Final Report Summary - NEWAPP (New technological applications for wet biomass waste stream products)
Executive Summary:
1. Executive summary (1 page)
Approximately 120 to 140 million tonnes of bio-waste are produced every year in the EU [1]. This corresponds to almost 300kg of bio-waste produced per EU citizen per year. From these, a substantial amount is organic waste. These, also called wet biomass waste streams, (i.e. wet agricultural residues, wet municipal waste such as foliage, grass or food waste), are abundantly available in Europe, while their disposal and recycling becomes increasingly difficult as energy efficient, environmentally sound and economically viable processes hardly exist.
NEWAPP aims at developing an alternative cost- and resource-efficient and environmentally sound way of dealing with wet biomass waste through HTC technology.
The existing treatment methods for these streams are mainly incineration or landfilling, 67% of the waste is disposed of in these ways. A small amount is composted, digested anaerobically or used as animal fodder. However, the most used methods are not the best: landfilling not only takes up more and more valuable land space, it also causes air, water and soil pollution, discharging carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) into the atmosphere and chemicals and pesticides into the earth and groundwater. This, in turn, is harmful to human health, as well as to environment.
In parallel to the growing amount of biowaste there is a fast growing demand for new raw materials worldwide. Applications such as chemical separation, water purification, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, bio imaging, fertilization and soil remediation and fuels are based on high value products and secondary raw materials demanded by our current technological growth and society. These products have several aspects in common: they are scarce, expensive, located in very concrete regions of the world and carbon based. The concept behind NEWAPP is that wet biomass can be a resource more than a waste, and does not need to be disposed of in the costly and inefficient way it is nowadays. The alternative, which NEWAPP introduces, is to create a continuous system which will allow to recover carbon in an energy efficient for tailor made HTC (Hydrothermal carbonization) products way. NEWAPP will focus on green waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, waste from food processing industry and waste from markets for running the HTC process and exploring the possibility to obtain high-value carbon products.
NEWAPP will gather international researchers, industrial associations and SME’s from different European countries in its thirty months lifecycle to assess the requirements and constraints of SME-AGs in the reuse of wet biomass with HTC, analyse the potentials of the different wet biomass streams for using them for HTC, perform intensive testing with this innovative system technology for heat recovery and efficiency for tailor made HTC products launch a standardization process for the two most promising waste streams to prove their viability for commercial applications.
Project Context and Objectives:
HTC consists in applying high temperatures and pressures to biomass in the presence of water, which results in two main products: a coal-like product (hydrochar) and water-soluble products. This process allows converting different biomass streams, such as waste, into fuels and other substances of industrial interest.
There is a clear need to develop new technological pathways for reuse that are economically attractive and environmentally sound at the same time. Promising technologies such as hydrothermal carbonisation show high potentials but so far only very few commercial units have been present on the market. Up to now there have been some experiments done with municipal solid wastes at lab scale aiming to take and separate carbon in order to get high value products through the HTC process. Different products can be obtained from this process, such as active carbon, electrodes, fertilizers, etc. NEWAPP will focus on green waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, waste from food processing industry and waste from markets for running the HTC process and exploring the possibility to obtain high-value carbon products. In 2011, EU-27 imported these products for a value of 22.666.570.073 €, while it exported for a value of 1.917.542.097 €, 12 times less. At the same time, EU generates yearly 80.000.000 tons of wet biowaste that can be effectively recycled to carbon materials by means of HTC. Based on this it can be concluded that EU industry has a need for carbon products, as fuel and as raw material.
This existing technology requires however, of several improvements in order to be ready to be used at the large scale as a reuse alternative for wet biomass. Pre- and post-treatment, are critical points for HTC, and pose questions not yet answered for a widespread implementation. The adequate mix of different kinds of wet biomass and the fine-tuning of the systems required for reaching high efficiencies are is still a hindrance for HTC at the industrial scale.
NEWAPP has gathered international researchers, industrial associations and SME’s from different European countries in its thirty months lifecycle to (1) assess the requirements and constraints of SME-AGs in the reuse of wet biomass with HTC, (2) analyse the potentials of the different wet biomass streams for using them for HTC, (3) perform intensive testing with this innovative system technology for heat recovery and efficiency for tailor made HTC products (4) launch a standardization process for the two most promising waste streams to prove their viability for commercial applications.
The developments in NEWAPP have targeted the upgrade of turning waste into new resources using HTC process and have paved the way to provide economically attractive and environmentally friendly alternatives to utilisation of wet biomass, allowing European SME-AGs to advise their SME members to use the optimal utilisation technologies for their specific needs. The companies from the biomass and waste sectors usually belong to at least one sector-specific association. It is from these that new technologies are introduced in the sector and standards and codes of practice are set. As NEWAPP aims at making a broad impact in these sectors, the scheme of research for SME Associations has been chosen by the three SME-AGs leading the consortium, two of them Europe-wide associations (EUBIA and ACR+) and one of them working at the national level (BSVE, Germany).
Increasing amounts of urban organic waste and farm organic residues are produced and often landfilled or burnt in Europe. The total annual amount of bio-waste in the EU is estimated at 76.5 - 102 Mt food and garden waste included in mixed municipal solid waste and up to 37 Mt from the food and drink industry. In addition, annually around 700 Mt of agriculture wastes are produced within the EU, which represents a high load for farmers due to the numerous problems they face handling them.
This consortium has aimed to combine the above and increase the amount of bio-waste diverted from landfill and burning into high value products that can be used as fuel, activated carbons for water treatment, soil remediation, carbon sequestration schemes and other applications. This requires the transformation of urban organic waste and farm organic waste from a costly disposal process into an income-generating activity.
In Europe there is a surplus of organic waste of municipal and agricultural origin. The material was, and in many countries still is, discarded in landfills or, for some agricultural wastes, burned in the field. Both practices are no longer acceptable in a modern European context and European targets for reduction have been set (EC, 2008).
Bio-waste is a putrescible, generally wet waste. There are two major streams – green waste from parks, gardens, and kitchen waste. The former includes usually 50-60% water and more wood (lignocelluloses and cellulose); the latter contains no wood but up to 80% water. Currently, the data collected under the Waste Statistics Regulation is not of sufficient detail on a country by country basis to relate to the definition of biowaste launched in COM(2008) 811 final (EC 2008, EC 2002). However, for the European Waste Code (EWC) for animal and vegetal wastes, which also includes manure and the like, European wide data is available.
Waste reduction initiatives have been active for the past decades, but their impact is not large enough to solve the waste disposal problem. In parallel, the demand for energy has increased in the EU-27 countries, as well as the need to use renewable energies. The EU has set a target of 20% of energy from renewable and an increase of 20% in energy efficiency by 2020, which will not be met only through brand new development (i.e. installation of solar fields). Taking existing resources, like waste, and using their potential achieves success faster while promoting innovation in already mature sectors. The impact of this innovation is much higher in terms of revenues and employment, because it strengthens the existing industrial fabric. NEWAPP is composed by national and international SME-AGs that acknowledge the potential of HTC treatment of wet biomass and its reuse for energy, and have the means to spread these innovations to a large number of SMEs at European level.
To achieve this, the consortium has focused on:
Developing a new technical utilisation pathway for turning biowaste into high value products. Hydrothermal carbonisation is a technology that already exists. However, a suitable solution for its up-scaling, energy consumption optimization or technology costs not yet been developed, despite the huge potential it represents. Additionally, the knowledge on what products can be obtained by what exact biowaste is very limited. The starting point of NEWAPP will be to address the existing technological barriers that these heterogeneous waste streams pose for our technologies and to assess the conditions that need to be met for the successful implementation of HTC.
Exploring what different products can be obtained from the selected waste streams after the HTC process. HTC carbon can be further upgraded to high-value materials by physical and/or chemical speratation methods for more sustainable applications than simply burning. By a purely thermal treatment it can be split into two parts – fixed carbon together with the inorganic matter and volatile part. Up to present the volatile part has not been separated and characterized. The fixed carbon together with the inorganic content is the lower value part that can be used for energy valorization or studied as fertilizer for crop plants. As the volatile part is ash-free and has a more homogeneous composition with a very low lignin derived content, its separation will be a possibility to obtain purified HTC material suitable for specialised applications.
Standardization. The results achieved will enable the partners to the first st of standards for HTC products to be distributed to through the participating SME-AGs to their members. The focus will be on achieving a large implementation, ensuring products with properly quantified relevant calorific value. The need to meet quality and safety standards will stimulate the waste management industry to improve the bio-waste treatment process and will thus lead to technological development. No coherent set of product norms dealing with sufficiently detailed end user needs and environmental and human safety standards has been proposed yet.
Techniques for added value. This consortium will develop and introduce several techniques for the application of the products of HTC with increased added value for energy purposes, farmers (as soil amendment) and other industrial uses, such the creation of activated carbons and nanostructured materials.
The above focuses will create a virtuous cycle which will increase mutually beneficial interactions between urban and rural areas. It will create new opportunities for the waste and related industry and it will reduce the negative carbon and nutrient footprint of cities. It will also enhance the environmental sustainability of energy production while simultaneously contributing to climate change mitigation.
Technical objectives
- Turning 20% of the presently disposed biowaste into high-value carbon products
- Finding and testing the 5 most appropriate wet biomass waste streams for obtaining different products – green waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, waste from food processing industry.
- To develop a suitable, practical and scalable HTC carbon separation procedure
- To improve the potential for producing more high-value carbon products by optimized pre- and post treatment of biomass
- Defining the 4 most valuable carbon products that can be obtained with HTC, their production methods, potential applications, and market opportunities
- A full characterization of the effects of different wet biomass streams in the HTC reactor, as well as the products obtained, creating standards for high-value HTC products
Economic objectives:
- To reduce the HTC carbon product costs by 10%
- To develop an upgrading process for wet biomass which is 25% more cost efficient than existing disposal and treatment procedures
- To target a market of 10 000t of biowaste to carbon products (approx. 1.5M €)
- To substitute 20% of the currently imported carbon products with HTC carbon upgraded ones
- To strengthen the waste-to-enegy sector, increasing the amount of waste treated with technologies for the production of energy
- To create a business plan for the implemetation of the technologies developed in the project
- To define a set of quality standards for the use of wet biomass that will enable the producers and the energy industry to build reliable business
Social and environmental objectives:
- Increase SMEs and farmers´ knowledge, acceptance, and practices of new methods for biowaste reuse
Reduce negative environmental impacts (soil contamination) of improper waste disposal and reuse
- Protect/increase employment in the agricultural sector
- Reduce citizen´s health risks associated with improper application of waste disposal and application to agriculture
- Inform about and help meet current legislations/guidelines, present novel and efficient solutions for treatment and reuse of waste to policy makers/legal representative and last but not least help harmonize these efforts on a European scale.
The partners behind NEWAPP are convinced that it is by taking action at the association level that the results obtained by a project like this will reach the highest impact level in all EU Member states. The two international associations in the consortium have the means to disseminate the results, especially the standards and implementation decision tool, to a large number of national associations and SMEs. A similar scheme is ensured by the national association BSVE acting in Germany, which aims at achieving an uptake of these results in at least a 35% of the SMEs it represents.
Project Results:
The work performed in the first period focused on the selection of the biomass waste streams that would be dealt with, their characterization and the assessment of their potential. The partners dealt also with the description of the marketable products to be obtained from HTC, and the definition of the characteristics these have to comply with in order to be competitive in the current markets. Once the waste streams were selected, their HTC processing started in the pilot plant in Náquera, Spain. The purchase, building and commissioning of new equipment required in WPs 2, 3 and 4 resulted in a stop in this phase and a delay in the technical development of the project.
This delay was overcome in the second project period. The partners worked in the improvement of the coal obtained, specifically in the reduction of inorganic and halogen content, with positive results. In WP3 the partners studied the different fractions obtained and their applications. The hydrochar obtained was separated successfully into two parts: a solid one and a viscous liquid. The viscous liquid obtained was further evaluated for its use as liquid fuel. A direct use as drop-in diesel fuel cannot be recommended but its use as a refinery feedstock would definitely be feasible.
A second application the solid product fraction was the preparation of battery electrodes. However, although the surface area stipulated in the DoW of 350 m2/g was obtained, the whole composition with an elevated inorganic content made the material unsuitable for this application. Therefore, an alternative higher value application for which the ash content could be tolerated was chosen: the use as adsorbent for waste water treatment, as a substitute for active carbons. Furthermore, the potential of hydrochar for soil amelioration if hydrochar can be a suitable substitute for the biochar that is currently used in soil amelioration products was studied. The results were in line with existing literature, and indicate some negative effect in plant growth. The exact reason for that, and possible solutions have been identified (i.e. co-composting), but this would require a longer testing period, beyond the time available in NEWAPP.
Once results were obtained in this respect, the work shifted towards the technology assessment, LCA, and the development of a suitable business plan, as well as the quality standards for the reuse of waste biomass. The connections of the partners in the consortium with standardization bodies that are working on standards for HTC allowed them to share information and harmonise NEWAPP’s results with ongoing initiatives, which will render these result much more useful in this nascent industry.
Demonstration workshops were held at the Ingelia plant throughout the second period. In order to achieve a higher demonstration impact, workshops were also held remotely, using audiovisual material and HTC-coal samples to demonstrate the process. As a result of these activities, new HTC plants are planned to be built by Ingelia in the coming years (i.e. in Italy).
Finally, the RTD partners prepared training materials and gave training to the SMEs and associations in the project. As a means of achieving a long-lasting transfer of the project results, the partners prepared a handbook on the main activities and results of the project. In this way, NEWAPP has published the first long and comprehensive publication, and made it available for free at the website.
All partners contributed to the dissemination of the project’s objectives, and NEWAPP has been present in six international scientific conferences and has appeared in local, regional and national media of the countries represented in the consortium.
• Result 1: New waste biomass reuse technologies based on HTC developed and tested
The work performed in WPs 1 to 4, especially 2 and 3, will render new ways to valorise waste, focusing on the use of waste streams selected by the SME-AG and SME partners in the project and the technological improvements described in WPs 2 and 3.
This result has been achieved in the successful completion of WPs 2 and 3. The project has developed new knowledge about the characteristics and uses of HTC coal, both indicating feasible uses and identifying others that are not directly achievable in with the substrates used. The impact of this result goes beyond the pure academic success, to devising new ways to deal with specific waste biomass streams.
• Result 2: Quality standards for the reuse of wet biomass waste streams
Defined in D 4.2 they will comprise the range for a variety of parameters that the biomass products must have in order to comply with the conditions from the industry for their use: maximum, minimum and optimum, for example for Cl- content, calorific value, etc. As a variety of uses will have been studied in WPS 1-4 (energy, soil amendments, water quality, etc), D4.2 will include the assessment of the industry requirements and real performance values obtained at the lab or prototype tests.
This result has been fully achieved. Furthermore, the NEWAPP standards have been presented to ISO, to be considered in the the ISO 238 technical committee for the elaboration of standard EN ISO 17225-8. In this sense, NEWAPP has maximized its impact and provided a long-lasting effect in future standards.
• Result 3: Decision tool for the implementation of wet biomass reuse technologies
The completion of WPs 4 and 5 will entail the achievement of result 3: the information gathered along these tasks will allow the RTDs to complete a decision tool for the SME-AGs, their members and the SME partners to choose what waste streams can be treated best with HTC, and what products are the most appropriate for their markets.
The work carried out throughout the project has led to the successful completion of this result. The knowledge generated after treatment of different biomass waste streams, their analysis and further consideration of LCA and business plan will enable municipalities to consider HTC as a viable option for waste treatment. This approach has already born fruits in the most recent agreements at Ingelia for establishing new plants in Italy.
• Result 4: HTC carbon products developed
Result 4 deals with the carbon products developed, and the processes used how to obtain them, as well as their commercial exploitation. This result is directly linked with the work in WPs 1 to 5.
The work performed in WPs 1,2 and 3, which was later demonstrated to relevant stakeholders has led to the achievement of this result. As described in WP3, NEWAPP has generated new knowledge on the products that can be obtained from waste biomass and their market placement.
• Result 5: Cost-benefit analysis
This result will be comprised in Deliverable D 4.1 result of task 4.3 and it will give the end- users potential calculations of inputs required for a theoretical HTC system for the products studied in the project, investments required for the implementation and selling prices.
This result has been achieved, and is a valuable tool for the relevant stakeholders to decide on the installation of an HTC plant. This will enable an easier and broader implementation of HTC.
S&T work that led to the achievement of the project’s results:
Work package 1: Characterization of wet biomass waste streams and definition of end-user requirements
Task 1.1 Screening of suitable wet biomass waste streams
The aim of Task 1.1 was to screen the available wet biomass waste streams on a European level both in qualitative and quantitative terms under consideration of their economic relevance.
It was originally planned to send out questionnaires to relevant stakeholders to obtain the required data. Based on unsatisfactory experiences the consortium had made with questionnaires in previous projects it was decided to use the Statistical Institute of the European Union (EUROSTAT) databank to obtain the data and to crosslink the data with the data on waste generating sectors from NACE-2. The results of the questionnaire were used to fill information gaps afterwards. Moreover the literature study and the chemical analyses conducted in Task 1.2 were taken into account.
