Improving wastewater treatment technologies is a key EU objective to achieve a sustainable and circular economy. The European strategy has been reinforced in the last 2 years with the publication of the EU Green Pact roadmap and the Circular Economy Action Plan. To achieve these ambitious goals, innovation plays a key role, as it will enable and foster Europe's positioning towards the leadership of a competitive and resource-efficient economy.
In the agri-food industries, water is an essential resource for the development of their productive activity. However, the heterogeneity and seasonality of this sector produces a wide variety of wastewater flows with a high organic load that makes treatment extremely difficult, together with increasingly stringent regulations.
The scarcity of water and the high cost of the water treatments are becoming a real challenge for the sector, which urgently needs effective solutions that minimize costs and the surface area required.
In this context, Ingeobras and Proycon have developed ANAERGY, a modular wastewater treatment system that provides agri-food industries with a tailor-made solution by integrating, for the first time, anaerobic, aerobic and AOP stages. The unique design of the anaerobic digester, which has been improved in this project, allows achieving high pollutant removal rates (95-99%). In addition, the system is capable of integrating PUREMUST® technology, which removes nitrates and sulfates from water. Its small size and flexibility allow for reduced CAPEX and OPEX, together with a response tailored to the needs of clients.
This project will provide the market with a solution that will significantly reduce water discharge rates as well as investment and operating costs. In addition, the high capacity of the technology to remove pollution from wastewater discharges, means improved surface water quality, which also promotes water reuse. Last but not least, the benefits that ANAERGY will bring to the market will make the proposed project profitable with an ROI of 6.6 in 4 years and a payback period in the first quarter of the second year.
To achieve these impacts and benefits in the agri-food industry, the overall objective of this project has been to fully develop the ANAERGY technology and scale the solution to commercial level. The specific objectives addressed during the life of the project are to:
- Develop an improved system for anaerobic wastewater treatment that produces biogas, also optimizing the required HRT.
- Create a modular solution with redesigned connection modules that reduce the main operating problems related to leakage.
- Extend ANAERGY manufacturing and installation to industrial mass production.
- Define a marketing strategy to make ANAERGY technology known to potential end users.
