Objectives
The main objective of the MODERN PLANT project is to convert municipal wastewater treatment plants into a biorefineries, by coupling the recovery of resources with an efficient degradation of emerging pollutants, without increasing management costs. This really challenging objective goes through a complete re-thinking and re-engineering of conventional wastewater treatment plants, but simply implementing the present WWTPs.
A major innovation here will consist into:
- maximize the removal of organic carbon and phosphorus through Chemical Enhanced Primary Sedimentation, CEPS
- optimise advanced treatment (nitrogen and EPs removal) by Microagal-Bacterial (MB) biogranules process after CEPS as well as capture and valorise CO2 to bioenergy
- optimise the oxidative-recovery of resources (through a technology patented by Italian partner) from CEPS and microalgal-bacterial sludge
- improve the recovery of phosphorous and organic carbon in the form of vivianite and VFAs by acidogenic sludge fermentation
- develop the conditions for inducing the chain elongation to obtain C6-C8 VFA
- monitor the presence of EPs and their derivated along the processes
- 0 %
GHG emissions
- 0 %
of final sewage sludge
0 %
European Biodiesel Demand Obtained from Sewage Sludge
Through these investigations and a strong interaction between partners, it was expected to be proven and estimated:
The improvement
of the chemical and biological treatment of sewage to reduce the energy needing for running wastewater depuration
The reduction
of the Carbon dioxide emission vs a conventional scenario: organic carbon will be preserved from the oxidation/degradation to obtain fine chemicals (VFAs, fatty acids, etc.) using biological and/or green chemical routes
The improvement
of the degradation of emerging pollutants through advanced oxidation processes functional to the recovery of resources
The reduction
of final sludge to be disposed
This work was supported in part by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Grant number CN23GR08
