Green fertilizer upcycling from manure:Technological, economic and environmental sustainability demonstration

OPEN DAY

Calldetenes, 20th May 2016

2

Areas of expertise:

Design, project, construction and commissioning of environmental

installations:

Anaerobic digestion plants treating all kind of

biodegradable organic compounds.

Treatment and re-use of effluents with a high content in

salts, COD, Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

Aerobic biological treatment of polluted gases.

Development of new technologies to remove/recover nutrients

such as: Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

Development and optimisation of new processes:

I.e: ManureEcoMine Project financed by UE

Activities Ahidra & Colsen

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Romania- Colsen van den Hul VOF

Bachirat Colsen - Morrocos

Consultancy Tecnology Engineering

Colsen Milieu - Belgium

Shanghai Minsion - China

Clear Industry - China

Ahidra-Colsen - Colombia

South Africa- Aquest Colsen

Grupo Gratt - Brasil

Ahidra-Colsen - Chile

Procknor- Brasil

IBS - Argentina

Intema - Mexico

HydroItalia Colsen - Italy

Flo-Mech – UK

Group Ahidra - Colsen

Technologies

MBRBubble aerat ionTwo stage Act ivated s ludge

Water line aerobic

technologies

UASBDIGESTMIX ®DIGESTER

Anaerobic

technologies

BIDOX ®

Biogas line

Biogas

condit ioning

Biogas

pol ishing

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Intensive livestock zones

Fertilizers

blends

Nutrients shortage areas

Individually

concentrated

fertilizers:

N, K, P

ManureEcoMine - Concept

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Research institutions

1. Ghent University- CMET

2. Girona University- UdG

3. Santiago de Compostela

University - USC

4. University of Natural

Resources and Life Science

Vienna - BOKU

5. Forschungszentrum Jülich

(FZL)

Entrerprises

1. Colsen BV

2. Van Alphen BV

3. Ahidra, agua y energía S.L.

4. Baucells Alibes, S.A.

5. LVA Gmbh

6. Peltracom NV

ManureEcoMine - Partners

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ManureEcoMine – Project structure

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ManureEcoMine – Work Packages Structure

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Evaluation of fertilizer effect on

plant/soil

WP 6

WP 1

Technological lab optimization for pilot operation

Technological lab support for pilot

design

WP 5

WP 4WP 2

Pilot plant installation, disinfection and moving

Pilot plant design, engineering, construction

WP 3

WP 7

Economic sustainability

Risk analyses and safety management

Environmental sustainability

Green fertilizer blending

Demonstrative operation of the

pilot plant

Technological optimization of the

pilot plant

Manure characterization

ManureEcoMine – Pilot Demonstration

ES (AHIDRA + BALSA)NL (COLSEN + VAN ALPHEN)

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NL

• Pig manure

• Thermophilic digestion + NH3 stripping

• Co-substrates: organic residues from corn silage and vegetables

• Duration: 10 months

ES

• Cow manure

• Mesophilic digestion

• Co-substrates: segregates, pig manure

• Duration: 10 months

manure storage

Thermophilic/Mesophilic

ADStripper Absorber

Separation

Precipitator

NH4+ struvite

P & N

fertilizer

Partial nitritation/anammox

Nitritation/denitritation

Precipitator Irrigation

water

(K fertilizer)

K struvite

P & K

fertilizer

Organic &

P fertilizer

N & S

fertilizer

Solids/liquids/slurries

Energy

Gasses

Mg(OH)2 Mg(OH)2

H2SO4NH3

air

airair

air

air

P1 N1 P2

N2

ManureEcoMine – Technologies

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ManureEcoMine – Manure processing steps (WPs 1-4)

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Controlled/stable operational conditions

Lab-scale optimization

Operational parameters for optimal resource mining from manure at minimum energy and reagents

consumption

Real conditions

Pilot plant operation

New issues/challenges to deal with

LAB

ON

-SIT

E

Optimization of anaerobic co-digestion

Definition of optimal mixture of residues

Maximizing methane production and nutrients

release in a stable operation

Ammonia nitrogen vs. Anaerobic digestion

ManureEcoMine – Anaerobic digestion & stripping

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Ammonia inhibition: thresholds

and factors

Ammonia removal by stripping

Influence of stripping on

anaerobic biological activities

Influence of ammonia stripping

on the thermophilic anaerobic co-

digestion of pig manure and food

waste

BOKU´s role:

Reactor configuration for high solid content

influent characteristics

Operational conditions effects in stripping

efficiency, pH, air flow and solids content.