Four criteria were established to identify suitable wet biomass waste streams:
1) The waste must be or contain an organic fraction
2) It must be available in sufficient volume
3) It must not have a suitable application as secondary raw material yet
4) It must be suitable for HTC with respect to composition
In the beginning ttz identified 13 waste stream categories containing carbon in the EUROSTAT database (e.g. wood wastes, vegetal wastes, animal faeces, urine and manure, household and similar wastes, different types of sludge, etc.) which were reduced to five categories after the application of the four criteria stated above. In a workshop conducted in the kick-off meeting questionnaires were developed for each of these waste stream categories and sent out to the respective actors, i.e. municipalities, waste managers, water treatment plant operators and digestion plant operators. The Associations participating in the project had an important role in the distribution of the questionnaire: for ACR+, Mr Jean-Jacques Dohogne and Ms Françoise Bonnet gave important input to develop the questionnaire to gather information on which types of wet biomass are of utmost interest for treatment and in which season, in task 1.1. In the same task, Ms Cristina Mestre Martinez and Ms Lisa Labriga conducted comprehensive dissemination activities to spread the questionnaire amongst the members of ACR+ and to motivate them to fill them in. This included mass mailings, articles in the weekly Newsletter of ACR+ plus personal mailings and calls to some members, in the months February – April 2014. EUBIA disseminated the project to its members in order to get information regarding most interesting waste biomass streams to process in HTC. In addition, EUBIA participated to the dissemination of the questionnaire to about 40 contacts of municipalities. Bvse participated in the discussion on the characterization of biomass within NEWAPP on the knowledge of characterization of biowaste from the requirements of national und European legal framework, i.e. European Waste Framework Directive, EU 1774/2002 and EU 1069/2009, and in Germany, i.e. the Bioabfallverordnung, the Klärschlammverordnung, the Düngemittelverordnung, the Düngegesetz and the Düngeverordnung. Bvse provided an overview on the biomass streams in Germany accordingly to waste flows and agriculture origin was given. Hence, first suggestions for the selection of suitable biomass streams for HTC processing on the knowledge of main biomass waste flows in Germany were performed. Dr. Thomas Probst, from bvse: took part in the discussion of various biomass streams in Europe, which could be suitable for HTC processing. He also participated in the evaluation of conventional biomass processing in Europe, as well as in the discussion of the data available from national and European statistics, bvse contributed significantly to the identification on the restrictions of processing various biowaste flows for hygienic reasons and their transport requirements to the processing plant. The SMEs Terra Preata and Ingelia supported the rest of the partners in the discussions that led to D 1.1 the preparation of the questionnaires and their distribution among their network of contacts. Ingelia also provided the boundary conditions for the waste streams to be successfully processed with HTC.
After analysing the data obtained from the questionnaires and considering the data obtained in the literature studies and practical biomass analyses of Task 1.2 five biomass waste streams were selected that were identified to be most suitable as feedstock for the HTC process and will be further considered in NEWAPP:
1) Sewage sludge from domestic wastewater treatment plants
2) Digestate from the biogas production
3) Biomass from garden prunings
4) The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW)
5) Vegetable waste from markets and similar waste
DTU contributed to task 1.1 in the identification of companies, municipalities and institutions dealing with one of the identified waste streams (i.e. organic household waste) in Europe, distributed questionnaire to them, and analysed their responses. Additionally, Mr. Morten Ryberg identified and collected literature data to complement results from questionnaire analysis. Both results are included in D1.1. Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak gave an important input to D1.1 by describing the methodology used to screen wet biomass waste streams in Europe suitable for HTC.
As a common result of Task 1.1 and Task 1.2 detailed information in terms of the availability and the chemical properties of all five selected biomass waste streams was compiled and first conclusions on how to process them were drawn. All the information obtained in Tasks 1.1 and 1.2 can be found in Deliverable D1.1 “Screening and chemical analysis of suitable wet biomass waste streams” which was submitted to the Commission on June 30th, 2014.
Task 1.2 Chemical analysis of wet biomass
Task 1.2 completed the work performed in task 1.1. First, to obtain relevant and representative Europe wide results a statistical review was conducted using the Statistical Institute of the European Union (EUROSTAT) databank. After a short evaluation, further information was been retrieved by cross linking the data with the data on waste generating sectors from NACE-2. Then, data have been further completed by a questionnaire survey, carrying out analysis and literature research.
Evaluation of the data was done after all steps and decisions were made when possible depending on the available data. Four criteria were established. The first one was a very soft one which was only applied (criterion 1 in Figure 1) to get the widest range of waste stream categories that are or contain organic fraction. Three further additional criteria were established which were applied in each evaluation step: (i) it must be produced in sufficient volume; (ii) it must not have a suitable application as secondary raw material yet, and (iii) it must be suitable for HTC with respect to composition.
CSIC carried out literature surveys for data on chemical properties of food waste, garden prunings, green waste, the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, sewage sludge and digestate from biogas production plants. CSIC carried out all analysis summarized in D1.1. The biomass was obtained from sewage sludge, digestate, green waste/prunings and OFMSW. These analysis involved analysis of humidity, pH (if applicable), elemental analysis (CHNS), ash content, lignocellulosic composition, and lignine and hollocelulose among others. Higher heating value was determined at CSIC in Zaragoza.
The final conclusion was the selection of the following five biomass waste streams for the trial in WP2 and further considering in the project:
• sewage sludge
• digestate residue from biogas production
• green waste/garden prunings
• OFMSW
• food market waste/vegetable waste
Task 1.3 Identification of marketable products, definition of end-user product requirements
The aim of Task 1.3 was the identification and quantification of the most interesting carbon products that can be produced from HTC carbon and to determine the characteristics and quality parameters that the produced HTC carbon must comply with.
During the preparation of the project proposal, a literature study was conducted to identify products and applications where HTC carbon has shown suitability on a laboratory scale. These products and applications comprised solid fuel, coke, battery electrodes, soil remediation products such as peat or charcoal, activated carbon, catalysers, liquid fuel, carbon sequestration, carbon fuel cells and hydrogen storage.A market study was conducted for all products and applications in order to obtain information on specifications and requirements of the raw carbon (physical properties, applicable standards, existing alternatives and current market price), on the European market size and on the main sectors demanding the products and applications. Based on the results of the market study the following five products with the best market potential have been identified and will be further considered in the NEWAPP project: Solid fuel, liquid fuel, peat, charcoal (and coke).
The SMEs and Associations contributed with relevant data: bvse coordinated the writing and contributed with information about the European markets, and Ingelia and Terra Preta contributed with their existing knowledge of the market for HTC products. CSIC participated in the preparation of deliverable D1.2. CSIC composed the chapters on coke, catalyser and liquid fuel. Mr. Morten Ryberg from DTU identified marketable products for carbon sequestration, carbon fuel cells and hydrogen storage and defined their end-user requirements and requirements to the char. This is included in Deliverable 1.2.
All the information obtained in Task 1.3 can be found in Deliverable D1.2 “Report on marketable products and requirements of the desired end products” which was submitted to the Commission on February 24th, 2014.
Work package 2: Obtaining HTC carbon from seleted waste streams and post-treatments developed for improved products
Task 2.1 Processing of the five selected biomass streams at industrial scale
The need to install a new boiler at the Ingelia plant in order to perform the work foreseen in WP3 and 4 with the best results entailed a delay in this work package already in the first period. The work in the second period focused in completing the processing of the biomass streams and collecting the data necessary for fulfilling the objectives set or this and subsequent tasks. This task started during the first reporting period and continued during the second. The major part of the pilot plant trials was carried out during second reporting period, including a second trial on the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (BO+), sewage sludge (BS), bell pepper residues (BF+) and orange peel waste (BF) as food wastes, a second trial on green waste (BG+) and a second trial on digestate (BD). CSIC-ITQ contributed to this task by analyzing the raw material employed in the trial in the same way as during the first reporting period. The analyses include humidity content, ash content, volatile content, fixed carbon content, elemental analysis (CHNS), ash composition by ICP-OES (Na, K, Mg, Ca, Si, Al, Ti, Mn, Fe and P), holocellulose content and lignin content). For the feedstocks BO+, BD and BS also heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Ni, Se, Zn and B) were determined in the ashes by ICP-OES. Higher heating values were measured at the Carbonchemistry Institute of the CSIC in Zaragoza. According to the wet biomasses defined in the previous work package, Ingelia, with the support of ttz, EUBIA, bvse and ACR+ designed the tests to be performed in their HTC plant located in Náquera, as well as designed the improvements and modifications to be done in the HTC plant in order to adapt the pre-treatment of biomass (initially designed for vegetable residues).
CSIC-ITQ was in charge of collecting the results of this task and compiling them in Deliverable 2.1 “Analysis of HTC carbon samples”, which was sent to the EC on 15th January 2016. The long delay in this submission was due to the delay in the restart of the plant operation as described in the first periodic report.
Task 2.2 Analysis of HTC carbon samples
CSIC-ITQ analyzed the solid products obtained from the trials carried out in task 2.1. These analyses were coordinated with TTZ in order to obtain the required data for subsequent work packages. CSIC-ITQ analyzed all samples provided by Ingelia. The analyses included humidity content, ash content, volatile content, fixed carbon content, elemental analysis (CHNS), ash composition by ICP-OES (Na, K, Mg, Ca, Si, Al, Ti, Mn, Fe and P). During this reporting period for almost all trials and conditions heavy metal contents (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Ni, Se, Zn and B) were determined in the ashes by ICP-OES. Higher heating value and chloride and fluoride content were measured at the Carbonchemistry Institute of the CSIC in Zaragoza.The determination of the heavy metal content was estimated, in coordination with TTZ and the other NEWAPP partners, to be strongly required although this work was not specified in the DoW. Therefore, budget shifts within the RTD activities from travel costs to personnel and consumables were necessary. All information acquired with task 2.2 was summarized in deliverable D2.1.
Task 2.3 Improvement of HTC solid fuel by reduction of inorganic content
During the second period, CSIC-ITQ, Ingelia and ttz completed the work in this task, and Ingelia prepared Deliverable 2.2.
Decreasing of the ash content of hydrochar has been the focus of this work. The experiments preformed on the AT1 hydrochar sample were adapted from the Ultra Clean Coal (UCC) process. The selected consisted in a caustic digestion at 225 ºC followed by an acid treatment. There are numerous combinations for setting up the alkali-acid treatment as well as numerous different coal types all having specific ash contents. It is not feasible to do experimental work on all combinations and ash contents. To save experimental work, the developed model allows for comparison of different scenarios with different alkali-acid leaching setups. The model can be readily used to optimize alkali-acid cleaning of hydrochar, as it predicts that final ash content of a hydrochar should be < 5 wt%, which is within range of measured values.
In the experiments it was confirmed that this process can be adapted and applied to hydrochar and the required limit of a maximum ash content of 5 wt% as demanded by milestone MS2 was met. The temperature for the first, alkaline treatment was above the process temperature of the HTC process and this high temperature was responsible for advanced carbonization. However, the high temperature would involve higher energy costs of the process which is undesired. Therefore, lower temperatures for the first step were also studied. In this case silicon was not extracted efficiently. This was in accordance with the prediction from the model elaborated from literature data. Therefore, it was concluded that the two-step ash treatment is a valuable procedure for producing low-ash hydrochar for high-value applications. However, for the use as solid fuel, the procedure had to be simplified. Therefore, a single step treatment was designed and evaluated.
As summary it can be stated that the UCC process applied to hydrochar is an efficient method for reducing the ash content to below 5% as demanded by milestone MS2. Interestingly, the carbon content (on a dry and ash-free basis) was further increased.
Figure 1. Diagram of the general procedure 1 for the ash reduction adapted from the Clean Coal Process.
Single step ash treatment
A single step ash treatment (GP-2) was developed consisting in a treatment with sulphuric acid, subsequent filtration for hydrochar recovery and washing. It was found that with a reaction temperature of 100 ºC and a reaction time of 2 h the ash content was lowered to below 2 wt%. With this result milestone MS2 was reached which demanded an ash content of below 5 wt% of the treatment. The treatment was especially efficient for the removal of calcium and phosphorous. It was further found that an efficient ash reduction involves a penalty on the mass balance. This means that approximately one third of the hydrochar was lost when the low ash content was achieved. This has clearly a negative impact on the process economics in the case that the low ash has at least a 50% higher value than the initial high-ash hydrochar. Sulphuric acid might be substituted by hydrochloric acid which showed also an interesting potential. However, for this acid reaction conditions have to be still optimized further. A further critical point is that washing procedure after the treatment. A relatively high amount was needed for efficient ash reduction. This might be recovered by means of the inverse osmosis unit incorporated into the pilot plant during the NEWAPP project. As a limitation of the present procedure it has to be stated that it can only be applied to low silicon (and low aluminium) hydrochars since both elements are not removed during the treatment with an acid.
The existing ash reduction unit at the prototype was used and optimized during the NEWAPP trials. Additionally two different chemical processes were studied on laboratory scale (see first reporting period). With both processes MS2 was reached, i.e. ash content was reduced to below 5%. CSIC-ITQ compiled the results in deliverable D2.2.
Task 2.4 Improvement of HTC solid fuel by reduction of halogen content
The work in this task continued in the second period from the preliminary literature review performed by CSIC and DTU to the development of procedures for the reduction of the halogen content.
CSIC-ITQ, with support from INGELIA and ttz, designed two different procedures and evaluated them at lab scale. The first one was the treatment with an alkaline solution with the aim to substitute halide anions by hydroxide anions described in the DoW. The second procedure was derived from a control experiment when the hydrochar was treated only with washing water and from a literature survey. Hence, with the alkaline solution and the neutral water the chloride content was decreased. Then a second study was carried out to confirm the possibility to use only water for the treatment. During this study all produced samples met the requirement of milestone MS3. With these satisfying results CSIC-ITQ designed the implantation at the pilot plant together with Ingelia. The most straightforward incorporation was the washing step in the filter press after removal of the process water. The corresponding trials were carried out at Ingelia’s pilot plant and supervised and analyzed by CSIC-ITQ. However, a final proof for the efficiency of the procedure could not be obtained. The hydrochar produced when the experiment was run had already a low chlorine content, already fulfilling the established values, so that it could not be further decreased.
Work package 3: Post-processing of HTC carbon for high-technological applications: bio-diesel and electrodes
Task 3.1 Separation of HTC carbon into two or more fractions
Based on preliminary tests, CSIC-ITQ and ttz selected the following separation method for hydrochar: in a down-flow reactor with a porous plate in the heating zone hydrochar was treated at different temperatures passing a nitrogen flow down flow producing three products: thermally treated hydrochar, a condensed liquid and a gaseous effluent. All three products were collected and analyzed. The amount of each product was quantified in function of the temperature of the treatment and the time of the treatment. In this study CSIC-ITQ could show that this treatment was suitable to eliminate the volatile content from the hydrochar and to enrich the fixed carbon and ash content. On the other hand not all the volatiles were lost and part could be recovered as a viscous liquid. The gas consisted mainly of carbon dioxide and had no value for further uses. Perhaps, it might be used for energetic valorization in a potential industrial application for generating the heat for the thermal treatment.
For the production of solid and liquid on a larger scale (kg scale) CSIC-ITQ designed a different apparatus since a straightforward up-scaling of the down flow method was not possible. With this apparatus several kg of solid were obtained whereas the yield of liquid was lower. With respect of the solid the quantity produced was sufficient for other Tasks of the project. Contrarily, for the liquid several down-flow reactions had to be carried out to accumulate the amount required for the hydrogenation reactions of Task 3.2.
CSIC-ITQ analyzed the surface area of the solid and showed that after the treatment it was much higher (approx. 300 m2/g). CSIC-ITQ showed that the higher heating value is increased by approx. 20% for the treated solid.
The thermal treatment was not carried out for the ten samples as specified in the DoW. Table 24 of deliverable D2.1 showed that all the regular hydrochar samples (with exception of the ones which were separated in the post-process treatment due to a high ash content) had a very similar volatile content (55 to 68%) and, therefore, it was concluded that results of the thermal treatment should be very similar. It was preferred instead to focus on the characterization of the products and on up-scaling. Hence, thermal treatments were mainly carried out with hydrochar samples derived from green waste and from orange peel waste.
As a summary it can be stated that hydrochar was separated successfully into two parts: a solid one and a viscous liquid. CSIC-ITQ compiled all the results obtained with the thermal treatment in a chapter which was included in deliverable D3.1.
Task 3.2 Upgrading of HTC carbon fractions to products of commercial interest
In the DoW it was proposed to develop two marketable products from the fractions obtained in Task 3.1. Since the results of the separation were not completely predictable some deviation from the initial working plan occurred.
bvse performed an overview of products generated by the various techniques, e.g. composting, biogas plants, substitute fuel, bio-diesel, applied for biomass conversion. In addition technologies and techniques applied therefore were screened and shown to the NEWAPP partners. Also the qualities of the conversion products were presented. Hence, an insight on the costs of biomass collection, transport and processing were given. At least, the actual prices of secondaries generated from bio-waste conversion were given. This knowledge is the basis to enhance commercial interest.
EUBIA screened the average composition required for the commercialization of the char as feedstock to be applied for a wide range of end use. Among the most relevant markets, EUBIA studied the char application potentials as fuel, soil conditioner and activated carbon source. Additionally, EUBIA studied the present market potentials and the main barriers of char application as soil conditioner, fuel, activated carbon and c source in metal industry
The viscous liquid obtained was further evaluated for its use as liquid fuel. For doing so, CSIC-ITQ hydrogenated the liquid in an autoclave after removal of the water contained. In this first experiment it was observed that the catalytic activity ceased very rapidly. It was assumed that this was due to coke deposition, the latter evidenced by thermogravimetric analysis of the catalyst. In two further trial CSIC-ITQ distilled the viscous liquid prior to the hydrogenation. This measure improved the hydrogenation result and two highly deoxygenated liquids were obtained. Oxygen content and lower heating value were determined at the Carbonchemistry Institute of the CSIC in Zaragoza. As a result of the hydrogenations it can be stated that the chemical process improved considerably the flow properties of the liquid. A direct use as drop-in diesel fuel cannot be recommended but its use as a refinery feedstock. A high nitrogen content, which has its origin in the plant raw material employed for the HTC process, makes it less suitable for the direct use but it should be possible to reduce this nitrogen content in an oil refinery. Hence, using the liquid as feed in the refinery it is separated into different refinery flows according to their physical properties. CSIC-ITQ determined a yield of 5 wt% for the hydrogenated liquid with respect to dry hydrochar after water elimination, distillation and hydrogenation.
