Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Lt-AD (Low-temperature anaerobic digestion treatment of low-strength wastewaters)
Teaser
NVP Energy is an award-winning (UK Water Industry Achievement, 2015 & Environment & Energy award, 2015) company which has developed an innovative high-rate anaerobic digestion (AD) technology that successfully treats low strength wastewater (WW) at ambient temperatures. The...
Summary
NVP Energy is an award-winning (UK Water Industry Achievement, 2015 & Environment & Energy award, 2015) company which has developed an innovative high-rate anaerobic digestion (AD) technology that successfully treats low strength wastewater (WW) at ambient temperatures. The low-temperature (Lt-AD) process provides a novel solution to Food & Drinks industries and the municipal WW sector by presenting a sustainable alternative to conventional aerobic treatment. Significant operational cost savings, >90% organic sludge reduction and the production of 100% reusable biogas are attractive features.
Securing of the H2020 Phase 1 SME grant has affirmed the company as one of only 155 successful EU companies, and has facilitated NVP Energy to fulfil the following feasibility study objectives:
• Identification of the strengths and weakness of the low strength process,
• Characterisation of EU market opportunities, and the identification of initial and future target EU countries for technology penetration,
• Determination of issues involved in scaling-up from pilot to demonstrator,
• Assessment of competing and complementary technologies,
• Determination of resources required to deliver a demonstrator project and to build relationships with potential users and partners,
• Collation of outputs into a strategic analysis and business plan.
Work performed
The feasibility study afforded NVP Energy the opportunity to perform the following research during the reporting period:
• Perform analysis of the Food & Drinks industry in the EU – an industry which has a market value of $1.4 trillion and which accounts for employment of 4 million people in the EU (IMAP, 2010),
• The identification of the EU as a main player in the dairy processing market accounting for almost 25% of the world’s milk production (IDF Bulletin: The World Dairy Situation 476, 2014), with the highest milk-producing countries and the relevant industrial players defined from a thorough review of member states,
• An overview of the AD total addressable and available markets in a range of EU member states was defined for Germany, France, the UK and Ireland with barriers to market identified,
• Detailed analysis of EU incentives (renewable energy heat and/or electricity) and funding opportunities for AD technologies for particular member states was carried out,
• Assessment of the EU legal, regulatory and certification requirements for a WW treatment technology such as Lt-AD and AD as a general treatment methodology was carried out.
Following this analysis, Germany, the UK and Ireland were highlighted as being the initial key target countries in the Milk Treatment & Processing sector of EU sector, with France, the Netherlands and Italy for the next stage exploitation. It is envisaged that a Phase 2 application will focus on the UK and Ireland for a full-scale demonstrator site location due to the following reasons:
1. Close proximity to NVP Energy headquarters in Ireland,
2. Significant AD government incentives,
3. Acceptance of AD as a WW treatment technology,
4. Lack of language barrier,
5. Large dairy industrial presence – especially of the larger players in the market such as Kerry Group, Glanbia, Arla Foods, Dairy Crest, Müller, and Danone SpA.
As a result of these market focus outcomes, NVP Energy developed a bespoke WW questionnaire for EU potential users to assess their WW streams and applicability for the NVP Energy technology. A number of high-profile companies were involved in this process with significant interest in pursuing a demonstrator plant shown. Following from the identification of target countries and industries the following outcomes were achieved:
• Valuable meetings and presentations conducted with key figures in Ireland, the UK and Germany (Müller, Glanbia, Kerry, Arla Foods and Arrabawn),
• A detailed assessment of complementary and competing technologies was conducted where the Lt-AD technology was compared to technologies currently on the market in terms of energy consumption, energy generation, sludge production, surface area requirement, odour and emissions. The novel NVP Energy technique showed excellent efficiencies in all respects, when compared to competing products. A number of key complementary technologies were identified as being of benefit to end-users either pre- or post- Lt-AD in order to enhance the treatment efficiencies to those required to satisfy effluent release requirements. Indicative flow charts on treatment efficiencies expected with the incorporation of pre- and post-technologies were generated,
• A consortium of end-users, subcontractors and beneficiaries for a Phase 2 SME demonstrator-scale project was identified,
• A concise list of predicted issues associated with up-scaling from a pilot to a demonstrator-scale project were defined with valuable input from process engineers,
• A clear NVP Energy rollout & investment opportunity was identified for the time period of 2015 – 2022,
• Market penetration analysis (UK, Ireland, and EU) performed on addressable market (2015 – 2021), with projected market share defined,
• Value proposition described: quantifiable financial benefits for a typical industrial client.
It is also worthwhile noting that during the course of this Phase 1 SME funding that NVP Energy presented the nov
Final results
The final results of this Phase 1 feasibility study are as follows:
1. A dairy processing plant in Ireland or the UK identified as a potential Lt-AD technology end-user, with a demonstrator unit to be housed on-site to treat dairy processing effluent. Phase 1 research afforded NVP Energy the opportunity to review EU countries of which the outcome was to focus efforts in Ireland and the UK for the short term,
2. A demonstrator plant which would generate ~12 months operational data to treat ~400 m3 WW per day is the offering to end-users under a Phase 2 SME application,
3. A clear value proposition for a typical dairy processing client – attractive payback for end-users has been presented due to low NVP Energy Lt-AD OPEX, and the advantage of using 100% of the biogas produced to offset natural gas usage as well as to acquire renewable heat incentives for the company. The ability to reduce organic sludge by >90% is also a significant benefit to end-users which significantly reduced sludge treatment and disposal costs.
4. The customer pathway and longer term geographical expansion plans for NVP Energy have been defined.
The Phase 1 SME instrument allowed NVP Energy to clearly highlight where the Lt-AD technology would stand in a full-scale plant, and the processes to be incorporated pre- and post- to achieve high standard effluent for release or for recirculation to the remaining site. A flow-chart of WW treatment operation is provided in Figure 3 which clearly highlights the location of the NVP Energy within an on-site treatment system. One of the main benefits of this technology is its modularity and ability to be incorporated as either a retrofit or new-build solution for clients to satisfy an overloaded system, increasing production or to significantly reduce effluent release charges. The benefits of the technology in terms of treatment efficiencies and advantages to the end-user are highlighted in Figure 4 – each of these advantages have wider societal implications, for instance Lt-AD ...:
1. significantly reduces sludge volumes (up to 90% reduced organic sludge production) requiring land space for spreading or composting – this reduces pressure on WW treatment operators who are limited in final reuse options for sludge under increasing strict EU legislation,
2. operates efficiently at a low temperatures (< 25C) – often temperate climates are forced to use technologies which require additional heating input to operate, Lt-AD alleviates this by operating effectively at temperatures as low as 4C,
3. generates a renewable energy source which is 100% available for reuse – the resultant biogas can be used on-site as a heat or electricity source which increases the green credentials of users and allows users to avail of renewable energy incentives,
4. is a low carbon, energy positive technology,
5. reduces solids to facilitate reduction of both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS),
6. has achieved urban wastewater directive (UWWD) standard for COD without additional post-treatment technologies,
7. provides a modular solution to clients looking for an energy efficient solution for retrofit or new build scenarios.
Website & more info
More info: http://www.nvpenergy.com.