TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
various industrial groups, from which the three projects described below were selected for a total cost of about €31M. The corresponding EC contribution amounts to about €20M, and these contracts have just been signed in May 2011 with project durations between four and five years.
InteSusAl project
The InteSusAl consortium is comprised of nine partners, including academic, industrial and public sector representation, and is coordinated by the Centre for Process Innovation in north-east England, which will provide key background research and development to the project. Partners include the Brussels- based European Renewable Energy Centers Agency, process equipment manufacturer GEA Westfalia Separator, Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, the UK National Renewable Energy Centre, the Turkish research enterprise Ege Biyoteknoloji, and the public authorities and bus operators of the Turkish municipalities of Seferihisar and Bornova.
Through the integration of novel, enclosed raceways and photobioreactors, powered by stored renewable energy sources, optimised algal growth was estimated to yield more than 1500t dry algae on 10ha in a period of 18 months. From this dry mass, 580t will be converted of biodiesel, to be used in Turkey in public transportation fleets with control vehicles operating within the same fleets. Glycerine from the biodiesel process will be used to provide a carbon source to enhance the microalgal growth in the cultivation phase. In addition, and as part of the integrated sustainable approach to this work, the fermentation of biomass to produce methanol to catalyse the transesterification reactions will be assessed.
All-Gas project
The All-Gas project aims to demonstrate the sustainable production of low-cost biofuels from algae, based on the reuse of wastewater and other residues, taking into account that: nProviding microalgae with synthetic fertilizer as a nitrogen source could already account for up to one-third of the theoretical energy content of the produced biomass, estimated around 5kWh/ kg. Freshwater algae in high growth conditions can contain up to 10% nitrogen, leading to an external energy input in the form of nitrogen of 1.5 kWh/kg of algal biomass nWastewater treatment plants (WwTP) today do not take advantage of the energy content of organic matter in municipal effluents, estimated at 2.5kWh/m3, or five times the energy used in its treatment. On the contrary, nitrogen
Flow diagram showing the components of the InteSusAl project
fertilizer is lost into the atmosphere as gas within the treatment process, in order to meet the nutrient discharge limits The All-Gas project is based on the recycle of nutrients, energy harvesting and
CO2 generation from wastewater and its residues. After anaerobic pre-treatment to
maximize biogas production and gain CO2, the wastewater is then further purified by the growth of algal biomass. Harvested algae will be processed for the extraction of oils and other valuable byproducts, while the remaining algal biomass is transformed into biomethane,
CO2 and minerals, together with other residual biomass from wastewater and/or agriculture. If the target productivity of the algae cultures – 3,000kg DS/d – is reached, with algal oil content of 20%, enough biodiesel to run about 200 cars could be generated. The bio-methane production from the anaerobic digestion of raw wastewater and biomass residues should yield an equivalent amount of bio-methane for another 200 cars. Wastewater flow of around 5,000m3/per day would be treated to a level allowing for reuse, minimizing emissions, energy consumption and wastewater process residues. The project will be implemented in two stages at a WwTP in southern Spain, starting with a prototype facility to gather the main design parameters for the full-scale plant during the first two years. Once the viability and sustainability of the concept has been verified in full-scale ponds of 1,500m2 each, 10 hectares will be developed and operated during the following three years.
Spanish water and wastewater company Aqualia leads the consortium of the All-Gas project, consisting of seven partners: the Netherlands-based FeyeCon Group, Turkish manufacturer MTD Turkbiodiesel, BDI – BioEnergy International of Austria, Dutch gas handling specialist Hygear, The University of Southampton and the Fraunhofer Umsicht Institute in Germany.
BIOFAT project
The BIOfuel from Algae Technologies (BIOFAT) project targets both biodiesel and ethanol production, based on optimised growth and
starch and oil accumulation, with CO2 from industrial fermentation used as a renewable carbon source. Coordinated by Abengoa Bioenergía Nuevas Tecnologías (ABNT), the other nine partners include the Department of Agrarian Biotechnology at the University of Florence and its spin-off company Fotosintetica & Microbiologica, Algal Fuel (A4F) of Portugal, Israel’s Ben Gurion University, Dutch company Evodos, Algosource Technologies (AST) of France and US company Hart Energy Consulting. The BIOFAT process will be based on a technology hybridisation approach. The process is on photobioreactors, operated under culture stress conditions to allow for high productivity, followed by a raceway stage for bulk biomass production, modifying the culture conditions in order to induct oil and starch accumulation. The final step includes the harvesting and unit operations focused on algae fractions separation for ethanol and biodiesel production, plus other co-products (the ‘algorefinery’ concept). The project will be implemented in two phases: first, strain selection and process optimisation in a one hectare demo-scale facility, and second, economical modelling, including scale up to a 10ha demo facility, pursuing the following scientific and technology objectives to reach competitive and sustainable algal biomass production. Because of the dual product approach, BIOFAT aims to develop and cultivate algae maximising oil and starch content. Algae oil will be dedicated to biodiesel production, while biomass (starch) will be available to produce second-generation ethanol through traditional fermentation processes. nnn
For information about energy under FP7, visit
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/energy/home_en.html
June 2011 Water & Wastewater Treatment 43
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