A second application for a product fraction of Task 3.1 in this case for the solid product, was proposed in the DoW, i.e. the preparation of battery electrodes. However, although the surface area stipulated in the DoW of 350 m2/g was obtained, the whole composition with an elevated inorganic content made the material unsuitable for this application. Therefore, an alternative higher value application was chosen for which the ash content could be tolerated and this was the application as adsorbent for waste water treatment, as a substitute for active carbons. CSIC-ITQ selected methylene blue as a model compound of a colorant contaminant. In laboratory experiments, CSIC-ITQ showed that this was a potential application the thermally treated hydrochar. However, a control experiment showed that pristine hydrochar had an even higher affinity to the colorant. This was unexpected since pristine hydrochar has a very low surface area. Therefore, it can be concluded from this study, apart from the fact that hydrochar has an interesting potential as adsorbent, hydrochar possesses particular properties due to its polar surface involving many oxygen functionalities. This has not been foreseen in the DoW and opens up a wide area for the application as alternative adsorbent to active carbons.
In Task 3.2 it has been demonstrated that thermally treated hydrochar may be used as adsorbent for waste water purification. This has been shown with methylene blue as a model compound for colorant contaminants. In Task 3.1 one of the samples employed in the adsorption study was prepared on kg scale. Therewith it can be concluded that MS6 has been achieved.
CSIC-ITQ compiled all the results obtained with the hydrogenation and the adsorption experiment in a chapter on Task 3.2 which was included in deliverable D3.1 prepared by ttz.
Task 3.3 Hydrochar soil application and process water quality
3.3.1 Hydrochar soil application
This task was planned in order to assess the potentials of hydrochar for soil amelioration, i.e. to answer the question if hydrochar can be a suitable substitute for the biochar that is currently used in soil amelioration products. The work performed under this task was divided into two main parts: a large series of tests conducted in 2015 and a smaller series of tests conducted in 2016. All the work was performed by TTZ, with contributions from TP.
The work began with a comprehensive literature study, e.g. on the scientific basics of soil amelioration with char and on the state of the art in research on soil amelioration with hydrochar in particular. On this basis, the research needs were identified and a research plan was developed, which was confirmed by TP. EUBIA has a strong interest in biofertilizers sector and dedicated strong attention to the hydrochar potential application as soil conditioner. EUBIA staff contributed to assess the potentials of the hydrochar for soil amelioration and also to define the potential post processing activities which will be needed to upgrade the product into a higher value biochar.
The tests conducted comprised germination and plant growth rates, nutrient and water storage capacities, the compliance with widely accepted biochar standards, and others. In order to confirm the test results, some of the tests were repeated by TP in a smaller series. In the end, the results of all tests were collected and compared to the available literature and conclusions were drawn. All results of this first series of tests can be found in Deliverable D3.1.The first series of tests conducted in 2015 for the analysis of the effects of hydrochar on the growth of plants delivered negative results: plants of all 3 tested species grew best in substrates containing no hydrochar at all, while increasing concentrations of hydrochar increasingly inhibited plant growth. These observations were confirmed by various further studies. However, some of these studies stated that the negative effects of hydrochar on plant growth could be removed by thoroughly washing the char, incubating it with compost of exposing it to weather for some time (e.g. Busch et al. 2013). Since one of the hydrochar samples was available both untreated and exposed to the weather for a year, it was decided to conduct a second series of tests to compare the effects of the two char varieties on plant growth.
The germination and plant growth tests were conducted in exactly the same way as the first series of tests was conducted in 2015 (compare D3.1) with the only differences in the tested char samples. In the first series of tests, 5 different hydrochar samples (made from different feedstock) and 1 biochar sample were used, while in the second series 2 varieties of the same hydrochar sample were used, 1 left standing outside exposed to the weather for a year, while the other one was kept inside protected from all potential influences. All seeds were planted on March 30th, 2016. The germination tests were finished 2 weeks later; the plant growth tests were finished 4 weeks later.
Germination rate
Lactuca sativa reached the highest germination rates of all 3 species. Between 45 (90 %) and 48 (96 %) of all planted seeds germinated. There were no significant differences between the germination rates in the different hydrochar varieties and concentrations (Table 1, Figure 1).
Avena sativa reached the lowest germination rates of all 3 species. Between 21 (42 %) and 30 (60 %) of all planted seeds germinated. Germination rates were, on average, slightly higher in the “treated” hydrochar samples, while the char concentrations did not have an effect on the germination rate (Table 1, Figure 2).
Raphanus sativus reached intermediate germination rates. Between 36 (72 %) and 45 (90 %) of all planted seeds germinated. There were no significant differences between the germination rates in the different hydrochar varieties and concentrations (Table 1, Figure 3).
In summary, it can be stated, that the germination rate of all 3 seed species was neither influenced by the hydrochar variety nor by the char concentration., except for small effects of the hydrochar variety observed for Avena sativa.
The observations made clearly indicate that hydrochar does not have significant effects on the germination rates of seeds. Germination rates were very similar for all char concentrations and for both hydrochar varieties. However, germination rates of Avena sativa seeds were slightly lower in substrates containing untreated char. An explanation could be that there are substances in the hydrochar that can influence the germination rates, but the concentrations of these substances were too low to have stronger effects on the germination rates.
Growth rate
Concerning Lactuca sativa, there were significant differences in the biomass production between the 2 char varieties and the 6 char concentrations. The by far highest biomass production was reached in substrates containing no char at all (9.6 g per 10 plants), while already very low char concentrations of only 1.25 % substantially reduced the biomass production (2.2 and 2.6 g per 10 plants). Biomass production at low char concentrations (1.25 % and 2.5 %) was higher for the untreated (not exposed to weather) hydrochar variety, while at higher char concentrations (5-20 %) the biomass production was higher for the treated (exposed to weather) variety. Higher concentrations (5 % or more) of untreated char almost completely inhibited growth.
Concerning Avena sativa, there were significant differences in the biomass production between the 2 char varieties and the 6 char concentrations. The by far highest biomass production was reached in substrates containing no char at all (4.9 g per 10 plants), while already very low char concentrations of only 1.25 % substantially reduced the biomass production (1.6 and 2.1 g per 10 plants). Biomass production at low char concentrations (1.25 % and 2.5 %) was higher for the untreated hydrochar variety, while at higher char concentrations (5-20 %) the biomass production was higher for the treated variety. Higher concentrations (5 % or more) of untreated char significantly inhibited growth.
Concerning Raphanus sativus, there were significant differences in the biomass production between the 2 char varieties and the 6 char concentrations. The highest biomass production was reached in substrates containing no char at all (4.6 g per 10 plants), while already very low char concentrations of only 1.25 % substantially reduced the biomass production (2.3 and 2.5 g per 10 plants). Biomass production at low char concentrations (1.25 % and 2.5 %) was higher for the untreated hydrochar variety, while at higher char concentrations (5-20 %) the biomass production was higher for the treated variety. Higher concentrations (5 % or more) of untreated char significantly inhibited growth
In summary, it can be stated, that the biomass production of all 3 plant species was by far highest for substrates containing no char at all, while already low char concentrations substantially reduced the biomass production. Effects of growth inhibition were observed for all 3 species for substrates containing 5 % or more of untreated char, while for treated char this effect was not observed. The negative effects of the char on the biomass production were highest for Lactuca sativa and lowest for Raphanus sativus.
The fact that the biomass production of all 3 species was highest in substrates containing no char at all clearly indicates that hydrochar does have strong negative effects on the plant growth, even at very low concentrations of only 1.25 %.
The observed differences in the biomass production between the treated and the untreated hydrochar at char concentrations of 5 % or more confirm that the exposure of the char to weather does reduce negative effects on the plant growth.
These results confirm the observations made in similar studies (e.g. Busch et al. 2013). Hydrochar seems to contain substances that negatively affect the growth of plants. These substances still need to be identified, since the most common substances with a toxic potential (heavy metals, dioxins, furans, PAHs and PCBs) were not responsible (compare D3.1). It was moreover confirmed that the exposure of hydrochar to weather for a certain time reduces the negative effects on plant growth, probably caused by the degradation of the toxic substances.
CSIC-ITQ supported TTZ and TP in this task by analyzing samples and facilitating information on the hydrochar contributing in this way to the interpretation of the obtained results by these NEWAPP partners.
The results of this sub-ask were compiled by ttz in Deliverable 3.1 “Post processing of HTC carbon for high-technological applications”, submitted on March 30th 2016. The reason for this delayed submission is the overall delay in obtaining the carbon samples and the climatic conditions to carry out the germination and growth tests.
3.3.2 HTC process water quality
The main goal of this sub-task was to evaluate the process water quality and its potential re-use and valorization options. The HTC process itself, i.e. the conversion of wet biomass streams into a HTC carbon, does not consume water; in contrast, it produces water by chemical dehydration.
Other steps in the process do however involve the consumption of water, as the production of steam for the heating of the reactor or the halogen reduction post-process. Therefore, water is consumed by the operation of the HTC plant and excess process water is produced, which needs to be handled, re-used and or disposed. While the DoW considered the possibility of identifying organic compounds such as acetic acid, aromatics, aldehydes and furanic and phenolic compounds that could be extracted and valorised, the experience acquired since the proposal preparation from Ingelia and ITQ-CSIC show that the concentration of such components, if found, would be too low for a viable and profitable recovery. Hence the excess process water is submitted to an aerobic treatment in order to decompose unstable process intermediates and achieve a pH above 6. Remaining organic compounds are mainly humic compounds, which could be considered beneficial for agricultural soils. Process water has also been analysed for presence of potential pollutants in the frame of this task.
ttz was in charge of the analysis of the water, and the appraisal of the data received against current legislation and scientific literature for finding out the most adequate use. Due to incompliance with the current regulation, direct application of process water in agricultural fields is not possible. The application of diluted process water would allow to compile with the regulations. The balance of nutrients provided does not fulfill the needs of the studied crops, meaning additional fertilizers would be needed for some compounds, mainly N and P. Hence, the attractiveness of the agricultural use of HTC process water seem to be more on the reclaimed use of the water in water-scarce regions, than in its nutrient composition.
Since the first application to explore for the process water is fertigation in agricultural fields, persistent organic pollutants (POP) were selected, since they will have the highest environmental and health hazard.Literature on POPs in the potential feedstocks was screened, as to identify pollutants that could come into the system with the feedstock. This literature search included El-Sahawi et al (2010), K.T. Semple et at (2001), Rogers (1996), Paxéus (1995), Düring and Gäth (2002), Palmu (2011), Wang et al (2010), ADEME (1995) as well as the Stockhold Convention (2001). The following families of POCs were selected:
-Clorophenols and chlorobenzenes
-PAHs and Clorinated PAHs
-PCBs.
-Clorinated PAHs
-Dioxines
-Pesticides
From the 677 POCs that were analysed, only 8 were detected in the process water sample, mainly chlorophenols. This is consistent with the literature, which had already identified phenols formation in HTC. Although the chemistry of the reaction is not totally known, chlorophenols formation could be linked to the relatively high Cl content in green waste. The obtained results have been crossed checked with the pollutants analysed in the hydrochar in the frame of Chapter 3, finding no correlation. Further research is needed to confirm is these identified pollutants generally occur in HTC, if they come in with the biomass feedstock of if they are formed in the HTC process. Other authors suggest that organic pollutants are degraded through HTC (Weiner et all 2013).
The results of this sub-ask were compiled by ttz in Deliverable 3.1 “Post processing of HTC carbon for high-technological applications”, submitted on March 30th 2016. The reason for this delayed submission is the overall delay in obtaining the carbon samples and the climatic conditions to carry out the germination and growth tests.
Work package 4: Technology assessment and business plan development
Task 4.1 Life Cycle Assessment and cost-benefit analysis
Task leader: DTU
Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak, from DTU expanded the LCA model, in agreement with Ingelia and ACR+, by: (i) assessing environmental performance of HTC at full commercial scale with 2 and 4 reactors (in addition to pilot scale operation with 1 reactor that was promised in the DoW); (ii) adding LCA-based comparison of HTC with alternative waste treatment options, including anaerobic digestion, incineration and ladfilling (in addition to compositing that was promised in the DoW). In addition, Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak contributed to cost-benefit analysis of hydrochar used as soil conditioner. Mr. Morten Ryberg from DTU contributed to the comparison of HTC with alternative waste treament options by interpreting resuts and identifying environemntal hot-spots in respective treatment technologies. The resources to cover the aforementioned tasks are those assigned originally to WP3, and it was agreed between TTZ and DTU that tasks originally assigned to DTU in WP3 will be covered by TTZ.
Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak finalized the LCA model of hydrochar used as soil conditioner for carbon sequestration. (Note that most of the work in WP4 was carried out in RP1).
CSIC-ITQ collaborated actively in the life cycle assessment and the cost benefit analysis. CSIC-ITQ provided all required data on the NEWAPP trial related to chemical analysis. In particular CSIC-ITQ carried out detailed analysis on the gaseous effluents and confirmed the presence of furan in this effluent. LCA had attributed a negative impact in one of the impact categories. As a consequence, the HTC process was improved by conducting the effluents to the boiler combusting the furan and eliminating this emission.
Bvse collaborated win the discussion of various suggestions made from the participants of NEWAPP due to the Life Cycle Assessment, LCA, of HTC-hydrochar were performed. A special of NEWAPP was the processing of bio-sludges, rich in water contents. LCAs of various biomasses were reviewedFrom ACR+, Mr Dohogne, Ms Bonnet, Ms Labriga, and Ms Spasova gave significant input to this task by discussing the results obtained with DTU and by suggesting to also comparing HTC to other Waste Management options. EUBIA monitored the LCA and cost benefits analysis results, providing a review of the achieved goals and comparing them with the present technologies currently used for organic waste treatment in Europe.
Task 4.2 Definition of quality standards for innovative technologies for the reuse of waste biomass
ttz, with the support from the rest of the partners, compiled and prepared the quality standards. From the several potential products studied in NEWAPP project, the most promising has been found to be solid fuel. To support the use of HTC carbon as a solid fuel, they focus on a proposal for a new product standard in Europe. Other working groups are working in standards applicable for to HTC solid fuels, and hence synergies have been sought for to maximize the outreach and relevance of the results and work developed in NEWAPP in this task.
As background, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Technical committee 238 (ISO/TC 238) has started to draft an international product standard for torrefied pellets and briquettes made from woody and non-woody (herbaceous, fruit and aquatic biomass) in February 2013. The European and International Standard will be developed in parallel, hence the standard will be published in Europe as EN ISO 17225-8 “Graded thermally treated and densified biomass fuels”. Thermal treatment includes processes such as torrefaction, steam treatment (explosion pulping), hydrothermal carbonization and charring, all of which represent different exposure to heat, oxygen, steam and water. Hence, this standard will be the reference for solid fuel HTC products. In order to ensure that all findings from NEWAPP project reflect in the standard, D 4.2 includes the definitions and quality tables that reflect the project’s research and results, required for a successful marketability of the obtained high quality NEWAPP products. Data and results from NEWAPP have been provided to the German standardization body contact point, Daniela Thrän from DBFZ, and the ISO 238 working group contact point Eija Alakangas from VVT (Finland), and the Spanish contact point at AENOR. INGELIA participating in AENOR’s ISO standardization committee TC238 in Work Group 2, this document has been presented in the last committee meeting in April 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.
CSIC-ITQ collaborated actively to the completion of this task. CSIC-ITQ also contributed by providing regular analyses data. CSIC-ITQ searched for laboratories specialized in the analysis of contaminants and sent samples for analysis. CSIC-ITQ carried out analysis on hydrochar and process water (e.g. heavy metals) to acquire necessary information for the quality standards. The corresponding analyses were not foreseen in the DoW and, therefore, a budget shift from the prototype to consumables within RTD activities of CSIC-ITQ was required.
ACR+ and bvse participated actively in the discussion of suggestions concerning the definition of quality standards for innovative bio-technologies. In addition, the evaluation of chemical parameters, which limit the use of biomass in biosphere was discussed. Since a special of NEWAPP was the processing of bio-sludges rich in water contents, it was found, that the main parameters of concern were the halogen contents, i.e. bromine and chlorine, as well as the heavy metal contents. Legal standards are settled in the European Waste Framework Directive, EU 1774/2002 and EU 1069/2009. In Germany, legal framework is settled in the Bioabfallverordnung, the Klärschlammverordnung, the Düngemittelverordnung, the Düngegesetz and the Düngeverordnung. Furthermore, the evaluation of HTC-hydrochar – short-term, medium-term and long-term was discussed. Here, positive results for water retention capacity and water storage by biaohar and hydrochar were obtained. Moreover, first results HTC-char application show no negative influence on N2O-emissions. Furthermore, positive effects were expected from biochar and hydrochar, which include CO2 minimizing energy production, soil amendment and C-sequestration. Up to now, some studies on the soil amendment properties of HTC-char showed negative effects of plant growing.
EUBIA contributed to this task by identifying the most interesting quality standards for the integration of char as fuel in the EU market. In particular, EUBIA also investigated the present potentials of new standardisation programmes for the application of biochar and hydrochar as soil conditioner in different EU countries. The standardization bodies included in EUBIA study are ASTM, CEN, ISO.
Task 4.3 Business plan and patent research for the implementation of reuse options for wet waste biomass
ttz carried out a preliminary analysis of different business models related to waste treatment with HTC. After the initial considerations and after presenting and discussing them with the rest of the partners, it was agreed with all SMEs and associations to focus on the case of a municipality with a population of 60,000 using HTC as the mean to treat their waste. This decision was made after discussing with Ingelia their experience in the field and recent business developments. Additional information was provided by ACR+ and bvse. A municipality in Europe with this population produces annually, in average, 225 kg of wet biomass per capita. There are some technologies currently treating these wastes, mainly incineration and composting which have some problems: high costs, waste of energy (incineration), low profit, and huge amount of areas needed (compost). HTC represents a better and more efficient way to treat these residues, which follows the circular and green economy, as well as the European energy and environmental policies.
The business plan includes the simulation of the performance of a 4-reactor HTC plant with a capacity of 21,840 tons of wet bio-waste per year. The plant is estimated will have a lifetime expectancy of 20 years. During this 20 years of operation, it will treat not only the whole wastes from the municipality but also, for some periods of time, the residues from the neighbouring small municipalities. Treating a total of approximately 450,000 tons of wet biomass including parks and gardens, markets wastes, kitchen residues, digestate, and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste.
