Novel anaerobic digestion fertiliser unit

ended

Use of anaerobic digestion (AD) is rapidly growing worldwide. Despite the many benefits, there is an increasingly serious problem of disposing large volumes of nutrient rich liquid waste produced called digestate. Digestate is commonly used as a raw liquid fertiliser on land, with associated problems of run-off, leaching and eutrophication of water courses. In addition, there are other complications linked to storage of the digestate and this is further compounded by regulations which govern disposal and its direct application onto fields. This issue is likely to worsen with the increased capacity in AD technology forecast and these simple disposal techniques are unsustainable, placing further pressure on the AD industry and diminishing its green credentials. We have developed novel methods to convert the waste liquor from AD into a low cost, granular fertiliser. The contained liquor nutrients are concentrated onto readily available solids to higher levels which can be stored and transported easily, and later used as a fertiliser. We have successfully manufactured and tested a prototype bolt-on device, which can be attached to final processing stage. The remaining liquid will be of such low nutrient and organic quality that it can be easily disposed of via wastewater or discharged into water bodies. The system will be designed to avoid any changes or modifications to new and existing AD plants and their processes. With this funding we intend to expand the already successful operational technology by establishing a clear path to commercialisation through conducting AD plant, market and IP research. We plan to gather market intelligence, develop the go-to-market strategy and business plan, and conduct both a partner and IP search, with the aim to test product feasibility. The European AD market, largest in the world, is growing to reach around €8bn by 2024 with over 17,000 plants already operational which is a substantial market for this young company to transform.