water movement from waves or currents. Retired LSU AgCenter professor Gary Breitenbeck, formerly of the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, created mats containing plants, heavy clay and soil meant for armoring shore lines and allowing them to grow vegetation again. These are being used by Delta Land Services LLC under the trade name SHORE|LINKS to repair areas where the land meets the water. Photo provided by SHORE|LINKS
SHORE|LINKS, a technology commercialized by Delta Land Services LLC, helps vegetate and restore marsh land. These mats containing plants, clay and soil withstand waves and water flow in shore areas, such as this shoreline at False River in Louisiana. They were created by retired LSU AgCenter professor Gary Breitenbeck, formerly of the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. Photo provided by SHORE|LINKS
Qinglin Wu, the Roy O. Martin Sr. Professor at the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, has developed an artificial turfgrass infill that may be a safer, more eco-friendly alternative to current infills. The material is a blend of recycled products combined with minerals and blending agents to form small granules. Photo by Olivia McClure
The artificial turfgrass infill created by the LSU AgCenter consists of several forms of dynamic, natural granules that are a large enough particle size not to be absorbed into the lungs and contain biocides to resist biological attack. Photo by Olivia McClure