The payback year of the 4-reactor HTC plant is achieved in the 5.5 year. After that each year has an EBITDA of 856,945 euros per year. Having a total profit, during the 20 years, of almost 5 million euros.
The business plan compares HTC treatment with other six technologies for the treatment of these wastes: incineration, composting and anaerobic digestion, among others, as these are the most widespread technologies and therefore, HTC’s direct competitors. It also shows the comparison between different fuels for domestic heat stoves. EUBIA reviewed the business plan and contributed to its implementation by providing information and data on the present market situation and competing technologies currently in place in Europe. Business plan results have been used by EUBIA to assess the potential market development of the Industrial HTC technology investigated by NEWAPP project.
CSIC-ITQ collaborated actively in the discussion of the business plan and provided required information on the technical data.
Johannes Schräder and Dr. Thomas Probst, from bvse was in charge of carrying out the patent search in various databases. These were the German Patent Office (DEPATISnet), the European Patent Office (EPO), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as well as the Google Patent Search. The patent search, here search terms were „hydrothermal carbonisation“, „hydrothermal carbonization“, „hydrochar“ and „vapothermal carbonization“, revealed a total amount of 150 patents concerning hydrothermal carbonization. Vapothermal carbonization, an HTC-similar process, revealed only one strike. The patents were classified in the six different categories, listed in the NEWAPP proposal. Furthermore, various charts to show the results of the patent search were created and discussed. However, it has to be pointed out, that there are various definitions of the terms „hydrochar“ and „biochar“. Hence, a further search query with the term “biochar” revealed a total amount of over 700 patents. These biochar patents were not included in the patent search. Ingelia, Terra Preta and EUBIA revised the deliverable draft and contributed with their knowledge of the sectors to cover all relevant results. The results were compiled and analysed and collected in deliverable 4.3 “Update on the patent situation”.
Work package 5: Demonstration of project results
Task 5.1: Long term demonstration and adaptation
Task leader: ACR+, EUBIA
Ingelia carried out the long-term demonstration of HTC in the operation of the pilot plant, and maintains its Náquera pilot plant in operation as a showcase for municipal green waste. Ingelia’s plant is receiving visits from different stakeholders and organization to show and demonstrate the application of HTC process.Ingelia is arranging Ingelia contunes at the date of writing, to operate the pilot plant and offer the opportunity of arranging visits to interested stakeholders as continuing demonstration efforts beyond the project energy sector for combustion and gasification, in collaboration with WPS, a brokerage consultancy with expertise in this sector.
EUBIA supported the demonstration activity by fostering members and stakeholders from different EU regions to visit the plant during its continuous operational activity in order to show the reliability of the technology for large amount of wet biomass processing. At ACR+, Ms Bonnet, Ms Labriga, and Ms Spasova supported the RTD partners for the long term analysis of the potential of HTC biomass treatment and HTC carbon sequestration. Ms Labriga and Ms Spasova furthermore helped Ingelia and ITQ in organising visits of interested stakeholders to the test site, such as the site visit that was combined with the second workshop, held on 6 March 2015 in Valencia. bvse supported the task advertising the events among their members.
DTU contributed to the demonstration workshops providing additional information on the work performd in previous WPs: Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak contributed to the assessment of long-term performance of the HTC technology by providing sets of recommendations for the technology developers on how to optimize the technology further in the context of environmental performance when the technology is scaled up to the full commercial scale in the long-term and (ii) recommendations on how optimize environmental performance of HTC carbon when used as either solid fuel or soil conditioner with carbon sequestration value. In addition, Mr. Owsianiak identified environmental improvement potentials of the technology by highlighting the need for avoiding of potentially toxic emissions from the HTC reactor, minimizing the use of energy as one of the most important parameters determine the overall sustainability performance of the technology. ttz followed the same strategy, providing information of the performance of HTC coal as a soil amendment and, later in the project, about the business model developed for municipalities using HTC as a means to treat their waste. CSIC-ITQ supported Ingelia at the on-site demonstration events and in meetings with interested stakeholders.
Task 5.2: Demonstration workshops
Ingelia hosted the demonstration workshops at the pilot plant, scheduling the plant operation and providing the attendees with all necessary explanations.
CSIC-ITQ participated actively in five demonstration workshops. Four of them were open to the general public: two in Valencia, one in Lucca, Italy and one in Vienna (EUBCE). CSIC-ITQ co-organized the two workshops in Valencia together with Ingelia. The venues were the campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) near to the CSIC-ITQ building, for initial explanations and discussions, and the Ingelia pilot plant in Náquera. Furthermore, CSIC-ITQ organized a special course for Master students of the UPV including a plant visit.
EUBIA co-organized and participated in three demonstration workshops, presenting the project and contributing to train stakeholders regarding the current framework of organic material valorisation in Europe. Additionally, EUBIA contributed to the dissemination and organization of the workshops by contacting more than 2000 persons including researchers, SMEs representatives and authorities.From ACR+, Ms Labriga and Ms Voltz, co-organised several of the demonstration workshops in the course of the project. The workshops held were:
- Workshop 1: Valencia/Náquera (ES), 13 November 2014
- Workshop 2: Valencia/Náquera (ES), 6 March 2015
- Workshop 3: Lucca (IT), 26 March 2015
- Workshop 4: Vienna (AT), 4 June 2015
- Workshop 5: Valencia/Náquera (ES), 9 March 2016
- Workshop 6: Brussels (BE), 12 April 2016
- Workshop 7: Berlin (DE), 14 April 2016
- Workshop 8: Copertino (IT), 29 April 2016
All details on these demonstration workshops can be found in D5.1 Assessment of overall long-term performance and demonstration workshops, prepared by ACR+ and submitted on 29.04.2016.
Potential Impact:
The project NEWAPP has had as a focal point strengthening the competitiveness of the participating SME-AGs active in the bio-waste treatment sector in Europe. The introduction of novel and cost-effective technology in this sector will capture the attention of European SMEs who have a leading role in the bio-waste treatment market. The European bio-waste handling market is nowadays experiencing a great challenge due to the numerous EC directives restricting the ways bio-waste is disposed. The demand for innovative and cost-effective ways for reuse rises every year. However, waste and managers lack adequate and innovative technologies for efficient bio-waste reuses allowing for the production of high-value products with steady quality.
HTC as a bio-waste management and recycling technology will have a positive impact on bio-waste producers and handlers as they will clearly benefit from:
• higher cost efficiency due to the HTC system and the savings in which it results
• securing the efficient wet bio-waste stream disposal through HTC and producing high-value products after HTC carbon sequestration process
• meeting present and future regulatory requirements set by the EC waste disposal and handling directives
Another SME group that was anticipated would benefit from HTC are the producers of relevant high-value products (Li/Na batteries, electrodes, etc.). These SMEs will be able to make commercial use of the generated know-how. However, as it has been seen through the work in the project, these aspects of HTC need to be further researched and optimized before reaching their full market potential. All SME IAGs have high interest in the development of the HTC bio-waste treatment technology as well as on the HTC carbon sequestration process and the possibility of having high-value carbon products and their immediate market implementation. HTC has proven to be a valuable tool also for municipalities and agriculture: the main producers of wet biomass waste streams can benefit from the technology that will turn these wastes into a product that can be directly used at the same premises as energy carrier.
Economic Impact for SME-AG beneficiaries and their members:
After 30 months of work, the SME-AGs EUBIA, bvse and ACR+ are the owners of the property rights for the developed high-value carbon products, the optimization of HTC and the standards generated in the project. The efforts spent in training have resulted in a group of professionals trained in the insights of a novel technology that has a huge potential in the coming years. All consortium partners will profit from the knowledge gained about possible risks or optimisation/decision paths to the developed in the work plan technology. Those will guide future technology optimizations and implementations, plus direct market applications of existing technologies in their most suitable fields. Additionally, NEWAPP results will support and contribute for expanding international guidelines on safe and efficient wet bio-waste streams reuse in the European waste sector.
As the work plan of NEWAPP is focusing only on the 5 most promising waste streams for running the HTC process and obtaining high-value carbon products afterwards, further demonstration will be essential to verify the economics of the technology and to expand even further the consumer’s acceptance. It is already anticipated that after the completion of the project the participating associations will keep the exploitation of project results demonstration to their members via different programs. In addition, the partners have cooperated in establishing permanent links to continue the training beyond the project‘s lifetime, as in the booklet, which is available to the general public for free. As a measure of the interest generated by this result, it has been downloaded 181 times in the 17 days it has been available, since its upload to the preparation of the present report. The partners anticipate it will have a great impact in the waste management sector, including academia.
The European sectors and markets addressed by NEWAPP
HTC has the potential to impact a large number of sectors. From producers of these wastes to managers and end-users, the benefits would affect a large number of European SMEs while providing a solution to a pressing environmental problem shared by all Member States.
Results obtained in the proyect are ready to be implemented under real-life conditions. Indeed, the work carried out in the project, together with the large efforts carried out by Ingelia, have resulted in new compromises and contracts to build new HTC plants in Italy, a first step that illustrates hpw suitable this technology is, and how relevan was NEWAPP from themoment of its conception.
HTC has the advantage that its products will not require a reorientation of existing businesses, as the developed blueprints for waste streams provided by NEWAPP are scalable. Furthermore, NEWAPP addresses several steps in the waste value chain as it takes in consideration producers and managers, keeping the perspective of delivering an innovative product that is competitive in the current market.
One of the results obtained has been the development of a set of quality standards for innovative technologies for the reuse of waste biomass. The biomass sector is nowadays hindered by the heterogeneity of the raw materials and technologies. This yields a great range of qualities in the final products obtained, and an insecure market. The quality standards will allow the end users to have a competitive advantage for the beneficiaries and their members against other competitors.
Furthermore, based on its innovative features, it is expected that the NEWAPP technology has an enormous potential for the European waste sector addressed. Implementing the results provided will allow European farmers to improve the way bio-waste is handled which will ultimately lead to a substantial reduction in waste disposal costs, producing of new high-value carbon products, and thus higher revenues for them. NEWAPP has in this area also reached results beyond the foreseen at the proposal preparation, and has collaborated actively with the ISO task in charge for a standard on HTC and torrefaction products. The impact of this is huge, as it means that the recommendations developed during the project are currently being considered tob e included in the next ISO standard.
Impact of in its NEWAPP SME-AG and SME participants
EUBIA, as the main European association of biomass producers, has as a duty to its members to provide frequent updates on the State-of-the-Art of biomass transformation, and HTC is, as it has been demonstrated in NEWAPP, a technology with a great potential in this area. EUBIA has been able to enlarge its existing work on biochar, build its capacities and establish themselves firmly in the HTC scene. This has resulted in an increase in members, attracted by the work in the project and therefore, an increase in revenues.
The impact of NEWAPP in ACR+ has been building the capacity of its staff in HTC as a waste treatment, which will be transmitted to their members: mayors and municipalities commited to achieving higher sustainability in european cities. In this sense, ACR+ has been actively pursuing the training of this group of stakeholders already during the project, which have led to several of their members considering HTC as an option for their waste disposal. The business plan prepared in the project will be further used for this purpose, due to the fact that the SME AGs own also the files and calculators used by the RTDs for the preparation of this result.
For bvse, participating in the project will have the impact of staying at the forefront of technological developments. This is especially important, as Germany hosts already a vibrant HTC sector, and their knowledge has already attracted new members. Having participated in the projcet gives bvse an advantage also for their members, similar to that achieved by EUBIA. It is anticipated that bvse will continue training its members in the results of NEWAPP after its completion.
For Terra Preta, NEWAPP has provided important insight on a potential ally and competitor: HTC coal is regarded as a potential substitute for biochar. The knowledge gained by Terra Preta in the project will enable them better decision-making with regard to theis product catalogue and ingredients used in their products and their marketing strategy. Although the project has demonstrated that „raw“ HTC coal could have adverse effects on planth growth, with an adequate post-treatment it would be a suitable and cheaper substitute of biochar.
Finally, Ingelia has been the host of the project’s pilot plant and has received first-hand training by the RTDs on the different parts of the HTC process as they have been dealt with in the project. During the project, and as a result of its engagement, Ingelia has expanded its operations Europe-wide greatly, with new plants planned in Italy, and promising developments in other EU countries and beyond. In this sense, NEWAPP has exceeded the expectations of knowledge transfer and increase in revenues. Specifically, the results obtained in those WPs dealing with the process and the plant have opened new business pathways (re-use of the water, pelletizing) for Ingelia that were not reachable before the project started.
Main dissemination activities:
NEWAPP has implemented a powerful dissemination strategy in which the obtained knowledge is transferred directly from RTDs to SME-AGs and from SME-AGs to SMEs and end-users. The SME-AGs within NEWAPP have an overall potential dissemination range of more than 10 000 end-users. BVSE alone is one of the biggest German associations on waste management and recycling. ACR+ and EUBIA belong to the most important professional international organizations which additionally extends the project range Europe-wide. The work plan prepared for NEWAPP comprises a dissemination strategy under WP7, which ensures effective transfer and exploitation of progress, results and knowledge gained within the project, beyond the training workshops for SME-AGs and their members (part of WP6).
The success of NEWAPP, being a project for SME associations is strongly dependent on well-coordinated dissemination and exploitation activities. The individual dissemination activities aim at achieving the best possible spreading of the project results and to establish cooperation among local municipalities, researchers and technical SMEs.
The project’s dissemination activities have focused on fostering the implementation of the new NEWAPP system among companies in the waste sector – both within existing facilities aiming to optimise their processes and new systems with the latest state-of-the-art.
Activities and target groups:
In order to assure appropriate dissemination during and after its duration, raise awareness and assure the continuity of the achievements beyond, the dissemination strategy considers the following target groups:
▪ Companies working in the solid waste sector, which could improve the efficiency of their processes by the implementation of the new NEWAPP technology
▪ Municipalities, the end user and clients of these companies
▪ General public: Given the role played by public opinion concerning waste, it is important to consider the general public as a target group of the NEWAPP plan, raising awareness of advantages of the NEWAPP technology in relation to
▪ Researchers, aiming at the exchange of knowledge and results to achieve a faster development of the technology
▪ Standardization agencies and initiatives, working already in including HTC coal in their norms. The efforts have been focused in this case in aligning the NEWAPP standards with future standards
The dissemination activities undertaken during the project aim at ensuring that the results are disseminated as swiftly as possible, with EUBIA being responsible for assuring that they are compatible with the protection of intellectual property rights, confidentiality obligations and the legitimate interests of the SMEs and SME associations.
The general dissemination instruments for the presentation of the project activities and expected results include:
• a web page, http://NEWAPP-project.eu
• a project handout
• Press releases published in generalist media
• Appearances in radio or television outlets
The specific dissemination activities consist of the following activities:
• Including the project in the websites and/or newsletters of the partners
• Advertisement of the project at the SMEs and via institutions supporting the activities of this sector such as chambers of commerce, the relevant ministry of enterprise, as well as any industrial association they might belong to
• Promotion on specialised trade fairs
• Publications in specialised magazines, according to the SME's business, market and target groups.
• Scientific publications: The RTD performers will submit any scientific paper prepared on the work performed in the project to the SMEs, and will request their consent to publication before its submission for review.
The following sentence has been added to all publications developed under NEWAPP, as well as the project’s website: “The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by RES – Research Executive Agency (FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 605178”
Dissemination policy
The partners in the consortium have identified dissemination activities as necessary for the successful completion of the project, and have sought not only participating in events such as conferences and fairs, but also to present the project to their business partners. These contacts are not reflected in the tables for dissemination events due to their informal nature.
Even though dissemination of the project objectives and results is an objective for the partners, each beneficiary is aware of the restrictions in terms of disclosing confidential foreground.
Dissemination activities including but not restricted to publications and presentations shall be governed by Article II.30 of the Grant Agreement. In the case of a party objecting a publication has to show that its legitimate interests will suffer disproportionately great harm and shall include a request for necessary modifications.
In order to avoid conflict, a party may not publish foreground or background of another party, even if such foreground or background is amalgamated with the party’s foreground, without the other party’s prior approval. Any data which is to remain secret should be cleared labelled as confidential. Parties agree to abide by the default notice period foreseen in the grant agreement to communicate their planned dissemination activities with a notice at least 45 days prior along with sufficient information about the intended dissemination.
In the final meeting the partners have agreed on continuing the dissemination activities once the project is over, both attending to events (fairs, conferences) where the results of the project can be showcased, and meetings at the Ingelia plant, where the prototype can be used in demonstration workshops and meetings. The booklet, available online, will be promoted as a high-quality and long-lasting training and dissemination tool after the project ends.
• Scientific publications:
• ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION OF FOUR WET BIOMASS WASTE STREAMS AT PILOT- AND FULL-COMMERCIAL SCALE
Mikolaj Owsianiak, Morten Ryberg, Michael Renz, Martin Hitzl, Michael Hauschild
• LIFE-CYCLE BASED EVALUATION OF HYDROCHAR APPLICATION TO SOIL AS A POTENTIAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
Mikolaj Owsianiak, Jennifer Brooks, Alexis Laurent
• LIFE-CYCLE BASED COMPARISON OF HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION OF FOUR WET BIOMASS WASTE STREAMS WITH ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT OPTIONS
Mikolaj Owsianiak, Morten Ryberg
• Fuel and chemicals from wet lignocelulosic biomass waste streams by hydrothermal carbonization
Pedro Burguete et. Al. Green Chemistry, 2016, 8. P.1051-1060
• Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for valorizaiton of food waste. M. Renz et al, presentation at the 3rd International Symposium on Green Chemistry, May 3-7 2015 La Rochelle, France
• Production of a solid fuel from garden prunings, food waste, OFMSW, digestate and sewage sludge on pilot plat scale, M. Renz et. Al, oral presentation at the 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
• Poster presentation at the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference, Berlin, Germany,
03/06/2016–06/06/2016
• NEWAPP, estudio de la valorización de residuos alimentarios a través de carbonización hidrotermal (HTC), Retema: Revista técnica de medio ambiente, ISSN 1130-9881, Año nº 27, Nº 179, 2014, págs. 6-7
Expected exploitation:
The partners started discussing the need for patenting the results obtained from the end of the test season until the end of the project. In the discussion about IPR issues in the final meeting, all SMEs agreed on the following points, as collected in the final meeting’s minutes:
The partners in the consortium have identified dissemination activities as necessary for the successful completion of the project, and have sought not only participating in events such as conferences and fairs, but also to present the project to their business partners. These contacts are not reflected in the tables for dissemination events due to their informal nature.
