Award

"The traditional markets for small tobacco farmers are decreasing. Either new markets for tobacco must be identified and developed or the farmers must switch to other crops. One potential new market for tobacco is an additive to road salt to reduce corrosion of infrastructure and vehicles. Degradation of bridge decks and other reinforced concrete structures predominately involves the corrosion of the steel rebar, which expands as it rusts leading to cracking or spalling of the concrete surface. Penetration of chloride from road salt or sea/brackish water into the concrete is the leading cause of rebar corrosion. Macerated (finely divided) tobacco leaf or other plant material or tobacco powder ia proposed as an additive to road salt that could act as a corrosion inhibitor to reduce or eliminate rebar attack. Previous results have shown that tobacco extracts are a highly effective inhibitor of corrosion for steel, aluminum, and other metals in salt solutions, as well as strongly acidic and basic solutions, and as such could significantly reduce corrosion of rebar in concrete as well as car and truck bodies and frames. Tobacco is a renewable, potentially inexpensive bioproduct that would provide excellent corrosion protection with little or no environmental concerns. Because low-quality tobacco is as effective a corrosion inhibitor as high-quality tobacco, small farmers can increase their yields by growing tobacco cultivars as a forage-like crop for yields as high as 180 mt/ha/season. Road slat with added tobacco would be sold as a value-added product to reduce infrastructure degradation. Markets for such value-added products have already been established by dyed road salt that is already sold to demonstrate to residents that their streets have been salted."