Innovative Eco-Technologies for Resource Recovery from Wastewater

Project Information

INCOVER

Grant agreement ID: 689242

DOI

10.3030/689242

Project closed

EC signature date 29 April 2016

Start date 1 June 2016

End date 31 July 2019

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 8 432 456,43

EU contribution

€ 7 209 032,01

Coordinated by

ASOCIACION DE INVESTIGACION METALURGICA DEL NOROESTE
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INCOVER (Innovative Eco-Technologies for Resource Recovery from Wastewater)

Reporting period: 2017-12-01 to 2019-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Three case studies treating wastewater from different sources at three demonstration sites located in Spain (Chiclana/Almería and Barcelona) and Germany (Leipzig) have been implemented, assessed and optimised concurrently. INCOVER technologies have been validated at demonstration scale in order to achieve Technology Readiness Level of 7-8 to ensure straightforward up scaling to 100,000 population equivalents.

Case study 1 (Figure 1) addresses the biotreatment of urban wastewater and agricultural runoff with cyanobacteria in photobioreactors to produce bioplastics, anaerobic digestion to produce biomethane, recovery of nutrients with engineered sorbents and nature-based solutions, and solar driven disinfection providing water for irrigation of sunflower fields.

Case study 2 (Figure 2) has been implemented in two locations in Spain (Chiclana and Almeria). Chiclana site produces bioplastics in high rate algae ponds with purple bacteria. The remaining biomass is transformed into biomethane using anaerobic co-digestion and a photosynthetic upgrade system. Finally, an evaporative planted filter stabilises the digestate and boost nutrient recovery. In Almería site, high rate algae ponds are used to treat urban wastewater to obtain irrigation quality effluent free of pathogens thanks to solar driven anodic oxidation as final step.

Finally, Case study 3 in Leipzig (Germany) (Figure 3) utilises a mixture of C-rich industrial waste and grey wastewater to produce organic acids (citric acid and itaconic acid). Residues are used for biogas production through co-digestion with industrial C-rich substrate. The anaerobic sludge is treated in a hydrothermal carbonisation process transforming waste biomass to valuable ready-to-use soil fertilisers.

To improve added-value production efficiency, INCOVER case studies include monitoring and control via optical sensing.

INCOVER solutions will reduce operation and maintenance cost of wastewater treatment and the energy demand. A wastewater specific Decision Support System methodology has been tailored to INCOVER technologies and will provide data and selection criteria (environmental, economic and social) for a holistic wastewater management.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first period of the project (month 1- month 18) partners were involved in the designing and construction of the 3 case studies in Spain and Germany. During the second period all the technologies have been validated at demo scale in every location.

Case study 1 - Converting agricultural wastewater into bioplastics, fertilizers and reclaimed water.
Case-study 1 technologies implemented in Barcelona were tested with agricultural and domestic wastewater. The results showed than an excellent removal of nutrients was achieved in the photobioreactors while cyanobacteria were able to accumulate bioplastics through photosynthetic process. Solar-driven filtration-disinfection system produced between 5 m³/day and 10 m³/day of treated water for irrigation. The sludge treatment wetland produced good quality soil conditioner, fulfilling the Spanish regulations for heavy metals in sludge and soil.
Case study 2 - Resources recovery from municipal wastewater, using High Rate Algae Ponds, evaporative systems and planted filters.
Chiclana site achieved high productivities of bioplastics (up to 35%) with Phototrophic Purple Bacteria Ponds. A photosynthetic biogas upgrading technology produced high quality biomethane (CH4 > 95%) while recovering nutrients through microalgae cultivation in ponds. An evaporative system was validated as a nature-based system to treat digestate coming from anaerobic codigestion. In Almeria, planted filters were a high effective tertiary treatment after high rate algae ponds. Solar-driven electro-chlorination and smart irrigation system were also successfully optimised and tested in grass fields.

Case study 3 – Organic acids produced from wastewater
On case-study 3 in Leipzig, all technologies for the treatment and valorisation of wastewater and waste from the food sector were successfully implemented. The yeast-based bioprocess achieves product concentrations of 100-120 kg citric acid/m3 and formation rates of 0.5 – 1.2 kg/m3h. The hydrothermal carbonisation technology permitted to produce several samples of biochar, e.g. for energetic purposes reaching a heating value of up to 22 Mjoule per kg. After the end of the project, this technology will be marketed to companies working in the wastewater treatment sector.

All partners have been actively involved in disseminating INCOVER project and engaging with technology end-users and key stakeholders.

• 14,526 sessions in INCOVER website, 776 followers in Twitter and 205 followers in LinkedIn and 1 animated video in YouTube.
• 101 Events: Scientific conferences, EU-related events, business-oriented events, face-to-face meetings among others.
• 14 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• 73 press-releases published both in specialised magazines and local newspapers and 7 video reports.
• 5 Newsletters
• 2 Awards (UK Industry Water award in Sludge & Resource recovery category and Power Idea Contest for sustainable communities) and shortlisted for IWater Award for Best Innovation.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main innovations of INCOVER project are summarised as follows:
1- A tailored-to-technology Decision Support System and a Sustainability tool was developed to ensure the socio-economic, environmental and technical feasibility of INCOVER solutions in the context where replication is foreseen.

2- Demonstration of innovative added-value technologies at real scale designed for extracting valuable resources from wastewater in three case-studies including:

- An innovative bioplastic production process from phototrophic bacteria/microalgae systems.
- Optical sensing for monitoring bioplastic and the chemical/organic compounds production in INCOVER bioprocesses.
- An innovative biogas cleaning technology capable of simultaneously removing CO2, H2S, NH3 and VOCs from biogas in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way.
- Functionalised polymeric materials as innovative sorbents for P recovery from wastewater.
- Solar-driven anodic oxidation and ultra-filtration as cost-effective disinfection systems to provide quality effluent (pathogen free) for irrigation.
Other environmental and social important impacts comprised by INCOVER project are:
Cost reduction of municipal and industrial wastewater management by at least 50% via energy supply and production of valuable products.
Enhance and foster the awareness among the industrial companies and costumers, citizens of municipalities about the benefits of using recovered water and bio-products.
Improving skills and knowledge on innovative wastewater technologies. The INCOVER project has included training activities through 3 Innovation workshops with representatives of water utilities to transfer new of the INCOVER technologies.
Science in Society. Press releases (73), newsletters (5) and an animation video for YouTube were developed to make INCOVER technology accessible to them.

Case-study 3 implemented and validated at UFZ facilities (Germany)

Case-study 2 implemented and validated at AQUALIA facilities of Almería (Andalucía)

Case-study 2 implemented and validated at AQUALIA facilities of Chiclana (Andalucia)

Case-study 1 implemented and validated at UPC facilities in Agrópolis (Barcelona, Spain).