Even though dissemination of the project objectives and results is an objective for the partners, each beneficiary is aware of the restrictions in terms of disclosing confidential foreground.
The partners will not pursue any joint protection action (patent).
Dissemination activities including but not restricted to publications and presentations shall be governed by Article II.30 of the Grant Agreement. In the case of a party objecting a publication has to show that its legitimate interests will suffer disproportionately great harm and shall include a request for necessary modifications. In order to avoid conflict, a party may not publish foreground or background of another party, even if such foreground or background is amalgamated with the party’s foreground, without the other party’s prior approval. Any data which is to remain secret should be cleared labelled as confidential. Parties agree to abide by the default notice period foreseen in the grant agreement to communicate their planned dissemination activities with a notice at least 45 days prior along with sufficient information about the intended dissemination.
In the final meeting the partners have agreed on continuing the dissemination activities once the project is over, both attending to events (fairs, conferences) where the results of the project can be showcased, and meetings at Lempe, where the prototype can be used in demonstration workshops and meetings.
A session of the final meeting was dedicated to future dissemination events, and the partners have prepared a list of events where the objectives and results of the project can be explained to potential clients. A preliminary list of actions and comprises the references below:
- Integration of the booklet in existing training programs at the SME-AGs
- Presentation of the booklet at the EUBCE conference in Amsterdam in June 2016
- 5. Mitteleuropäische Biomassekonferenz, Graz, Austria, January 2017
- 2nd World Bioenergy Congress and Expo, Madrid, Spain , June 2017
- Conference on Energy efficiency and Renewable Energy, April 2016 ,Sofia, Bulgaria
- 2nd Euro Global Summit and Expo on Biomass, Brussels, Belgium, August 2017
- Presentations at fairs (IFAT, TERRATEC, etc)
The RTDs have also expressed their compromise to further dissemination using the basic materials prepared during the project (leaflets, PowerPoint presentation)
List of Websites:
www.newapp-project.eu
European Biomass Industry Association
Rond Point Schuman, 6
B-1040 Brussels
administration@eubia.org
www.eubia.org
Lisa Labriga - ACR+
Project Manager
Avenue d'Auderghem 63 · B-1040 Brussels · Belgium
T+32 2 234 65 06 · F+ 32 2 234 65 01
ll@acrplus.org · www.acrplus.org
DDr. Thomas Probst, Dipl.-Chem. Univ - bvse - Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V.
Hohe Straße 73, DE 53119 Bonn
Tel.: 0049.228.98849-20 Tel.: 0049.228.98849-0
Fax: 0049.228.98849-99
Internet: http://www.bvse.de E-Mail: probst@bvse.de
TERRA PRETA GmbH
Vertriebsbüro Akazienstraße 28, 10823 Berlin
Sitz: Gustav-Müller-Straße 1, 10829 Berlin
Tel +49 30 78711909 | Mobil +49 173 2339156
www.terra-preta.de | dk@terrapreta.de
Martin Hitzl- Technical director, Ingelia
www.ingelia.com Tel.: +34 963 814 447
C/ Jaime Roig 19 Móvil: +34 657 837 038
E-46010 Valencia martin.hitzl@ingelia.com
Michael Renz
Instituto de Tecnología Química
Universitat Politècnica de València – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Avda. de los Naranjos s/n
46022 Valencia, España
Mikolaj Owsianiak - DTU
miow@dtu.dk
Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, MAN-QSA
DTU Management Engineering
Technical University of Denmark
Department of Management Engineering
Produktionstorvet
Building 426, room 105
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Phone +45 4525 4660
1. Executive summary (1 page)
Approximately 120 to 140 million tonnes of bio-waste are produced every year in the EU [1]. This corresponds to almost 300kg of bio-waste produced per EU citizen per year. From these, a substantial amount is organic waste. These, also called wet biomass waste streams, (i.e. wet agricultural residues, wet municipal waste such as foliage, grass or food waste), are abundantly available in Europe, while their disposal and recycling becomes increasingly difficult as energy efficient, environmentally sound and economically viable processes hardly exist.
NEWAPP aims at developing an alternative cost- and resource-efficient and environmentally sound way of dealing with wet biomass waste through HTC technology.
The existing treatment methods for these streams are mainly incineration or landfilling, 67% of the waste is disposed of in these ways. A small amount is composted, digested anaerobically or used as animal fodder. However, the most used methods are not the best: landfilling not only takes up more and more valuable land space, it also causes air, water and soil pollution, discharging carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) into the atmosphere and chemicals and pesticides into the earth and groundwater. This, in turn, is harmful to human health, as well as to environment.
In parallel to the growing amount of biowaste there is a fast growing demand for new raw materials worldwide. Applications such as chemical separation, water purification, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, bio imaging, fertilization and soil remediation and fuels are based on high value products and secondary raw materials demanded by our current technological growth and society. These products have several aspects in common: they are scarce, expensive, located in very concrete regions of the world and carbon based. The concept behind NEWAPP is that wet biomass can be a resource more than a waste, and does not need to be disposed of in the costly and inefficient way it is nowadays. The alternative, which NEWAPP introduces, is to create a continuous system which will allow to recover carbon in an energy efficient for tailor made HTC (Hydrothermal carbonization) products way. NEWAPP will focus on green waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, waste from food processing industry and waste from markets for running the HTC process and exploring the possibility to obtain high-value carbon products.
NEWAPP will gather international researchers, industrial associations and SME’s from different European countries in its thirty months lifecycle to assess the requirements and constraints of SME-AGs in the reuse of wet biomass with HTC, analyse the potentials of the different wet biomass streams for using them for HTC, perform intensive testing with this innovative system technology for heat recovery and efficiency for tailor made HTC products launch a standardization process for the two most promising waste streams to prove their viability for commercial applications.
Project Context and Objectives:
HTC consists in applying high temperatures and pressures to biomass in the presence of water, which results in two main products: a coal-like product (hydrochar) and water-soluble products. This process allows converting different biomass streams, such as waste, into fuels and other substances of industrial interest.
There is a clear need to develop new technological pathways for reuse that are economically attractive and environmentally sound at the same time. Promising technologies such as hydrothermal carbonisation show high potentials but so far only very few commercial units have been present on the market. Up to now there have been some experiments done with municipal solid wastes at lab scale aiming to take and separate carbon in order to get high value products through the HTC process. Different products can be obtained from this process, such as active carbon, electrodes, fertilizers, etc. NEWAPP will focus on green waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, waste from food processing industry and waste from markets for running the HTC process and exploring the possibility to obtain high-value carbon products. In 2011, EU-27 imported these products for a value of 22.666.570.073 €, while it exported for a value of 1.917.542.097 €, 12 times less. At the same time, EU generates yearly 80.000.000 tons of wet biowaste that can be effectively recycled to carbon materials by means of HTC. Based on this it can be concluded that EU industry has a need for carbon products, as fuel and as raw material.
This existing technology requires however, of several improvements in order to be ready to be used at the large scale as a reuse alternative for wet biomass. Pre- and post-treatment, are critical points for HTC, and pose questions not yet answered for a widespread implementation. The adequate mix of different kinds of wet biomass and the fine-tuning of the systems required for reaching high efficiencies are is still a hindrance for HTC at the industrial scale.
NEWAPP has gathered international researchers, industrial associations and SME’s from different European countries in its thirty months lifecycle to (1) assess the requirements and constraints of SME-AGs in the reuse of wet biomass with HTC, (2) analyse the potentials of the different wet biomass streams for using them for HTC, (3) perform intensive testing with this innovative system technology for heat recovery and efficiency for tailor made HTC products (4) launch a standardization process for the two most promising waste streams to prove their viability for commercial applications.
The developments in NEWAPP have targeted the upgrade of turning waste into new resources using HTC process and have paved the way to provide economically attractive and environmentally friendly alternatives to utilisation of wet biomass, allowing European SME-AGs to advise their SME members to use the optimal utilisation technologies for their specific needs. The companies from the biomass and waste sectors usually belong to at least one sector-specific association. It is from these that new technologies are introduced in the sector and standards and codes of practice are set. As NEWAPP aims at making a broad impact in these sectors, the scheme of research for SME Associations has been chosen by the three SME-AGs leading the consortium, two of them Europe-wide associations (EUBIA and ACR+) and one of them working at the national level (BSVE, Germany).
Increasing amounts of urban organic waste and farm organic residues are produced and often landfilled or burnt in Europe. The total annual amount of bio-waste in the EU is estimated at 76.5 - 102 Mt food and garden waste included in mixed municipal solid waste and up to 37 Mt from the food and drink industry. In addition, annually around 700 Mt of agriculture wastes are produced within the EU, which represents a high load for farmers due to the numerous problems they face handling them.
This consortium has aimed to combine the above and increase the amount of bio-waste diverted from landfill and burning into high value products that can be used as fuel, activated carbons for water treatment, soil remediation, carbon sequestration schemes and other applications. This requires the transformation of urban organic waste and farm organic waste from a costly disposal process into an income-generating activity.
In Europe there is a surplus of organic waste of municipal and agricultural origin. The material was, and in many countries still is, discarded in landfills or, for some agricultural wastes, burned in the field. Both practices are no longer acceptable in a modern European context and European targets for reduction have been set (EC, 2008).
Bio-waste is a putrescible, generally wet waste. There are two major streams – green waste from parks, gardens, and kitchen waste. The former includes usually 50-60% water and more wood (lignocelluloses and cellulose); the latter contains no wood but up to 80% water. Currently, the data collected under the Waste Statistics Regulation is not of sufficient detail on a country by country basis to relate to the definition of biowaste launched in COM(2008) 811 final (EC 2008, EC 2002). However, for the European Waste Code (EWC) for animal and vegetal wastes, which also includes manure and the like, European wide data is available.
Waste reduction initiatives have been active for the past decades, but their impact is not large enough to solve the waste disposal problem. In parallel, the demand for energy has increased in the EU-27 countries, as well as the need to use renewable energies. The EU has set a target of 20% of energy from renewable and an increase of 20% in energy efficiency by 2020, which will not be met only through brand new development (i.e. installation of solar fields). Taking existing resources, like waste, and using their potential achieves success faster while promoting innovation in already mature sectors. The impact of this innovation is much higher in terms of revenues and employment, because it strengthens the existing industrial fabric. NEWAPP is composed by national and international SME-AGs that acknowledge the potential of HTC treatment of wet biomass and its reuse for energy, and have the means to spread these innovations to a large number of SMEs at European level.
To achieve this, the consortium has focused on:
Developing a new technical utilisation pathway for turning biowaste into high value products. Hydrothermal carbonisation is a technology that already exists. However, a suitable solution for its up-scaling, energy consumption optimization or technology costs not yet been developed, despite the huge potential it represents. Additionally, the knowledge on what products can be obtained by what exact biowaste is very limited. The starting point of NEWAPP will be to address the existing technological barriers that these heterogeneous waste streams pose for our technologies and to assess the conditions that need to be met for the successful implementation of HTC.
Exploring what different products can be obtained from the selected waste streams after the HTC process. HTC carbon can be further upgraded to high-value materials by physical and/or chemical speratation methods for more sustainable applications than simply burning. By a purely thermal treatment it can be split into two parts – fixed carbon together with the inorganic matter and volatile part. Up to present the volatile part has not been separated and characterized. The fixed carbon together with the inorganic content is the lower value part that can be used for energy valorization or studied as fertilizer for crop plants. As the volatile part is ash-free and has a more homogeneous composition with a very low lignin derived content, its separation will be a possibility to obtain purified HTC material suitable for specialised applications.
Standardization. The results achieved will enable the partners to the first st of standards for HTC products to be distributed to through the participating SME-AGs to their members. The focus will be on achieving a large implementation, ensuring products with properly quantified relevant calorific value. The need to meet quality and safety standards will stimulate the waste management industry to improve the bio-waste treatment process and will thus lead to technological development. No coherent set of product norms dealing with sufficiently detailed end user needs and environmental and human safety standards has been proposed yet.
Techniques for added value. This consortium will develop and introduce several techniques for the application of the products of HTC with increased added value for energy purposes, farmers (as soil amendment) and other industrial uses, such the creation of activated carbons and nanostructured materials.
The above focuses will create a virtuous cycle which will increase mutually beneficial interactions between urban and rural areas. It will create new opportunities for the waste and related industry and it will reduce the negative carbon and nutrient footprint of cities. It will also enhance the environmental sustainability of energy production while simultaneously contributing to climate change mitigation.
Technical objectives
- Turning 20% of the presently disposed biowaste into high-value carbon products
- Finding and testing the 5 most appropriate wet biomass waste streams for obtaining different products – green waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, waste from food processing industry.
- To develop a suitable, practical and scalable HTC carbon separation procedure
- To improve the potential for producing more high-value carbon products by optimized pre- and post treatment of biomass
- Defining the 4 most valuable carbon products that can be obtained with HTC, their production methods, potential applications, and market opportunities
- A full characterization of the effects of different wet biomass streams in the HTC reactor, as well as the products obtained, creating standards for high-value HTC products
Economic objectives:
- To reduce the HTC carbon product costs by 10%
- To develop an upgrading process for wet biomass which is 25% more cost efficient than existing disposal and treatment procedures
- To target a market of 10 000t of biowaste to carbon products (approx. 1.5M €)
- To substitute 20% of the currently imported carbon products with HTC carbon upgraded ones
- To strengthen the waste-to-enegy sector, increasing the amount of waste treated with technologies for the production of energy
- To create a business plan for the implemetation of the technologies developed in the project
- To define a set of quality standards for the use of wet biomass that will enable the producers and the energy industry to build reliable business
Social and environmental objectives:
- Increase SMEs and farmers´ knowledge, acceptance, and practices of new methods for biowaste reuse
Reduce negative environmental impacts (soil contamination) of improper waste disposal and reuse
- Protect/increase employment in the agricultural sector
- Reduce citizen´s health risks associated with improper application of waste disposal and application to agriculture
- Inform about and help meet current legislations/guidelines, present novel and efficient solutions for treatment and reuse of waste to policy makers/legal representative and last but not least help harmonize these efforts on a European scale.
The partners behind NEWAPP are convinced that it is by taking action at the association level that the results obtained by a project like this will reach the highest impact level in all EU Member states. The two international associations in the consortium have the means to disseminate the results, especially the standards and implementation decision tool, to a large number of national associations and SMEs. A similar scheme is ensured by the national association BSVE acting in Germany, which aims at achieving an uptake of these results in at least a 35% of the SMEs it represents.
Project Results:
The work performed in the first period focused on the selection of the biomass waste streams that would be dealt with, their characterization and the assessment of their potential. The partners dealt also with the description of the marketable products to be obtained from HTC, and the definition of the characteristics these have to comply with in order to be competitive in the current markets. Once the waste streams were selected, their HTC processing started in the pilot plant in Náquera, Spain. The purchase, building and commissioning of new equipment required in WPs 2, 3 and 4 resulted in a stop in this phase and a delay in the technical development of the project.
This delay was overcome in the second project period. The partners worked in the improvement of the coal obtained, specifically in the reduction of inorganic and halogen content, with positive results. In WP3 the partners studied the different fractions obtained and their applications. The hydrochar obtained was separated successfully into two parts: a solid one and a viscous liquid. The viscous liquid obtained was further evaluated for its use as liquid fuel. A direct use as drop-in diesel fuel cannot be recommended but its use as a refinery feedstock would definitely be feasible.
A second application the solid product fraction was the preparation of battery electrodes. However, although the surface area stipulated in the DoW of 350 m2/g was obtained, the whole composition with an elevated inorganic content made the material unsuitable for this application. Therefore, an alternative higher value application for which the ash content could be tolerated was chosen: the use as adsorbent for waste water treatment, as a substitute for active carbons. Furthermore, the potential of hydrochar for soil amelioration if hydrochar can be a suitable substitute for the biochar that is currently used in soil amelioration products was studied. The results were in line with existing literature, and indicate some negative effect in plant growth. The exact reason for that, and possible solutions have been identified (i.e. co-composting), but this would require a longer testing period, beyond the time available in NEWAPP.
Once results were obtained in this respect, the work shifted towards the technology assessment, LCA, and the development of a suitable business plan, as well as the quality standards for the reuse of waste biomass. The connections of the partners in the consortium with standardization bodies that are working on standards for HTC allowed them to share information and harmonise NEWAPP’s results with ongoing initiatives, which will render these result much more useful in this nascent industry.
Demonstration workshops were held at the Ingelia plant throughout the second period. In order to achieve a higher demonstration impact, workshops were also held remotely, using audiovisual material and HTC-coal samples to demonstrate the process. As a result of these activities, new HTC plants are planned to be built by Ingelia in the coming years (i.e. in Italy).
Finally, the RTD partners prepared training materials and gave training to the SMEs and associations in the project. As a means of achieving a long-lasting transfer of the project results, the partners prepared a handbook on the main activities and results of the project. In this way, NEWAPP has published the first long and comprehensive publication, and made it available for free at the website.
All partners contributed to the dissemination of the project’s objectives, and NEWAPP has been present in six international scientific conferences and has appeared in local, regional and national media of the countries represented in the consortium.
• Result 1: New waste biomass reuse technologies based on HTC developed and tested
The work performed in WPs 1 to 4, especially 2 and 3, will render new ways to valorise waste, focusing on the use of waste streams selected by the SME-AG and SME partners in the project and the technological improvements described in WPs 2 and 3.