Batch or continuous operation and HRT

Liquid/air ratio optimization

Exhaust gases analysis, air, biogas,….

Washing acids analysis.

Operation conditions and configurations evaluation for ammonium stripping

considering minimum energy consumption and heat and maximum ammonium transfer

ManureEcoMine – Optimisation of NH3 Stripping

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NH4+ ↔ NH3 ↑ + H+ pH - value

HCO3- ↔ CO2 ↑ + OH- pH – value

ManureEcoMine – Pilot results (NL)

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Stripped digestate recirculated period

Constant load at 3.8 kg COD/m3·d

• 157 L/d recirculation

ManureEcoMine – Pilot results (SP)

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• Constant load at 3 g COD/L·d under VFAs constant values

• Biogas mean production under EE 4.6 m3/d

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0.00

0.25

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

0 25 50 75 100 125 150

Tota

l alk

alin

ity,

VFA

s[g

CaC

O3/L

)

OLR

[kg

CO

D/m

3·d

]G

PR

[m

3b

ioga

s/m

3re

acto

r·d

]

Time [d]

OLR GPR VFAs Alcalinidad total

“Optimisation of the digestate Solid-Liquid separation minimising energy consumption

and maximizing the P content in the liquid fraction”.

ManureEcoMine – S-L separation

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1 – Dewatering

• Decanter

• 30s <HRT <45s

HRT>45s: low flow = low production

• 1500 <g <2000

g>2000 not feasible

2 - Microfiltration

• Ceramic membranes

• Cut-off: 100 nm

• Surface: 1.08 m2

ManureEcoMine – Struvite precipitation

Struvite precipitation from simulated and real manure

Operation: BATCH or CONTINUOUS

The design enhances the heterogeneous nucleation: recirculation of cores

formed by fluidisation of small particles.

Optimum operation conditions: pH = 8.5 ; Ratio Mg2+/PO43- ≈ 1.6

Characteristics of the crystalliser:

Simulated manure Digested manure

P recovery > 60-70 %> 90 %

Production ≈ 0.4 g L-1treated

(0.2–1 g L-1treated)

≈ 0.9 g L-1treated

(0.5 - 1 g L-1treated)

ProductStruvite

Traces of other precipitates

Pure Struvite Simulated manure

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Digestate manure

ManureEcoMine – Biological Nitrogen Removal

Partial nitritation/Anammox

25% less oxygen consumption in relation

to the standard process

Adequate for high BOD/N ratio and after

thermophilic AD + NH3 stripping

60% less oxygen consumption in

relation to standard process

Adequate for low BOD/N ratio –

mesophilic AD - no NH3 stripping

+ O2 + O2

Partial nitritation/Denitritation

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Most sustainable way to remove nitrogen

Less oxygen and carbon required, compared to other

biological pathways

Reduced operation costs

Anammox bacteria are very sensitive

Goal: Thanks to adaptation/selection,

anammox bacteria are able to remove

nitrogen from pig manure permeate

ANAMMOX INHIBITION TESTS PARTIAL NITRITATION/ANAMMOX REACTOR

Anammox biomass

ManureEcoMine – BNR shortcut Partial Nitritation/Anammox

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Goal: Determine the anammox activity at different

dilutions of liquid fraction of manure digestate

Conclusion: Decreasing anammox activity with

increasing manure digestate amounts, higher

tolerance in permeate compared to centrate

Advantages

• 25% reduction in O2 demand

• 40% reduction in carbon demand

• 40% reduction in biomass production

0

50

100

150

200

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Nitrite(mgN/L)

