Energising a sustainable future
During the AD process, anaerobic bacteria degrade and stabilise organic feedstocks, producing biogas which consists of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.
Other by-products include ammonia and digestate (digested feedstock), which is rich in essential nutrients, but also has an extremely high-water content (>90%).
Sounds great, but there are a number of caveats:
- Despite containing valuable nutrients, untreated digestate can contain pathogens which cause groundwater pollution.
- Historically, digestate has been used as fertiliser for agricultural land, but this now requires intensive pasteurisation beforehand.
- The high-water content of digestate means it is not economically viable to transport it long distances for land-spreading.
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The global Anaerobic Digestate market is expected to reach $78.8 billion by 2030.Global Newswire -
The biogas industry has the potential to deliver a 10% reduction in GHGs by 2030.World Biogas Association
Evolving Digestate Management
The balancing act of meeting production targets whilst managing digestate isn’t news to you. The typically low level of solids in the digestate makes it difficult to manage, store and haul off-site. But now is the time to view digestate as a valuable resource – one that can – and should be – repurposed into valuable materials.
With a combined experience of more than 60 years, our laboratory team provides critical operational support that is tailored to helping you achieve this.
We work hard to ensure that a reduction in operational costs goes hand in hand with the sustainable use of resources, reducing carbon emissions and recovering valuable materials.
All of our technologies are designed to be used on-site to minimise the impact of digestate on the environment. Lab-scale simulations of our slurry treatment process optimise our treatment trains to obtain maximum nutrient recovery.
Key Benefits
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Mass reduction of digestate handling and storage
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Significant reduction in scope 3 emissions
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Mitigation of bio-security concerns
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Clean water for reuse or safe environmental discharge
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Production of valuable by-products
OUR SOLUTIONS
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Dewatering Biogas Feedstock
The UK produces over 105 billion tonnes of organic material suitable for treatment by AD per year.Learn more about MDM
Organic material suitable for treatment via AD contains a large proportion of water, taking up far more space for storage and treatment than we would like.
Our patent-pending Mechanical De-watering Module (MDM) system delivers a solution: removing water from organic material and processing it for re-use as washdown or irrigation, naturally reducing the lifecycle of the waste products.
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Digestate Management
Digestate contains 92% water and 8% solids.Learn more about H2OPE AD
Digestate is a valuable and nutrient-rich material, but without comprehensive management strategies, any leakage into waterways can cause eutrophication and increased algal blooms.
Our revolutionary technology, H2OPE AD, is designed to process digestate on-site, eliminating the need for storage or transportation.
Valuable, high-quality by-products such as biofertiliser are produced, harnessing the nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
The solution can be implemented as a bolt-on technology to the existing AD process, powered by bioenergy that has already been generated on-site.
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Water Monitoring
The world’s first real-time monitor for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD).Learn more about Proteus
In the Anaerobic Digestion industry, we have a responsibility to ensure that our wastewater adheres to discharge legislation to mitigate the risks of pollution.
Our innovative Proteus Meter can help. It is a water quality monitoring device which places this information at your fingertips. With 13 sensors, the technology provides live data for over 30 parameters, including, ammonia and nitrates, while minimising the need for manual handling.