This result has been achieved in the successful completion of WPs 2 and 3. The project has developed new knowledge about the characteristics and uses of HTC coal, both indicating feasible uses and identifying others that are not directly achievable in with the substrates used. The impact of this result goes beyond the pure academic success, to devising new ways to deal with specific waste biomass streams.
• Result 2: Quality standards for the reuse of wet biomass waste streams
Defined in D 4.2 they will comprise the range for a variety of parameters that the biomass products must have in order to comply with the conditions from the industry for their use: maximum, minimum and optimum, for example for Cl- content, calorific value, etc. As a variety of uses will have been studied in WPS 1-4 (energy, soil amendments, water quality, etc), D4.2 will include the assessment of the industry requirements and real performance values obtained at the lab or prototype tests.
This result has been fully achieved. Furthermore, the NEWAPP standards have been presented to ISO, to be considered in the the ISO 238 technical committee for the elaboration of standard EN ISO 17225-8. In this sense, NEWAPP has maximized its impact and provided a long-lasting effect in future standards.
• Result 3: Decision tool for the implementation of wet biomass reuse technologies
The completion of WPs 4 and 5 will entail the achievement of result 3: the information gathered along these tasks will allow the RTDs to complete a decision tool for the SME-AGs, their members and the SME partners to choose what waste streams can be treated best with HTC, and what products are the most appropriate for their markets.
The work carried out throughout the project has led to the successful completion of this result. The knowledge generated after treatment of different biomass waste streams, their analysis and further consideration of LCA and business plan will enable municipalities to consider HTC as a viable option for waste treatment. This approach has already born fruits in the most recent agreements at Ingelia for establishing new plants in Italy.
• Result 4: HTC carbon products developed
Result 4 deals with the carbon products developed, and the processes used how to obtain them, as well as their commercial exploitation. This result is directly linked with the work in WPs 1 to 5.
The work performed in WPs 1,2 and 3, which was later demonstrated to relevant stakeholders has led to the achievement of this result. As described in WP3, NEWAPP has generated new knowledge on the products that can be obtained from waste biomass and their market placement.
• Result 5: Cost-benefit analysis
This result will be comprised in Deliverable D 4.1 result of task 4.3 and it will give the end- users potential calculations of inputs required for a theoretical HTC system for the products studied in the project, investments required for the implementation and selling prices.
This result has been achieved, and is a valuable tool for the relevant stakeholders to decide on the installation of an HTC plant. This will enable an easier and broader implementation of HTC.
S&T work that led to the achievement of the project’s results:
Work package 1: Characterization of wet biomass waste streams and definition of end-user requirements
Task 1.1 Screening of suitable wet biomass waste streams
The aim of Task 1.1 was to screen the available wet biomass waste streams on a European level both in qualitative and quantitative terms under consideration of their economic relevance.
It was originally planned to send out questionnaires to relevant stakeholders to obtain the required data. Based on unsatisfactory experiences the consortium had made with questionnaires in previous projects it was decided to use the Statistical Institute of the European Union (EUROSTAT) databank to obtain the data and to crosslink the data with the data on waste generating sectors from NACE-2. The results of the questionnaire were used to fill information gaps afterwards. Moreover the literature study and the chemical analyses conducted in Task 1.2 were taken into account.
Four criteria were established to identify suitable wet biomass waste streams:
1) The waste must be or contain an organic fraction
2) It must be available in sufficient volume
3) It must not have a suitable application as secondary raw material yet
4) It must be suitable for HTC with respect to composition
In the beginning ttz identified 13 waste stream categories containing carbon in the EUROSTAT database (e.g. wood wastes, vegetal wastes, animal faeces, urine and manure, household and similar wastes, different types of sludge, etc.) which were reduced to five categories after the application of the four criteria stated above. In a workshop conducted in the kick-off meeting questionnaires were developed for each of these waste stream categories and sent out to the respective actors, i.e. municipalities, waste managers, water treatment plant operators and digestion plant operators. The Associations participating in the project had an important role in the distribution of the questionnaire: for ACR+, Mr Jean-Jacques Dohogne and Ms Françoise Bonnet gave important input to develop the questionnaire to gather information on which types of wet biomass are of utmost interest for treatment and in which season, in task 1.1. In the same task, Ms Cristina Mestre Martinez and Ms Lisa Labriga conducted comprehensive dissemination activities to spread the questionnaire amongst the members of ACR+ and to motivate them to fill them in. This included mass mailings, articles in the weekly Newsletter of ACR+ plus personal mailings and calls to some members, in the months February – April 2014. EUBIA disseminated the project to its members in order to get information regarding most interesting waste biomass streams to process in HTC. In addition, EUBIA participated to the dissemination of the questionnaire to about 40 contacts of municipalities. Bvse participated in the discussion on the characterization of biomass within NEWAPP on the knowledge of characterization of biowaste from the requirements of national und European legal framework, i.e. European Waste Framework Directive, EU 1774/2002 and EU 1069/2009, and in Germany, i.e. the Bioabfallverordnung, the Klärschlammverordnung, the Düngemittelverordnung, the Düngegesetz and the Düngeverordnung. Bvse provided an overview on the biomass streams in Germany accordingly to waste flows and agriculture origin was given. Hence, first suggestions for the selection of suitable biomass streams for HTC processing on the knowledge of main biomass waste flows in Germany were performed. Dr. Thomas Probst, from bvse: took part in the discussion of various biomass streams in Europe, which could be suitable for HTC processing. He also participated in the evaluation of conventional biomass processing in Europe, as well as in the discussion of the data available from national and European statistics, bvse contributed significantly to the identification on the restrictions of processing various biowaste flows for hygienic reasons and their transport requirements to the processing plant. The SMEs Terra Preata and Ingelia supported the rest of the partners in the discussions that led to D 1.1 the preparation of the questionnaires and their distribution among their network of contacts. Ingelia also provided the boundary conditions for the waste streams to be successfully processed with HTC.
After analysing the data obtained from the questionnaires and considering the data obtained in the literature studies and practical biomass analyses of Task 1.2 five biomass waste streams were selected that were identified to be most suitable as feedstock for the HTC process and will be further considered in NEWAPP:
1) Sewage sludge from domestic wastewater treatment plants
2) Digestate from the biogas production
3) Biomass from garden prunings
4) The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW)
5) Vegetable waste from markets and similar waste
DTU contributed to task 1.1 in the identification of companies, municipalities and institutions dealing with one of the identified waste streams (i.e. organic household waste) in Europe, distributed questionnaire to them, and analysed their responses. Additionally, Mr. Morten Ryberg identified and collected literature data to complement results from questionnaire analysis. Both results are included in D1.1. Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak gave an important input to D1.1 by describing the methodology used to screen wet biomass waste streams in Europe suitable for HTC.
As a common result of Task 1.1 and Task 1.2 detailed information in terms of the availability and the chemical properties of all five selected biomass waste streams was compiled and first conclusions on how to process them were drawn. All the information obtained in Tasks 1.1 and 1.2 can be found in Deliverable D1.1 “Screening and chemical analysis of suitable wet biomass waste streams” which was submitted to the Commission on June 30th, 2014.
Task 1.2 Chemical analysis of wet biomass
Task 1.2 completed the work performed in task 1.1. First, to obtain relevant and representative Europe wide results a statistical review was conducted using the Statistical Institute of the European Union (EUROSTAT) databank. After a short evaluation, further information was been retrieved by cross linking the data with the data on waste generating sectors from NACE-2. Then, data have been further completed by a questionnaire survey, carrying out analysis and literature research.
Evaluation of the data was done after all steps and decisions were made when possible depending on the available data. Four criteria were established. The first one was a very soft one which was only applied (criterion 1 in Figure 1) to get the widest range of waste stream categories that are or contain organic fraction. Three further additional criteria were established which were applied in each evaluation step: (i) it must be produced in sufficient volume; (ii) it must not have a suitable application as secondary raw material yet, and (iii) it must be suitable for HTC with respect to composition.
CSIC carried out literature surveys for data on chemical properties of food waste, garden prunings, green waste, the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, sewage sludge and digestate from biogas production plants. CSIC carried out all analysis summarized in D1.1. The biomass was obtained from sewage sludge, digestate, green waste/prunings and OFMSW. These analysis involved analysis of humidity, pH (if applicable), elemental analysis (CHNS), ash content, lignocellulosic composition, and lignine and hollocelulose among others. Higher heating value was determined at CSIC in Zaragoza.
The final conclusion was the selection of the following five biomass waste streams for the trial in WP2 and further considering in the project:
• sewage sludge
• digestate residue from biogas production
• green waste/garden prunings
• OFMSW
• food market waste/vegetable waste
Task 1.3 Identification of marketable products, definition of end-user product requirements
The aim of Task 1.3 was the identification and quantification of the most interesting carbon products that can be produced from HTC carbon and to determine the characteristics and quality parameters that the produced HTC carbon must comply with.
During the preparation of the project proposal, a literature study was conducted to identify products and applications where HTC carbon has shown suitability on a laboratory scale. These products and applications comprised solid fuel, coke, battery electrodes, soil remediation products such as peat or charcoal, activated carbon, catalysers, liquid fuel, carbon sequestration, carbon fuel cells and hydrogen storage.A market study was conducted for all products and applications in order to obtain information on specifications and requirements of the raw carbon (physical properties, applicable standards, existing alternatives and current market price), on the European market size and on the main sectors demanding the products and applications. Based on the results of the market study the following five products with the best market potential have been identified and will be further considered in the NEWAPP project: Solid fuel, liquid fuel, peat, charcoal (and coke).
The SMEs and Associations contributed with relevant data: bvse coordinated the writing and contributed with information about the European markets, and Ingelia and Terra Preta contributed with their existing knowledge of the market for HTC products. CSIC participated in the preparation of deliverable D1.2. CSIC composed the chapters on coke, catalyser and liquid fuel. Mr. Morten Ryberg from DTU identified marketable products for carbon sequestration, carbon fuel cells and hydrogen storage and defined their end-user requirements and requirements to the char. This is included in Deliverable 1.2.
All the information obtained in Task 1.3 can be found in Deliverable D1.2 “Report on marketable products and requirements of the desired end products” which was submitted to the Commission on February 24th, 2014.
Work package 2: Obtaining HTC carbon from seleted waste streams and post-treatments developed for improved products
Task 2.1 Processing of the five selected biomass streams at industrial scale
The need to install a new boiler at the Ingelia plant in order to perform the work foreseen in WP3 and 4 with the best results entailed a delay in this work package already in the first period. The work in the second period focused in completing the processing of the biomass streams and collecting the data necessary for fulfilling the objectives set or this and subsequent tasks. This task started during the first reporting period and continued during the second. The major part of the pilot plant trials was carried out during second reporting period, including a second trial on the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (BO+), sewage sludge (BS), bell pepper residues (BF+) and orange peel waste (BF) as food wastes, a second trial on green waste (BG+) and a second trial on digestate (BD). CSIC-ITQ contributed to this task by analyzing the raw material employed in the trial in the same way as during the first reporting period. The analyses include humidity content, ash content, volatile content, fixed carbon content, elemental analysis (CHNS), ash composition by ICP-OES (Na, K, Mg, Ca, Si, Al, Ti, Mn, Fe and P), holocellulose content and lignin content). For the feedstocks BO+, BD and BS also heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Ni, Se, Zn and B) were determined in the ashes by ICP-OES. Higher heating values were measured at the Carbonchemistry Institute of the CSIC in Zaragoza. According to the wet biomasses defined in the previous work package, Ingelia, with the support of ttz, EUBIA, bvse and ACR+ designed the tests to be performed in their HTC plant located in Náquera, as well as designed the improvements and modifications to be done in the HTC plant in order to adapt the pre-treatment of biomass (initially designed for vegetable residues).
CSIC-ITQ was in charge of collecting the results of this task and compiling them in Deliverable 2.1 “Analysis of HTC carbon samples”, which was sent to the EC on 15th January 2016. The long delay in this submission was due to the delay in the restart of the plant operation as described in the first periodic report.
Task 2.2 Analysis of HTC carbon samples
CSIC-ITQ analyzed the solid products obtained from the trials carried out in task 2.1. These analyses were coordinated with TTZ in order to obtain the required data for subsequent work packages. CSIC-ITQ analyzed all samples provided by Ingelia. The analyses included humidity content, ash content, volatile content, fixed carbon content, elemental analysis (CHNS), ash composition by ICP-OES (Na, K, Mg, Ca, Si, Al, Ti, Mn, Fe and P). During this reporting period for almost all trials and conditions heavy metal contents (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Ni, Se, Zn and B) were determined in the ashes by ICP-OES. Higher heating value and chloride and fluoride content were measured at the Carbonchemistry Institute of the CSIC in Zaragoza.The determination of the heavy metal content was estimated, in coordination with TTZ and the other NEWAPP partners, to be strongly required although this work was not specified in the DoW. Therefore, budget shifts within the RTD activities from travel costs to personnel and consumables were necessary. All information acquired with task 2.2 was summarized in deliverable D2.1.
Task 2.3 Improvement of HTC solid fuel by reduction of inorganic content
During the second period, CSIC-ITQ, Ingelia and ttz completed the work in this task, and Ingelia prepared Deliverable 2.2.
Decreasing of the ash content of hydrochar has been the focus of this work. The experiments preformed on the AT1 hydrochar sample were adapted from the Ultra Clean Coal (UCC) process. The selected consisted in a caustic digestion at 225 ºC followed by an acid treatment. There are numerous combinations for setting up the alkali-acid treatment as well as numerous different coal types all having specific ash contents. It is not feasible to do experimental work on all combinations and ash contents. To save experimental work, the developed model allows for comparison of different scenarios with different alkali-acid leaching setups. The model can be readily used to optimize alkali-acid cleaning of hydrochar, as it predicts that final ash content of a hydrochar should be < 5 wt%, which is within range of measured values.
In the experiments it was confirmed that this process can be adapted and applied to hydrochar and the required limit of a maximum ash content of 5 wt% as demanded by milestone MS2 was met. The temperature for the first, alkaline treatment was above the process temperature of the HTC process and this high temperature was responsible for advanced carbonization. However, the high temperature would involve higher energy costs of the process which is undesired. Therefore, lower temperatures for the first step were also studied. In this case silicon was not extracted efficiently. This was in accordance with the prediction from the model elaborated from literature data. Therefore, it was concluded that the two-step ash treatment is a valuable procedure for producing low-ash hydrochar for high-value applications. However, for the use as solid fuel, the procedure had to be simplified. Therefore, a single step treatment was designed and evaluated.
As summary it can be stated that the UCC process applied to hydrochar is an efficient method for reducing the ash content to below 5% as demanded by milestone MS2. Interestingly, the carbon content (on a dry and ash-free basis) was further increased.
Figure 1. Diagram of the general procedure 1 for the ash reduction adapted from the Clean Coal Process.
Single step ash treatment
A single step ash treatment (GP-2) was developed consisting in a treatment with sulphuric acid, subsequent filtration for hydrochar recovery and washing. It was found that with a reaction temperature of 100 ºC and a reaction time of 2 h the ash content was lowered to below 2 wt%. With this result milestone MS2 was reached which demanded an ash content of below 5 wt% of the treatment. The treatment was especially efficient for the removal of calcium and phosphorous. It was further found that an efficient ash reduction involves a penalty on the mass balance. This means that approximately one third of the hydrochar was lost when the low ash content was achieved. This has clearly a negative impact on the process economics in the case that the low ash has at least a 50% higher value than the initial high-ash hydrochar. Sulphuric acid might be substituted by hydrochloric acid which showed also an interesting potential. However, for this acid reaction conditions have to be still optimized further. A further critical point is that washing procedure after the treatment. A relatively high amount was needed for efficient ash reduction. This might be recovered by means of the inverse osmosis unit incorporated into the pilot plant during the NEWAPP project. As a limitation of the present procedure it has to be stated that it can only be applied to low silicon (and low aluminium) hydrochars since both elements are not removed during the treatment with an acid.
The existing ash reduction unit at the prototype was used and optimized during the NEWAPP trials. Additionally two different chemical processes were studied on laboratory scale (see first reporting period). With both processes MS2 was reached, i.e. ash content was reduced to below 5%. CSIC-ITQ compiled the results in deliverable D2.2.
Task 2.4 Improvement of HTC solid fuel by reduction of halogen content
The work in this task continued in the second period from the preliminary literature review performed by CSIC and DTU to the development of procedures for the reduction of the halogen content.
CSIC-ITQ, with support from INGELIA and ttz, designed two different procedures and evaluated them at lab scale. The first one was the treatment with an alkaline solution with the aim to substitute halide anions by hydroxide anions described in the DoW. The second procedure was derived from a control experiment when the hydrochar was treated only with washing water and from a literature survey. Hence, with the alkaline solution and the neutral water the chloride content was decreased. Then a second study was carried out to confirm the possibility to use only water for the treatment. During this study all produced samples met the requirement of milestone MS3. With these satisfying results CSIC-ITQ designed the implantation at the pilot plant together with Ingelia. The most straightforward incorporation was the washing step in the filter press after removal of the process water. The corresponding trials were carried out at Ingelia’s pilot plant and supervised and analyzed by CSIC-ITQ. However, a final proof for the efficiency of the procedure could not be obtained. The hydrochar produced when the experiment was run had already a low chlorine content, already fulfilling the established values, so that it could not be further decreased.
Work package 3: Post-processing of HTC carbon for high-technological applications: bio-diesel and electrodes
Task 3.1 Separation of HTC carbon into two or more fractions
Based on preliminary tests, CSIC-ITQ and ttz selected the following separation method for hydrochar: in a down-flow reactor with a porous plate in the heating zone hydrochar was treated at different temperatures passing a nitrogen flow down flow producing three products: thermally treated hydrochar, a condensed liquid and a gaseous effluent. All three products were collected and analyzed. The amount of each product was quantified in function of the temperature of the treatment and the time of the treatment. In this study CSIC-ITQ could show that this treatment was suitable to eliminate the volatile content from the hydrochar and to enrich the fixed carbon and ash content. On the other hand not all the volatiles were lost and part could be recovered as a viscous liquid. The gas consisted mainly of carbon dioxide and had no value for further uses. Perhaps, it might be used for energetic valorization in a potential industrial application for generating the heat for the thermal treatment.
