LIFE Project: Maximizing biogas production with cutting-edge technologies for greater resource availability and digital tools to increase efficiency
- Type Project
- Status In progress
- Execution 2024 -2028
- Assigned Budget 3.518.661,00 €
- Scope Europeo
- Autonomous community Cataluña
- Main source of financing LIFE
- Project website Web del proyecto
LIFE MERLIN aims to boost biogas production at WWTPs through an innovative combination of urban wastewater sludge pretreatment technologies and an intelligent co-digestion process. The biogas will fuel the WWTP's combined heat and power (CHP) engines, converting it into energy for the plant, thereby boosting renewable energy production.
One of the most efficient technologies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the waste sector is anaerobic digestion (AD). AD is a process that offers opportunities not only to minimize waste volumes but also to produce renewable energy in the form of biogas and biomethane. AD technologies have traditionally been considered a suitable treatment for sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as they enhance the production of alternative energy sources to support the wastewater treatment process. This can reduce operating costs and limit dependence on other energy sources. However, the process has limitations.
Hydrolysis of complex organic wastes is often inefficient, resulting in long retention times, large bioreactor sizes, and reduced biogas production. To enhance hydrolysis and accelerate methane production, several studies have recommended chemical, thermal, or biological pretreatment methods, or a combination of these techniques. These practices could break down the complex structure of the sludge, reducing the solid mass, disintegrating complex extracellular substances, and enhancing methane production and kinetics during treatment.
Furthermore, sonication (a process of applying sound energy to agitate particles or discontinuous fibers in a liquid) is widely used to manage wastewater in wastewater treatment plants. This technique facilitates the decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms. This allows for shorter biomass retention times, which reduces reactor size and, consequently, capital investment.
Despite being a mature technology, anaerobic digestion in monodigestion mode (a single feedstock) faces several challenges. Simultaneous digestion of two or more feedstocks, called anaerobic codigestion, is an alternative that can help stabilize the digestion process and increase biogas production, which in turn improves the economic viability of the process. Codigestion has been implemented on a large scale in several wastewater treatment plants around the world, but tools have not yet been developed to help it reach its full potential.
- Maximize electricity production from on-site combined heat and power engines by increasing the amount of biogas produced, thereby minimizing dependence on grid wastewater treatment plants.
- Minimize GHG emissions and increase sustainability through a circular approach to wastewater treatment plants, sludge management and disposal, and biogas production using anaerobic sludge digestion.
- Establish a localized waste disposal ecosystem tailored to each demonstration site.
- Ensure the safe and reliable operation of the co-digestion process within the LIFE MERLIN project to maximize biogas production and avoid any process interruptions.
- The MERLIN technology solution will pretreat 50% of the total sludge produced at Monte Orgegia and 33% of the sludge produced at the Murcia East site. The co-digestion process will be implemented at Monte Orgegia, and the amount of co-substrate added to the AD at the Murcia East WWTP will be increased by up to 15%. Over the next 5 years, 100% of the sludge generated at both demonstration sites will be treated using LIFE MERLIN technology.
- An increase in biogas production of up to 575,888 normal cubic meters (Nm3) per year, which will be burned on-site to produce electricity. This will result in a reduction in electricity imports equivalent to that generated by the cogeneration unit and an increase in primary renewable energy production, resulting in 2.36 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year for the Monte Orgegia site and 8.15 GWh per year for the Murcia East WWTP.
- The MERLIN method will be replicated at six sites in Spain, including Alicante, Rincón de León, Barcelona, Galicia, Palencia, and León. The resulting carbon savings will amount to 9,387 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year.
- Once LIFE MERLIN technology is implemented, GHG emissions will be reduced from 3,846 tons of CO2e per year to 3,597 tons per year. Pretreatment is expected to be applied to the sludge generated at both facilities within five years, achieving further carbon savings at both locations.
- At the end of the project, it is expected that four full-time equivalents (FTEs) will be needed to operate the demonstration sites and expand the technology's replication to other WWTPs. Once the solution is replicated at the other six WWTPs, 35 FTEs will be required.
- Coordinator/entity name: Natalia Rey
Postal address: CARRETERA D'ESPLUGUES 75 LOCAL 1-2, 08940, Cornella de Llobregat,
- CETAQUA, CENTRO TECNOLOGICO DEL AGUA
- AGUAS MUNICIPALIZADAS DE ALICANTE
- CREATECH SOLUTIONS SL,FUNDACION CENTRO GALLEGO DE INVESTIGACIONES DEL AGUA,EMPRESA MUNICIPAL DE AGUAS Y SANEAMIENTO DE MURCIA SA,AQUAMBIENTE CIRCULAR ECONOMY SOLUTIONS SL
Related projects