N2Oemissionfactor(%

)

Time(day)

Total

Aerobic

Nitrite

Lab-scale Reactor

• Out-selection NOB

• 100% NH4+ removal

• Minimum NO2- and

NO3- in the effluent

N2O campaign

• Potent greenhouse gas

• Produced by both nitritation

and denitritation

• On-line monitoring N2O

analyzer

• Mitigation: low NO2-, high DO,

sufficient carbon supply

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ManureEcoMine – Sustainably BNR: Nitritation/Denitritation

ManureEcoMine – Pilot operation in NL

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Unidades Pig manure Ecofrit Digestate CentrateUF

permeate

Struvite

effluent

(before BNR)

DM g/kg80-91 160-190 55-60 25-30 10-15 11-14

ODM g/kg 52-64 120-140 30-37 15-20 5-6 4.2-4.5

COD g/kg 60-90 210-240 60-75 20-25 6.9-7.5 4.0-5.6

TN g/kg 5-7 6.5-8.0 3.9-4.2 3.0-3.5 1.8-2.1 1.7-2.0

NH4+-N g/kg 4-5 1.5-1.9 2.5-2.7 1.8-2.0 1.4-1.8 1.1-1.5

TP mg/kg1,400-1,900 2,400-2,600 1,400-1,750 250-300 100-110 12-20

PO43--P mg/kg

1,200-1,650 2,000-2,200 1,300-1,600 220-240 90-100 10-17

>50% red. >50% red. Low reduction

>80% red. >50% red. >80% red.

ManureEcoMine – Pilot operation in SP

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613.50

222.00

596.00 591.50

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

Feed Centrate

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n [

mg/

l]

TP

Screened digestate Screened+ acidified digestate

512.50

145.50

556.50 543.50

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

Feed Centrate

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n [

mg/

l]

Soluble TP

Screened digestate Screened+ acidified digestate

498.00

127.50

517.00 504.00

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

Feed Centrate

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n [

mg/

l]

Phosphates P-PO43-

Screened digestate Screened+ acidified digestate

464.00

88.90

502.50 489.50

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

Feed Centrate

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n [

mg/

l]

Soluble Phosphates P-PO43-

Screened digestate Screened+ acidified digestate

Cow,pig

manure and

co-substrates

UltrafiltrationDecanter

Centrifuge

Solid fraction/

Compost

Biological N

removal reactor

Struvite/

Fertilizer

Irrigation

water

Struvite

reactor

Mesophilic

Anaerobic

Digester

Retentate/

Compost

150 kg/d

DM g/kg 70.5

ODM g/kg 57.2

COD g/kg 79.6

TN g/kg 3.9

N-NH4+ g/kg 1.9

TP mg/l 585

P-PO43- mg/l 398

Biogas

Flow rate m3/d 4.2

Composition % v/v CH4 55

146 kg/d

DM g/kg 42.8

ODM g/kg 30.9

COD g/kg 37.4

TN g/kg 4.1

N-NH4+ g/kg 2.5

TP mg/l 623

P-PO43- mg/l 516

130 kg/d

DM g/kg 38.4

ODM g/kg 25.7

COD g/kg 24.3

TN g/kg 3.9

N-NH4+ g/kg 2.3

TP mg/l 616

P-PO43- mg/l 580

16 kg/d

DM g/kg 188

ODM g/kg 152

100 kg/d

DM g/kg 9.1

ODM g/kg 2.9

COD g/kg 3.5

TN g/kg 2.1

N-NH4+ g/kg 1.5

TP mg/l 166

P-PO43- mg/l 145

104 kg/d

DM g/kg 7.7

ODM g/kg 2.4

COD g/kg 2.0

TN g/kg 1.9

N-NH4+ g/kg 1.1

TP mg/l 22

P-PO43- mg/l 19

30 kg/d

DM g/kg 133

ODM g/kg 99

100 g/d

104 kg/d

DM g/kg < 5

ODM g/kg < 1

COD g/kg < 1.0

TN g/kg < 0.6

N-NH4+ g/kg <0.2

TP mg/l <15

P-PO43- mg/l <12

ManureEcoMine – Preliminary results SP

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MANURE

PRODUCTIONMANURE

PROCESSING

FERTILIZER +

GROUTH SUBSTRATE

PRODUCTION

ManureEcoMine – Project Structure

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Phytotoxicity test with Lepidium: Effect on germination