For the production of solid and liquid on a larger scale (kg scale) CSIC-ITQ designed a different apparatus since a straightforward up-scaling of the down flow method was not possible. With this apparatus several kg of solid were obtained whereas the yield of liquid was lower. With respect of the solid the quantity produced was sufficient for other Tasks of the project. Contrarily, for the liquid several down-flow reactions had to be carried out to accumulate the amount required for the hydrogenation reactions of Task 3.2.
CSIC-ITQ analyzed the surface area of the solid and showed that after the treatment it was much higher (approx. 300 m2/g). CSIC-ITQ showed that the higher heating value is increased by approx. 20% for the treated solid.
The thermal treatment was not carried out for the ten samples as specified in the DoW. Table 24 of deliverable D2.1 showed that all the regular hydrochar samples (with exception of the ones which were separated in the post-process treatment due to a high ash content) had a very similar volatile content (55 to 68%) and, therefore, it was concluded that results of the thermal treatment should be very similar. It was preferred instead to focus on the characterization of the products and on up-scaling. Hence, thermal treatments were mainly carried out with hydrochar samples derived from green waste and from orange peel waste.
As a summary it can be stated that hydrochar was separated successfully into two parts: a solid one and a viscous liquid. CSIC-ITQ compiled all the results obtained with the thermal treatment in a chapter which was included in deliverable D3.1.
Task 3.2 Upgrading of HTC carbon fractions to products of commercial interest
In the DoW it was proposed to develop two marketable products from the fractions obtained in Task 3.1. Since the results of the separation were not completely predictable some deviation from the initial working plan occurred.
bvse performed an overview of products generated by the various techniques, e.g. composting, biogas plants, substitute fuel, bio-diesel, applied for biomass conversion. In addition technologies and techniques applied therefore were screened and shown to the NEWAPP partners. Also the qualities of the conversion products were presented. Hence, an insight on the costs of biomass collection, transport and processing were given. At least, the actual prices of secondaries generated from bio-waste conversion were given. This knowledge is the basis to enhance commercial interest.
EUBIA screened the average composition required for the commercialization of the char as feedstock to be applied for a wide range of end use. Among the most relevant markets, EUBIA studied the char application potentials as fuel, soil conditioner and activated carbon source. Additionally, EUBIA studied the present market potentials and the main barriers of char application as soil conditioner, fuel, activated carbon and c source in metal industry
The viscous liquid obtained was further evaluated for its use as liquid fuel. For doing so, CSIC-ITQ hydrogenated the liquid in an autoclave after removal of the water contained. In this first experiment it was observed that the catalytic activity ceased very rapidly. It was assumed that this was due to coke deposition, the latter evidenced by thermogravimetric analysis of the catalyst. In two further trial CSIC-ITQ distilled the viscous liquid prior to the hydrogenation. This measure improved the hydrogenation result and two highly deoxygenated liquids were obtained. Oxygen content and lower heating value were determined at the Carbonchemistry Institute of the CSIC in Zaragoza. As a result of the hydrogenations it can be stated that the chemical process improved considerably the flow properties of the liquid. A direct use as drop-in diesel fuel cannot be recommended but its use as a refinery feedstock. A high nitrogen content, which has its origin in the plant raw material employed for the HTC process, makes it less suitable for the direct use but it should be possible to reduce this nitrogen content in an oil refinery. Hence, using the liquid as feed in the refinery it is separated into different refinery flows according to their physical properties. CSIC-ITQ determined a yield of 5 wt% for the hydrogenated liquid with respect to dry hydrochar after water elimination, distillation and hydrogenation.
A second application for a product fraction of Task 3.1 in this case for the solid product, was proposed in the DoW, i.e. the preparation of battery electrodes. However, although the surface area stipulated in the DoW of 350 m2/g was obtained, the whole composition with an elevated inorganic content made the material unsuitable for this application. Therefore, an alternative higher value application was chosen for which the ash content could be tolerated and this was the application as adsorbent for waste water treatment, as a substitute for active carbons. CSIC-ITQ selected methylene blue as a model compound of a colorant contaminant. In laboratory experiments, CSIC-ITQ showed that this was a potential application the thermally treated hydrochar. However, a control experiment showed that pristine hydrochar had an even higher affinity to the colorant. This was unexpected since pristine hydrochar has a very low surface area. Therefore, it can be concluded from this study, apart from the fact that hydrochar has an interesting potential as adsorbent, hydrochar possesses particular properties due to its polar surface involving many oxygen functionalities. This has not been foreseen in the DoW and opens up a wide area for the application as alternative adsorbent to active carbons.
In Task 3.2 it has been demonstrated that thermally treated hydrochar may be used as adsorbent for waste water purification. This has been shown with methylene blue as a model compound for colorant contaminants. In Task 3.1 one of the samples employed in the adsorption study was prepared on kg scale. Therewith it can be concluded that MS6 has been achieved.
CSIC-ITQ compiled all the results obtained with the hydrogenation and the adsorption experiment in a chapter on Task 3.2 which was included in deliverable D3.1 prepared by ttz.
Task 3.3 Hydrochar soil application and process water quality
3.3.1 Hydrochar soil application
This task was planned in order to assess the potentials of hydrochar for soil amelioration, i.e. to answer the question if hydrochar can be a suitable substitute for the biochar that is currently used in soil amelioration products. The work performed under this task was divided into two main parts: a large series of tests conducted in 2015 and a smaller series of tests conducted in 2016. All the work was performed by TTZ, with contributions from TP.
The work began with a comprehensive literature study, e.g. on the scientific basics of soil amelioration with char and on the state of the art in research on soil amelioration with hydrochar in particular. On this basis, the research needs were identified and a research plan was developed, which was confirmed by TP. EUBIA has a strong interest in biofertilizers sector and dedicated strong attention to the hydrochar potential application as soil conditioner. EUBIA staff contributed to assess the potentials of the hydrochar for soil amelioration and also to define the potential post processing activities which will be needed to upgrade the product into a higher value biochar.
The tests conducted comprised germination and plant growth rates, nutrient and water storage capacities, the compliance with widely accepted biochar standards, and others. In order to confirm the test results, some of the tests were repeated by TP in a smaller series. In the end, the results of all tests were collected and compared to the available literature and conclusions were drawn. All results of this first series of tests can be found in Deliverable D3.1.The first series of tests conducted in 2015 for the analysis of the effects of hydrochar on the growth of plants delivered negative results: plants of all 3 tested species grew best in substrates containing no hydrochar at all, while increasing concentrations of hydrochar increasingly inhibited plant growth. These observations were confirmed by various further studies. However, some of these studies stated that the negative effects of hydrochar on plant growth could be removed by thoroughly washing the char, incubating it with compost of exposing it to weather for some time (e.g. Busch et al. 2013). Since one of the hydrochar samples was available both untreated and exposed to the weather for a year, it was decided to conduct a second series of tests to compare the effects of the two char varieties on plant growth.
The germination and plant growth tests were conducted in exactly the same way as the first series of tests was conducted in 2015 (compare D3.1) with the only differences in the tested char samples. In the first series of tests, 5 different hydrochar samples (made from different feedstock) and 1 biochar sample were used, while in the second series 2 varieties of the same hydrochar sample were used, 1 left standing outside exposed to the weather for a year, while the other one was kept inside protected from all potential influences. All seeds were planted on March 30th, 2016. The germination tests were finished 2 weeks later; the plant growth tests were finished 4 weeks later.
Germination rate
Lactuca sativa reached the highest germination rates of all 3 species. Between 45 (90 %) and 48 (96 %) of all planted seeds germinated. There were no significant differences between the germination rates in the different hydrochar varieties and concentrations (Table 1, Figure 1).
Avena sativa reached the lowest germination rates of all 3 species. Between 21 (42 %) and 30 (60 %) of all planted seeds germinated. Germination rates were, on average, slightly higher in the “treated” hydrochar samples, while the char concentrations did not have an effect on the germination rate (Table 1, Figure 2).
Raphanus sativus reached intermediate germination rates. Between 36 (72 %) and 45 (90 %) of all planted seeds germinated. There were no significant differences between the germination rates in the different hydrochar varieties and concentrations (Table 1, Figure 3).
In summary, it can be stated, that the germination rate of all 3 seed species was neither influenced by the hydrochar variety nor by the char concentration., except for small effects of the hydrochar variety observed for Avena sativa.
The observations made clearly indicate that hydrochar does not have significant effects on the germination rates of seeds. Germination rates were very similar for all char concentrations and for both hydrochar varieties. However, germination rates of Avena sativa seeds were slightly lower in substrates containing untreated char. An explanation could be that there are substances in the hydrochar that can influence the germination rates, but the concentrations of these substances were too low to have stronger effects on the germination rates.
Growth rate
Concerning Lactuca sativa, there were significant differences in the biomass production between the 2 char varieties and the 6 char concentrations. The by far highest biomass production was reached in substrates containing no char at all (9.6 g per 10 plants), while already very low char concentrations of only 1.25 % substantially reduced the biomass production (2.2 and 2.6 g per 10 plants). Biomass production at low char concentrations (1.25 % and 2.5 %) was higher for the untreated (not exposed to weather) hydrochar variety, while at higher char concentrations (5-20 %) the biomass production was higher for the treated (exposed to weather) variety. Higher concentrations (5 % or more) of untreated char almost completely inhibited growth.
Concerning Avena sativa, there were significant differences in the biomass production between the 2 char varieties and the 6 char concentrations. The by far highest biomass production was reached in substrates containing no char at all (4.9 g per 10 plants), while already very low char concentrations of only 1.25 % substantially reduced the biomass production (1.6 and 2.1 g per 10 plants). Biomass production at low char concentrations (1.25 % and 2.5 %) was higher for the untreated hydrochar variety, while at higher char concentrations (5-20 %) the biomass production was higher for the treated variety. Higher concentrations (5 % or more) of untreated char significantly inhibited growth.
Concerning Raphanus sativus, there were significant differences in the biomass production between the 2 char varieties and the 6 char concentrations. The highest biomass production was reached in substrates containing no char at all (4.6 g per 10 plants), while already very low char concentrations of only 1.25 % substantially reduced the biomass production (2.3 and 2.5 g per 10 plants). Biomass production at low char concentrations (1.25 % and 2.5 %) was higher for the untreated hydrochar variety, while at higher char concentrations (5-20 %) the biomass production was higher for the treated variety. Higher concentrations (5 % or more) of untreated char significantly inhibited growth
In summary, it can be stated, that the biomass production of all 3 plant species was by far highest for substrates containing no char at all, while already low char concentrations substantially reduced the biomass production. Effects of growth inhibition were observed for all 3 species for substrates containing 5 % or more of untreated char, while for treated char this effect was not observed. The negative effects of the char on the biomass production were highest for Lactuca sativa and lowest for Raphanus sativus.
The fact that the biomass production of all 3 species was highest in substrates containing no char at all clearly indicates that hydrochar does have strong negative effects on the plant growth, even at very low concentrations of only 1.25 %.
The observed differences in the biomass production between the treated and the untreated hydrochar at char concentrations of 5 % or more confirm that the exposure of the char to weather does reduce negative effects on the plant growth.
These results confirm the observations made in similar studies (e.g. Busch et al. 2013). Hydrochar seems to contain substances that negatively affect the growth of plants. These substances still need to be identified, since the most common substances with a toxic potential (heavy metals, dioxins, furans, PAHs and PCBs) were not responsible (compare D3.1). It was moreover confirmed that the exposure of hydrochar to weather for a certain time reduces the negative effects on plant growth, probably caused by the degradation of the toxic substances.
CSIC-ITQ supported TTZ and TP in this task by analyzing samples and facilitating information on the hydrochar contributing in this way to the interpretation of the obtained results by these NEWAPP partners.
The results of this sub-ask were compiled by ttz in Deliverable 3.1 “Post processing of HTC carbon for high-technological applications”, submitted on March 30th 2016. The reason for this delayed submission is the overall delay in obtaining the carbon samples and the climatic conditions to carry out the germination and growth tests.
3.3.2 HTC process water quality
The main goal of this sub-task was to evaluate the process water quality and its potential re-use and valorization options. The HTC process itself, i.e. the conversion of wet biomass streams into a HTC carbon, does not consume water; in contrast, it produces water by chemical dehydration.
Other steps in the process do however involve the consumption of water, as the production of steam for the heating of the reactor or the halogen reduction post-process. Therefore, water is consumed by the operation of the HTC plant and excess process water is produced, which needs to be handled, re-used and or disposed. While the DoW considered the possibility of identifying organic compounds such as acetic acid, aromatics, aldehydes and furanic and phenolic compounds that could be extracted and valorised, the experience acquired since the proposal preparation from Ingelia and ITQ-CSIC show that the concentration of such components, if found, would be too low for a viable and profitable recovery. Hence the excess process water is submitted to an aerobic treatment in order to decompose unstable process intermediates and achieve a pH above 6. Remaining organic compounds are mainly humic compounds, which could be considered beneficial for agricultural soils. Process water has also been analysed for presence of potential pollutants in the frame of this task.
ttz was in charge of the analysis of the water, and the appraisal of the data received against current legislation and scientific literature for finding out the most adequate use. Due to incompliance with the current regulation, direct application of process water in agricultural fields is not possible. The application of diluted process water would allow to compile with the regulations. The balance of nutrients provided does not fulfill the needs of the studied crops, meaning additional fertilizers would be needed for some compounds, mainly N and P. Hence, the attractiveness of the agricultural use of HTC process water seem to be more on the reclaimed use of the water in water-scarce regions, than in its nutrient composition.
Since the first application to explore for the process water is fertigation in agricultural fields, persistent organic pollutants (POP) were selected, since they will have the highest environmental and health hazard.Literature on POPs in the potential feedstocks was screened, as to identify pollutants that could come into the system with the feedstock. This literature search included El-Sahawi et al (2010), K.T. Semple et at (2001), Rogers (1996), Paxéus (1995), Düring and Gäth (2002), Palmu (2011), Wang et al (2010), ADEME (1995) as well as the Stockhold Convention (2001). The following families of POCs were selected:
-Clorophenols and chlorobenzenes
-PAHs and Clorinated PAHs
-PCBs.
-Clorinated PAHs
-Dioxines
-Pesticides
From the 677 POCs that were analysed, only 8 were detected in the process water sample, mainly chlorophenols. This is consistent with the literature, which had already identified phenols formation in HTC. Although the chemistry of the reaction is not totally known, chlorophenols formation could be linked to the relatively high Cl content in green waste. The obtained results have been crossed checked with the pollutants analysed in the hydrochar in the frame of Chapter 3, finding no correlation. Further research is needed to confirm is these identified pollutants generally occur in HTC, if they come in with the biomass feedstock of if they are formed in the HTC process. Other authors suggest that organic pollutants are degraded through HTC (Weiner et all 2013).
The results of this sub-ask were compiled by ttz in Deliverable 3.1 “Post processing of HTC carbon for high-technological applications”, submitted on March 30th 2016. The reason for this delayed submission is the overall delay in obtaining the carbon samples and the climatic conditions to carry out the germination and growth tests.
Work package 4: Technology assessment and business plan development
Task 4.1 Life Cycle Assessment and cost-benefit analysis
Task leader: DTU
Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak, from DTU expanded the LCA model, in agreement with Ingelia and ACR+, by: (i) assessing environmental performance of HTC at full commercial scale with 2 and 4 reactors (in addition to pilot scale operation with 1 reactor that was promised in the DoW); (ii) adding LCA-based comparison of HTC with alternative waste treatment options, including anaerobic digestion, incineration and ladfilling (in addition to compositing that was promised in the DoW). In addition, Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak contributed to cost-benefit analysis of hydrochar used as soil conditioner. Mr. Morten Ryberg from DTU contributed to the comparison of HTC with alternative waste treament options by interpreting resuts and identifying environemntal hot-spots in respective treatment technologies. The resources to cover the aforementioned tasks are those assigned originally to WP3, and it was agreed between TTZ and DTU that tasks originally assigned to DTU in WP3 will be covered by TTZ.
Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak finalized the LCA model of hydrochar used as soil conditioner for carbon sequestration. (Note that most of the work in WP4 was carried out in RP1).
CSIC-ITQ collaborated actively in the life cycle assessment and the cost benefit analysis. CSIC-ITQ provided all required data on the NEWAPP trial related to chemical analysis. In particular CSIC-ITQ carried out detailed analysis on the gaseous effluents and confirmed the presence of furan in this effluent. LCA had attributed a negative impact in one of the impact categories. As a consequence, the HTC process was improved by conducting the effluents to the boiler combusting the furan and eliminating this emission.
Bvse collaborated win the discussion of various suggestions made from the participants of NEWAPP due to the Life Cycle Assessment, LCA, of HTC-hydrochar were performed. A special of NEWAPP was the processing of bio-sludges, rich in water contents. LCAs of various biomasses were reviewedFrom ACR+, Mr Dohogne, Ms Bonnet, Ms Labriga, and Ms Spasova gave significant input to this task by discussing the results obtained with DTU and by suggesting to also comparing HTC to other Waste Management options. EUBIA monitored the LCA and cost benefits analysis results, providing a review of the achieved goals and comparing them with the present technologies currently used for organic waste treatment in Europe.
Task 4.2 Definition of quality standards for innovative technologies for the reuse of waste biomass
ttz, with the support from the rest of the partners, compiled and prepared the quality standards. From the several potential products studied in NEWAPP project, the most promising has been found to be solid fuel. To support the use of HTC carbon as a solid fuel, they focus on a proposal for a new product standard in Europe. Other working groups are working in standards applicable for to HTC solid fuels, and hence synergies have been sought for to maximize the outreach and relevance of the results and work developed in NEWAPP in this task.
