Overview
Arbok-BioFuel is the production of liquid fuel from waste that currently has to be paid to dispose of. Two feedstock lines appear in the sources.
The first is phosphate-industry waste together with municipal sewage, from which the source states that highly refined gasoline is produced. This is the defence-supply framing: fuel made from streams that exist wherever there is a city or a phosphate plant, rather than delivered along a supply line.
The second is marine biomass. In the Sargassum programme, Arbok-BioFuel is the liquid-fuel branch of a processing chain that also yields fertilizer, biochar and feed additives from beached algae. At the 1 M t/year scale the modelled output is 60,000–150,000 t of liquid fuel at $500/t, alongside 300,000 t of fertilizer.
The common element is that the feedstock arrives at negative cost — it is a disposal liability — so the fuel is priced against a raw material that the supplier is paying to be rid of.
Applications
Defence and strategic supply. Refined gasoline produced from phosphate waste and sewage, listed among the military technologies as a domestic-production route.
Marine biomass programmes. Sargassum collected offshore and on beaches, in the STOP-SARGASSUM programme covering Florida, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Spain and Morocco.
Municipal waste. Sewage streams processed at the point where they already accumulate.
Operating Principle
The route runs on the ARBOK vacuum platform: waste is separated at ambient temperature under deep vacuum, the organic fraction is recovered, and the hydrocarbon product is finished to fuel grade.
In the Sargassum chain the sequence recorded in the source is collection, membrane-free vacuum dehydration reducing mass by a factor of 4, thermal decomposition with gasification, phase separation of salts and heavy metals, and division of the output into liquid fuel, biochar, fertilizer and feed.
Detailed process chemistry for the phosphate-waste and sewage route, and the finishing steps that bring the product to gasoline specification: [требует уточнения из базы]. The relationship to ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking), which performs the hydrocarbon separation on the platform, is not stated explicitly in the sources.
Key Parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|—|—|
| Feedstocks | phosphate-industry waste, municipal sewage, Sargassum and other marine biomass |
| Product | liquid fuel; the source specifies highly refined gasoline for the waste route |
| Sargassum drying | membrane-free vacuum evaporation, mass reduced ×4 |
| Dry mass from 1 M t of Sargassum | 250,000 t |
| Calorific value of dried biomass | 12–15 MJ/kg |
| Liquid fuel yield, 1 M t/yr programme | 60,000 t (one model) to 150,000 t (another) |
| Fuel price assumed | $500/t |
| Energy consumption of the separation stage | 2 kWh/t |
| Product cost, Sargassum chain | $50–100/t — two to three times below market |
| Octane, sulfur and specification of the gasoline product | [требует уточнения из базы] |
Note: the two Sargassum documents give different fuel yields for the same 1 M t/year input — 60,000 t and 150,000 t. Both are recorded as they stand.
Architecture and Components
For the marine route: collection vessels and self-propelled barges with conveyors and press compaction; vacuum dehydration stage; thermal decomposition and gasification; phase separation of salts and heavy metals; product finishing lines for fuel, biochar, fertilizer and feed. Floating ARBOK modules processing up to 300 t/day each are named in the programme, with 5–10 modules and 20–50 collection vessels.
Equipment for the phosphate-waste and sewage route: [требует уточнения из базы].
Advantages
Feedstock cost. The input is a disposal liability, so the raw material carries negative cost.
Two problems solved at once. In the Sargassum case the fuel is a by-product of removing a coastal hazard that costs tourism revenue and generates hydrogen sulfide and methane on beaches.
Product cost. $50–100/t against market prices two to three times higher, at 2 kWh/t for the separation stage.
Supply independence. For the defence framing, fuel is produced from streams present in any territory rather than transported.
Integrations
ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking) · ARBOK-FERTILIZER · Arbok Zero-Organic-Waste (AZOW) · ARBOK-BioBenzine · BUTANOIL (Livestock & Sewage Waste Recycling) · ARBOK CleanSea
In the Sargassum programme Arbok-BioFuel is one output of a chain whose other branches are fertilizer, biochar and feed; the same collected biomass supplies all of them.
Deployment & Operation
Marine route: base ports named in the programme are Miami, Cancún, Bridgetown, Recife and Palma de Mallorca, with satellite coordination and hydrological forecasting. Alternative siting scenarios assessed are the United States (Florida or Louisiana) and the Azores.
Deployment path for the phosphate-waste and sewage route: [требует уточнения из базы].
TRL
TRL 6 — проставлен Михаилом 2026-08-06.
Market Potential
The Sargassum programme models a 1 M t/year pilot with combined revenue of $75 M/year in one document and $195 M/year in the other, the difference following from the different yield assumptions. Affected countries named: United States, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Morocco. Ocean area addressed: up to 300,000 km².
Market sizing for fuel from phosphate waste and sewage: [требует уточнения из базы].
Typical Project Economics
Sargassum pilot, model A (1 M t/yr). CAPEX $75 M — collection vessels and logistics $25 M, modular processing $30 M, land and licences $8 M, engineering and commissioning $5 M, reserve and working capital $7 M. OPEX ~$18 M/yr. Revenue ~$75 M/yr. EBITDA ~$57 M/yr. Payback under 1.5 years, five-year ROI above 320 %, plus $5–10 M/yr of CO₂ and ESG credits.
Sargassum pilot, model B (1 M t/yr). CAPEX $200 M — 10 barges at $15 M each is $150 M, base processing station $40 M, logistics and personnel $10 M. Revenue $195 M/yr. EBITDA $90–100 M/yr. Payback 2.5–3 years.
The two models differ substantially in both CAPEX and yield; both are recorded as they stand in the sources.
Risk Factors
The two Sargassum documents disagree on fuel yield by a factor of 2.5 and on CAPEX by a factor of 2.7 for the same nominal programme, so the economics cannot be closed from the base. No TRL or readiness status is recorded. The gasoline route from phosphate waste and sewage is a single-sentence entry with no process description, no specification and no test data. Sargassum carries arsenic and heavy metals, which the chain must separate to specification. Marine collection at this scale depends on vessel availability, weather windows and permits across multiple jurisdictions.
Related Technologies
ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking) · ARBOK-FERTILIZER · Arbok Zero-Organic-Waste (AZOW) · ARBOK-BioBenzine · BUTANOIL (Livestock & Sewage Waste Recycling) · ARBOK CleanSea