Project description
New system boosts organic fertiliser
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is essential for sustainable bio-waste treatment and recycling, and strongly encouraged by European Union legislation. For maximal benefit, the disposal of digestate, a nutrient-rich substance produced by AD, needs to be addressed. Liquid digestate can be used as fertiliser or soil improver in agriculture but there is a risk of runoff into surface and ground waters. The EU-funded ADFU project is working on converting the waste liquor from AD into a low-cost granular fertiliser, which can also be easily stored and transported. This remaining liquid after conversion will be of low nutrient and organic quality, allowing disposal via wastewater or discharge into water bodies.
Objective
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.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
- engineering and technology environmental biotechnology bioremediation bioreactors
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy
- social sciences economics and business business and management business models
- social sciences economics and business economics sustainable economy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
BT71NF BELFAST
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.