Public Funding for Gaming Realms PLC

Short title: Continuous thermal PDX processing of waste sludges and slurries for increased biogas production in a community scale AD. Full title: PDX system for continuous small-scale thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment of waste water sludges, agricultural waste and waste food for pasteurisation and improved biogas production by anaerobic digestion. Advanced anaerobic digestion (AD) is increasingly being adopted to treat sewage sludge, agricultural and food waste to produce higher quality digestate for agricultural reuse and improve the economics of sludge treatment. The performance of the AD in fermenters is measured by the amount of biogas production and the proportion of its highly valuable compound methane. The released amount of the methane depends on the initial amount of the organic matter in the sludges and on its availability for biodegradation. Pre-treatment of the feedstocks prior to AD achieve enhanced pathogen kill and hydrolysis of waste-activated sludge and food/agricultural waste, making organic matter available for AD process. Therefore there is a need for a variety of AD-coupled treatment systems customised for a range of local substrates at the community level without need of long haul transportation, which would provide water-efficient treatment of waste while being energy autonomic, and preferable providing surplus of energy for the national grid. An advanced PDX Reactor system for continuous thermal hydrolysis treatment via supersonic steam injection, combined with optimal material dispersal has been developed for achieving enhanced biogas production at the community-scale AD waste processing. The improved technology allows fast of heating of sludge to reach temperatures of 90 - 130°C within one minute. After reaching the temperature, the overall performance of the system can also be enhanced by increased retention time. The sludge structure is targeted to kill the bacterial cells, disperse and release the organic material and increase the biodegradability of the sludge, therefore making the substrate more accessible for the anaerobic bacteria uptake. The four capabilities for the PDX technology specific to the waste water industry are: heating and pumping of sludge; pathogen kill; enhancement of AD with increased biogas production; improved dewatering of the processed material. The system design incorporated sludge handling for thicker sludge of 10 – 15% solids, and is suitable for Secondary Activated sludge (SAS, WAS), or to mixtures of SAS and primary sludges, as well as wide range of agricultural and food waste. The PDX system is compact, small-scale, and low-cost and allows fast continuous processing in comparison to batch-processing existing technologies. The energy requirements of PDX system will be substantially smaller than the energy contained in released biogas. These characteristics make it ideal candidate for a relatively small waste treatment facility, suitable for a farm or community-scale AD plant which would be energy self-sufficient and can provide the surplus of produced biogas to the local community, or integrate with the national grid.