Catalysed by their activities as mechanical engineers to the UK water treatment, energy & manufacturing industries, Lindhurst Innovation Engineering (LIE) have developed H2AD - a novel micro-scale technology for the rapid & safe disposal of organic effluents. H2AD uses an efficient industrial biotechnology process to reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the organic content & recover the energy from waste via conversion to hydrogen/methane rich biogas and fertiliser. The core technology underpinning H2AD is an integrated and modular closed loop Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), based on a novel hybrid of traditional Anaerobic Digestion (AD) & conventional MFC technology. However, in contrast to existing MFCs, a microbial reaction with the potential for electrical stimulation is established in a completely anaerobic manner, realising a waste-to-energy (WtE) process with step-change in the time required to reduce the COD & total suspended solids (TSS) of organic waste streams to safe levels.
The innovation addresses the immediate requirement for a micro-scale effluent disposal technology, due to considerable feedstock volumes & biocomposition requirements of existing technologies such as AD. H2AD has been developed to target micro & small enterprises (μSE) generating waste with organic load beyond that accepted for disposal to sewer, & for which space is restricted, reducing the effluent storage & disposal costs by up to 70% & additionally recovering the energy in waste to further reduce production costs.
A principle feasibility project output was that disposal of organic waste streams is a key restriction on the productivity & profitability of the EU agri-food & drink processing industry (a-FDPI), which therefore presents the greatest opportunity for initial market capture. A predominance of micro & small enterprises (μSE) within the a-FDPI, makes H2AD commercially viable in a wide range of applications, for which no feasible micro-scale technology currently exists for the safe disposal of organic waste or recovery of energy from these effluent volumes. H2AD can uniquely address this challenge as well as recover some of the 288TWh of potential energy in the a-FDPI as hydrogen/methane rich biogas.
The feasibility study established measures of H2AD performance & extrapolated/modelled predicted payback periods from slurry-fed H2AD for waste streams from fruit drinks processing (<2yrs), dairy processing (<1.5yrs) microbreweries (<2.5yrs) and mixed agriculture (<3yrs). Detailed analysis of these markets – forming the basis of LIE’s elaborated business plan – demonstrated the potential for payback well within the critical payback period of 2.5 years for industry adoption of a new technology.
However, a number of commercially viable business models are capable of targeting these applications on a mass-market scale. Therefore, to precisely determine the commercial opportunity of each to inform a refined initial strategy & long term route to market replication, it is necessary to qualify and quantify the economic, technical & environmental impact of H2AD in the different key environments within the a-FDPI identified.
The field trials were carried out within a strong collaborative framework in Spain (AINIA – a-FDPI technology centre), Denmark (Aarhus University/Arla – AD Centre of Excellence), Ireland (IrBEA – Irish Biogas Energy Association) & UK (Castle Rock - Oakfield Farm) & galvanised & quantitatively refined the LIE business model for initial market capture & medium to long-term strategies for widespread uptake & market replication.
Laura Porcu is currently working on two scientific papers for publication:
1. The first will showcase the performance and behaviour of the H2AD technology with different feedstocks
2. The second will showcase the journey of H2AD including the development and scaling up of the technology from a research idea and project to a full commercial plant. In particular, it will highlight the barriers and challenges experienced whilst achieving this.
Please reference the report for Deliverable 6.3 for full details of dissemination by the H²AD team.