Fertilisers blending

Fertilisers blending and screening

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FERTILIZERS END-USE

MANURE

PRODUCTIONMANURE

PROCESSING

FERTILIZER + GROUTH

SUBSTRATE

PRODUCTION

ManureEcoMine – Project structure

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Role of Jülich:

Effects of the recovered nutrients in the different

formulations of fertilizers over the biomass yield.

Nutrients availability for the plants at different soils and

pHs.

Leachate nutrients effect on the soil health and the

microbiology of the rhizosphere .

Experiments:

In greenhouses and external conditions.

Study the growth of the crops through remote sensors

indicating the height of the plant, shoot imagining,

architecture of the roots, amongst others…

ManureEcoMine – Fertiliser application

“Evaluate the fertilizers blends over the plants growth and the soil, including GHG

emissions and migration of trace contaminants”

Organic StruviteNo fertilizer

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ManureEcoMine – Fertiliser application

Effects of Struvite on tomato plants:

Lupin growths better with Struvite than with 3SP

P-Struvite tests with Lupin in acidic soils

Fertiliser end useManureEcoMine – Fertiliser application

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No P fertilizer + NO3

-

BC

3SP+ NO3-Struvite + NO3

-

PROCESS QUALITY

LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS, RISK MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC VIABILITY

FERILIZAR FINAL END-USE

MANURE

PRODUCTIONMANURE

PROCESSING

FERTILIZERS

FORMULATION AND

APPLICATION

ManureEcoMine – Project Structure

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Economics sustainability

Guidance of best economic practices for the processes

Online tool of quick scanning

Environmental sustainability

Mitigation of greenhouse gases from the pilot

Energy balance and maximum performance of the pilot

GHG from the plants growth and tests of soil.

Evaluation of the life cycle impact to demonstrate the low MEM environmental

impact.

Risk and management analysis for trace contaminants.

Analysis and minimisation of potential contaminants from the recovered products.

Evaluation and management of the fertilizers recovered in a safe and sustainable

manner.

ManureEcoMine – Process quality and sustainability

3131

ManureEcoMine – Process quality (NL scenario)

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ManureEcoMine – Pilot operation results (NL and SP)

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Pilot plant as a challenge:

Substrates variable composition

Technical problems solving

Anaerobic digestion: biogas production and

nutrients recovery

Efficient solid-liquid separation through

centrifugation and ultrafiltration membranes.

Maximisation of the nutrients recovery through

digestate acidification.

Production of N-Struvite from processed cow/pig

manure.

It is possible to get levels <20 mg/l PO4-P

As a P-fertilizer, Struvite has resulted in positive

effects for different crops and ornamental plants in

greenhouse experiments.

Flexible combined processes under different

scenarios and successful technologies integration.

Turn Manure into a feasible and marketable source

ManureEcoMine expected resultsManureEcoMine – Preliminary results

Successful treatment of pig manure and co- substrates

through thermophilic anaerobic digestion (NL) up to an

OLR of 5 g COD/l·d. Possible inhibition by high levels of

FA is avoided by Stripping of Ammonium at 55ºC

maximizing biogas production.

Successful treatment of cow manure and co- substrates

under mesophilic conditions (ES) achieving steady state

at an OLR of 3 g COD/l·d and a HRT of 20 days.

Preserve the environment by recovering and reusing

nutrients from livestock manure.

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Acknowledgements

ManureEcoMine project is funded by the European Community’s

Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant

Agreement n° 603744

Thank you for your attention!

www.manureecomine.be

Watch MEM project video! www.manureecomine.eu