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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALGAMATER (Using microalgae bioreactor technology to deliver the worldâ€™s most cost-effective, energy-efficient and adaptable system for the treatment of toxic industrial and landfill wastewater)

Teaser

Summary

This project was inspired by the words of the inventor and author Buckminster Fuller: â€œNature has no pollution. This is a word coined in human ignorance regarding the presence of the right chemicals being released in the wrong placesâ€¦â€. While high concentrations of compounds such as ammonium, phosphates and sulphates can be deadly for aquatic ecosystems and their inhabitants, they are nutrients for algae and plants. This project harnesses components found in highly concentrated wastewaters such as landfill leachate to feed microalgae.
The landfill leachate is one of the most concentrated and complex wastewaters produced. Its treatment is a major engineering challenge due to the high and variable concentrations of dissolved solids, dissolved and colloidal organics, heavy metals and xenobiotic organics. Ensuring that landfill leachate and industrial wastewaters do not pollute natural water resources is a priority throughout the world.
Bluemater has developed technological solutions for leachate treatment since 2008. The company has created systems for the primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment of wastewaters. The company has turned a challenging concept into a viable commercial system for wastewater treatment at landfills and various other industries. Following extensive testing at diverse wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and guided by feedback from target clients, its breakthrough microalgae technology was integrated with Bluematerâ€™s next-generation wastewater management systems in its current configuration. With this project, Bluemater introduces the ALGAMATER WWTP: the worldâ€™s most robust, flexible, cost-effective, and eco-friendly wastewater treatment system.
In order to boost the capacity and effluent treatment efficiency of Bluematerâ€™s innovation to industrial levels itÂ´s necessary to commission a full-scale, integrated and certified ALGAMATER WWTP with an industrial leachate treatment capacity of 150m3/day at a fully operational, large-scale EU landfill. The ALGAMATER WWTP will be scaled-up and installed at the ALGARâ€™s Sotavento landfill in Algarve, Portugal.
The ALGAMATER WWTP will serve to demonstrate the superior performance, adaptability and cost-effectiveness of Bluematerâ€™s solution, positioning the technology at the forefront of next-generation eco-innovative wastewater treatment systems worldwide. For this objective, a scale-up of the companyâ€™s individual technologies will be made so they can be integrated into the scaled-up ALGAMATER WWTP. The plant will have a 150mÂ³/day leachate treatment capacity and will comply with the emission limit values for leachate treatment laid out by Portuguese and EU legislation. The final performance results will validate all advantages and benefits of the ALGAMATER WWTP, opening the doors of high-scale commercialization of this disruptive technology to the European and international markets.

Work performed

The ALGAMATER project started with the scale-up of three of Bluematerâ€™s proprietary technologies: NATANTIA Biocube, SYCON Biological Tower, and GREEN DUNE Photobioreactor. The first two technologies are combined to perform the secondary treatment of the leachate while the photobioreactors perform the tertiary treatment through the cultivation of microalgae. The NATANTIA Biocubes were successfully scaled-up and their volume was increased 125 times. Two different designs were created, one for highly concentrated wastewaters and another one for wastewaters of medium and low concentration of pollutants. The SYCON Biological Tower was adapted for the new scaled-up Biocubes and scaled-up to 100 mÂ³ of capacity. It was optimized so now it is modular and made of FRP. The GREEN DUNE Photobioreactor was successfully redesigned to a prismatic shape.
The ALGAMATER WWTP P&ID has been fully developed and now represents the complete flow diagram of the plant. The Full-Scale Plant Mechanical Design has been successfully developed taking into account the scaled-up components, P&ID and final ALGAMATER location. The Equipment Selection was completely carried out for all mechanical components. Best value for money was assessed and reliable suppliers were chosen. The needs and requirements for the automation and monitorization are already being developed in accordance to ALGAMATERâ€™s needs. The electrical architecture will be developed to attend these needs and guarantee the safe operation of the plant. The ALGAMATERâ€™s main components have already started to be purchased, and all other components are going to be purchased shortly to ensure manufacturing of the demo plant in its final location. The legal authorization for construction will be obtained once the civil work project is finished. Civil works will be carried out following the ALGAMATER WWTP requirements.
The Customer Development activities were successfully conducted, following previous Customer Development activitites performed by BLUEMATER. The Business Plan was developed based on the inputs of the Customer Development activities. The current version is already reflecting developments made within the ALGAMATER project. The Communication Activities have been successfully conducted so far. Awareness towards the ALGAMATER project has been raised, bringing BLUEMATER in close contact with new potential customers and partners. The trade-fairs were essential for the Customer Development, as well as to provide BLUEMATER with a portfolio of interested entities that will be further turned into commercialization leads.
The Commercialization Plan is starting to have a clear structure based on the Business Plan and the best way to achieve the final clients. The future dissemination and exploitation of results will be incremented by the feedback BLUEMATER has obtained with the Communication Activities of ALGAMATER during the projectâ€™s duration. Up until this point, a market interest towards the ALGAMATER WWTP was noticed and confirmed. Potential customers are excited about a sustainable technology capable of treating the most complicated effluents with ALGAMATER.

Final results

The technical development of the first half of the ALGAMATER project allowed three key technologies of BLUEMATER to be successfully scaled-up and integrated into the Full-Scale ALGAMATER WWTP. The NATANTIAÂ® Biocube and the SYCON Biological Tower are responsible for the secondary treatment of the landfill leachate. Now that both are scaled-up, they will be responsible for a highly efficient treatment in industrial scale with a decrease in the size of the reactor by a factor of 8 and energy consumption by a factor of 10, compared to a conventional activated sludge tank. It will be the most cost-efficient biological treatment available for landfill leachate. The scaled-up GREEN DUNE Photobioreactor will be the first prismatic and modular reactor capable of performing the tertiary treatment of landfill leachate through the cultivation of microalgae. It is now more cost-efficient when compared to the conventional tubular photobioreactors. Along with the VULCAN Flotator, these three scaled-up technologies are now integrated into the Full-Scale ALGAMATER WWTP.
The ALGAMATER WWTP is about to become the most cost-effective, energy-efficient and adaptable system for the treatment of industrial and landfill wastewaters. It will change the way the market approaches the leachate and industrial wastewater treatment, with a sustainable and much more cost-efficient solution to treat the most polluted wastewater effluents.