As background, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Technical committee 238 (ISO/TC 238) has started to draft an international product standard for torrefied pellets and briquettes made from woody and non-woody (herbaceous, fruit and aquatic biomass) in February 2013. The European and International Standard will be developed in parallel, hence the standard will be published in Europe as EN ISO 17225-8 “Graded thermally treated and densified biomass fuels”. Thermal treatment includes processes such as torrefaction, steam treatment (explosion pulping), hydrothermal carbonization and charring, all of which represent different exposure to heat, oxygen, steam and water. Hence, this standard will be the reference for solid fuel HTC products. In order to ensure that all findings from NEWAPP project reflect in the standard, D 4.2 includes the definitions and quality tables that reflect the project’s research and results, required for a successful marketability of the obtained high quality NEWAPP products. Data and results from NEWAPP have been provided to the German standardization body contact point, Daniela Thrän from DBFZ, and the ISO 238 working group contact point Eija Alakangas from VVT (Finland), and the Spanish contact point at AENOR. INGELIA participating in AENOR’s ISO standardization committee TC238 in Work Group 2, this document has been presented in the last committee meeting in April 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.
CSIC-ITQ collaborated actively to the completion of this task. CSIC-ITQ also contributed by providing regular analyses data. CSIC-ITQ searched for laboratories specialized in the analysis of contaminants and sent samples for analysis. CSIC-ITQ carried out analysis on hydrochar and process water (e.g. heavy metals) to acquire necessary information for the quality standards. The corresponding analyses were not foreseen in the DoW and, therefore, a budget shift from the prototype to consumables within RTD activities of CSIC-ITQ was required.
ACR+ and bvse participated actively in the discussion of suggestions concerning the definition of quality standards for innovative bio-technologies. In addition, the evaluation of chemical parameters, which limit the use of biomass in biosphere was discussed. Since a special of NEWAPP was the processing of bio-sludges rich in water contents, it was found, that the main parameters of concern were the halogen contents, i.e. bromine and chlorine, as well as the heavy metal contents. Legal standards are settled in the European Waste Framework Directive, EU 1774/2002 and EU 1069/2009. In Germany, legal framework is settled in the Bioabfallverordnung, the Klärschlammverordnung, the Düngemittelverordnung, the Düngegesetz and the Düngeverordnung. Furthermore, the evaluation of HTC-hydrochar – short-term, medium-term and long-term was discussed. Here, positive results for water retention capacity and water storage by biaohar and hydrochar were obtained. Moreover, first results HTC-char application show no negative influence on N2O-emissions. Furthermore, positive effects were expected from biochar and hydrochar, which include CO2 minimizing energy production, soil amendment and C-sequestration. Up to now, some studies on the soil amendment properties of HTC-char showed negative effects of plant growing.
EUBIA contributed to this task by identifying the most interesting quality standards for the integration of char as fuel in the EU market. In particular, EUBIA also investigated the present potentials of new standardisation programmes for the application of biochar and hydrochar as soil conditioner in different EU countries. The standardization bodies included in EUBIA study are ASTM, CEN, ISO.
Task 4.3 Business plan and patent research for the implementation of reuse options for wet waste biomass
ttz carried out a preliminary analysis of different business models related to waste treatment with HTC. After the initial considerations and after presenting and discussing them with the rest of the partners, it was agreed with all SMEs and associations to focus on the case of a municipality with a population of 60,000 using HTC as the mean to treat their waste. This decision was made after discussing with Ingelia their experience in the field and recent business developments. Additional information was provided by ACR+ and bvse. A municipality in Europe with this population produces annually, in average, 225 kg of wet biomass per capita. There are some technologies currently treating these wastes, mainly incineration and composting which have some problems: high costs, waste of energy (incineration), low profit, and huge amount of areas needed (compost). HTC represents a better and more efficient way to treat these residues, which follows the circular and green economy, as well as the European energy and environmental policies.
The business plan includes the simulation of the performance of a 4-reactor HTC plant with a capacity of 21,840 tons of wet bio-waste per year. The plant is estimated will have a lifetime expectancy of 20 years. During this 20 years of operation, it will treat not only the whole wastes from the municipality but also, for some periods of time, the residues from the neighbouring small municipalities. Treating a total of approximately 450,000 tons of wet biomass including parks and gardens, markets wastes, kitchen residues, digestate, and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste.
The payback year of the 4-reactor HTC plant is achieved in the 5.5 year. After that each year has an EBITDA of 856,945 euros per year. Having a total profit, during the 20 years, of almost 5 million euros.
The business plan compares HTC treatment with other six technologies for the treatment of these wastes: incineration, composting and anaerobic digestion, among others, as these are the most widespread technologies and therefore, HTC’s direct competitors. It also shows the comparison between different fuels for domestic heat stoves. EUBIA reviewed the business plan and contributed to its implementation by providing information and data on the present market situation and competing technologies currently in place in Europe. Business plan results have been used by EUBIA to assess the potential market development of the Industrial HTC technology investigated by NEWAPP project.
CSIC-ITQ collaborated actively in the discussion of the business plan and provided required information on the technical data.
Johannes Schräder and Dr. Thomas Probst, from bvse was in charge of carrying out the patent search in various databases. These were the German Patent Office (DEPATISnet), the European Patent Office (EPO), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as well as the Google Patent Search. The patent search, here search terms were „hydrothermal carbonisation“, „hydrothermal carbonization“, „hydrochar“ and „vapothermal carbonization“, revealed a total amount of 150 patents concerning hydrothermal carbonization. Vapothermal carbonization, an HTC-similar process, revealed only one strike. The patents were classified in the six different categories, listed in the NEWAPP proposal. Furthermore, various charts to show the results of the patent search were created and discussed. However, it has to be pointed out, that there are various definitions of the terms „hydrochar“ and „biochar“. Hence, a further search query with the term “biochar” revealed a total amount of over 700 patents. These biochar patents were not included in the patent search. Ingelia, Terra Preta and EUBIA revised the deliverable draft and contributed with their knowledge of the sectors to cover all relevant results. The results were compiled and analysed and collected in deliverable 4.3 “Update on the patent situation”.
Work package 5: Demonstration of project results
Task 5.1: Long term demonstration and adaptation
Task leader: ACR+, EUBIA
Ingelia carried out the long-term demonstration of HTC in the operation of the pilot plant, and maintains its Náquera pilot plant in operation as a showcase for municipal green waste. Ingelia’s plant is receiving visits from different stakeholders and organization to show and demonstrate the application of HTC process.Ingelia is arranging Ingelia contunes at the date of writing, to operate the pilot plant and offer the opportunity of arranging visits to interested stakeholders as continuing demonstration efforts beyond the project energy sector for combustion and gasification, in collaboration with WPS, a brokerage consultancy with expertise in this sector.
EUBIA supported the demonstration activity by fostering members and stakeholders from different EU regions to visit the plant during its continuous operational activity in order to show the reliability of the technology for large amount of wet biomass processing. At ACR+, Ms Bonnet, Ms Labriga, and Ms Spasova supported the RTD partners for the long term analysis of the potential of HTC biomass treatment and HTC carbon sequestration. Ms Labriga and Ms Spasova furthermore helped Ingelia and ITQ in organising visits of interested stakeholders to the test site, such as the site visit that was combined with the second workshop, held on 6 March 2015 in Valencia. bvse supported the task advertising the events among their members.
DTU contributed to the demonstration workshops providing additional information on the work performd in previous WPs: Mr. Mikolaj Owsianiak contributed to the assessment of long-term performance of the HTC technology by providing sets of recommendations for the technology developers on how to optimize the technology further in the context of environmental performance when the technology is scaled up to the full commercial scale in the long-term and (ii) recommendations on how optimize environmental performance of HTC carbon when used as either solid fuel or soil conditioner with carbon sequestration value. In addition, Mr. Owsianiak identified environmental improvement potentials of the technology by highlighting the need for avoiding of potentially toxic emissions from the HTC reactor, minimizing the use of energy as one of the most important parameters determine the overall sustainability performance of the technology. ttz followed the same strategy, providing information of the performance of HTC coal as a soil amendment and, later in the project, about the business model developed for municipalities using HTC as a means to treat their waste. CSIC-ITQ supported Ingelia at the on-site demonstration events and in meetings with interested stakeholders.
Task 5.2: Demonstration workshops
Ingelia hosted the demonstration workshops at the pilot plant, scheduling the plant operation and providing the attendees with all necessary explanations.
CSIC-ITQ participated actively in five demonstration workshops. Four of them were open to the general public: two in Valencia, one in Lucca, Italy and one in Vienna (EUBCE). CSIC-ITQ co-organized the two workshops in Valencia together with Ingelia. The venues were the campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) near to the CSIC-ITQ building, for initial explanations and discussions, and the Ingelia pilot plant in Náquera. Furthermore, CSIC-ITQ organized a special course for Master students of the UPV including a plant visit.
EUBIA co-organized and participated in three demonstration workshops, presenting the project and contributing to train stakeholders regarding the current framework of organic material valorisation in Europe. Additionally, EUBIA contributed to the dissemination and organization of the workshops by contacting more than 2000 persons including researchers, SMEs representatives and authorities.From ACR+, Ms Labriga and Ms Voltz, co-organised several of the demonstration workshops in the course of the project. The workshops held were:
- Workshop 1: Valencia/Náquera (ES), 13 November 2014
- Workshop 2: Valencia/Náquera (ES), 6 March 2015
- Workshop 3: Lucca (IT), 26 March 2015
- Workshop 4: Vienna (AT), 4 June 2015
- Workshop 5: Valencia/Náquera (ES), 9 March 2016
- Workshop 6: Brussels (BE), 12 April 2016
- Workshop 7: Berlin (DE), 14 April 2016
- Workshop 8: Copertino (IT), 29 April 2016
All details on these demonstration workshops can be found in D5.1 Assessment of overall long-term performance and demonstration workshops, prepared by ACR+ and submitted on 29.04.2016.
Potential Impact:
The project NEWAPP has had as a focal point strengthening the competitiveness of the participating SME-AGs active in the bio-waste treatment sector in Europe. The introduction of novel and cost-effective technology in this sector will capture the attention of European SMEs who have a leading role in the bio-waste treatment market. The European bio-waste handling market is nowadays experiencing a great challenge due to the numerous EC directives restricting the ways bio-waste is disposed. The demand for innovative and cost-effective ways for reuse rises every year. However, waste and managers lack adequate and innovative technologies for efficient bio-waste reuses allowing for the production of high-value products with steady quality.
HTC as a bio-waste management and recycling technology will have a positive impact on bio-waste producers and handlers as they will clearly benefit from:
• higher cost efficiency due to the HTC system and the savings in which it results
• securing the efficient wet bio-waste stream disposal through HTC and producing high-value products after HTC carbon sequestration process
• meeting present and future regulatory requirements set by the EC waste disposal and handling directives
Another SME group that was anticipated would benefit from HTC are the producers of relevant high-value products (Li/Na batteries, electrodes, etc.). These SMEs will be able to make commercial use of the generated know-how. However, as it has been seen through the work in the project, these aspects of HTC need to be further researched and optimized before reaching their full market potential. All SME IAGs have high interest in the development of the HTC bio-waste treatment technology as well as on the HTC carbon sequestration process and the possibility of having high-value carbon products and their immediate market implementation. HTC has proven to be a valuable tool also for municipalities and agriculture: the main producers of wet biomass waste streams can benefit from the technology that will turn these wastes into a product that can be directly used at the same premises as energy carrier.
Economic Impact for SME-AG beneficiaries and their members:
After 30 months of work, the SME-AGs EUBIA, bvse and ACR+ are the owners of the property rights for the developed high-value carbon products, the optimization of HTC and the standards generated in the project. The efforts spent in training have resulted in a group of professionals trained in the insights of a novel technology that has a huge potential in the coming years. All consortium partners will profit from the knowledge gained about possible risks or optimisation/decision paths to the developed in the work plan technology. Those will guide future technology optimizations and implementations, plus direct market applications of existing technologies in their most suitable fields. Additionally, NEWAPP results will support and contribute for expanding international guidelines on safe and efficient wet bio-waste streams reuse in the European waste sector.
As the work plan of NEWAPP is focusing only on the 5 most promising waste streams for running the HTC process and obtaining high-value carbon products afterwards, further demonstration will be essential to verify the economics of the technology and to expand even further the consumer’s acceptance. It is already anticipated that after the completion of the project the participating associations will keep the exploitation of project results demonstration to their members via different programs. In addition, the partners have cooperated in establishing permanent links to continue the training beyond the project‘s lifetime, as in the booklet, which is available to the general public for free. As a measure of the interest generated by this result, it has been downloaded 181 times in the 17 days it has been available, since its upload to the preparation of the present report. The partners anticipate it will have a great impact in the waste management sector, including academia.
The European sectors and markets addressed by NEWAPP
HTC has the potential to impact a large number of sectors. From producers of these wastes to managers and end-users, the benefits would affect a large number of European SMEs while providing a solution to a pressing environmental problem shared by all Member States.
Results obtained in the proyect are ready to be implemented under real-life conditions. Indeed, the work carried out in the project, together with the large efforts carried out by Ingelia, have resulted in new compromises and contracts to build new HTC plants in Italy, a first step that illustrates hpw suitable this technology is, and how relevan was NEWAPP from themoment of its conception.
HTC has the advantage that its products will not require a reorientation of existing businesses, as the developed blueprints for waste streams provided by NEWAPP are scalable. Furthermore, NEWAPP addresses several steps in the waste value chain as it takes in consideration producers and managers, keeping the perspective of delivering an innovative product that is competitive in the current market.
One of the results obtained has been the development of a set of quality standards for innovative technologies for the reuse of waste biomass. The biomass sector is nowadays hindered by the heterogeneity of the raw materials and technologies. This yields a great range of qualities in the final products obtained, and an insecure market. The quality standards will allow the end users to have a competitive advantage for the beneficiaries and their members against other competitors.
Furthermore, based on its innovative features, it is expected that the NEWAPP technology has an enormous potential for the European waste sector addressed. Implementing the results provided will allow European farmers to improve the way bio-waste is handled which will ultimately lead to a substantial reduction in waste disposal costs, producing of new high-value carbon products, and thus higher revenues for them. NEWAPP has in this area also reached results beyond the foreseen at the proposal preparation, and has collaborated actively with the ISO task in charge for a standard on HTC and torrefaction products. The impact of this is huge, as it means that the recommendations developed during the project are currently being considered tob e included in the next ISO standard.
Impact of in its NEWAPP SME-AG and SME participants
EUBIA, as the main European association of biomass producers, has as a duty to its members to provide frequent updates on the State-of-the-Art of biomass transformation, and HTC is, as it has been demonstrated in NEWAPP, a technology with a great potential in this area. EUBIA has been able to enlarge its existing work on biochar, build its capacities and establish themselves firmly in the HTC scene. This has resulted in an increase in members, attracted by the work in the project and therefore, an increase in revenues.
The impact of NEWAPP in ACR+ has been building the capacity of its staff in HTC as a waste treatment, which will be transmitted to their members: mayors and municipalities commited to achieving higher sustainability in european cities. In this sense, ACR+ has been actively pursuing the training of this group of stakeholders already during the project, which have led to several of their members considering HTC as an option for their waste disposal. The business plan prepared in the project will be further used for this purpose, due to the fact that the SME AGs own also the files and calculators used by the RTDs for the preparation of this result.
For bvse, participating in the project will have the impact of staying at the forefront of technological developments. This is especially important, as Germany hosts already a vibrant HTC sector, and their knowledge has already attracted new members. Having participated in the projcet gives bvse an advantage also for their members, similar to that achieved by EUBIA. It is anticipated that bvse will continue training its members in the results of NEWAPP after its completion.
For Terra Preta, NEWAPP has provided important insight on a potential ally and competitor: HTC coal is regarded as a potential substitute for biochar. The knowledge gained by Terra Preta in the project will enable them better decision-making with regard to theis product catalogue and ingredients used in their products and their marketing strategy. Although the project has demonstrated that „raw“ HTC coal could have adverse effects on planth growth, with an adequate post-treatment it would be a suitable and cheaper substitute of biochar.
Finally, Ingelia has been the host of the project’s pilot plant and has received first-hand training by the RTDs on the different parts of the HTC process as they have been dealt with in the project. During the project, and as a result of its engagement, Ingelia has expanded its operations Europe-wide greatly, with new plants planned in Italy, and promising developments in other EU countries and beyond. In this sense, NEWAPP has exceeded the expectations of knowledge transfer and increase in revenues. Specifically, the results obtained in those WPs dealing with the process and the plant have opened new business pathways (re-use of the water, pelletizing) for Ingelia that were not reachable before the project started.
Main dissemination activities:
NEWAPP has implemented a powerful dissemination strategy in which the obtained knowledge is transferred directly from RTDs to SME-AGs and from SME-AGs to SMEs and end-users. The SME-AGs within NEWAPP have an overall potential dissemination range of more than 10 000 end-users. BVSE alone is one of the biggest German associations on waste management and recycling. ACR+ and EUBIA belong to the most important professional international organizations which additionally extends the project range Europe-wide. The work plan prepared for NEWAPP comprises a dissemination strategy under WP7, which ensures effective transfer and exploitation of progress, results and knowledge gained within the project, beyond the training workshops for SME-AGs and their members (part of WP6).
The success of NEWAPP, being a project for SME associations is strongly dependent on well-coordinated dissemination and exploitation activities. The individual dissemination activities aim at achieving the best possible spreading of the project results and to establish cooperation among local municipalities, researchers and technical SMEs.
The project’s dissemination activities have focused on fostering the implementation of the new NEWAPP system among companies in the waste sector – both within existing facilities aiming to optimise their processes and new systems with the latest state-of-the-art.
Activities and target groups:
In order to assure appropriate dissemination during and after its duration, raise awareness and assure the continuity of the achievements beyond, the dissemination strategy considers the following target groups:
▪ Companies working in the solid waste sector, which could improve the efficiency of their processes by the implementation of the new NEWAPP technology
▪ Municipalities, the end user and clients of these companies
▪ General public: Given the role played by public opinion concerning waste, it is important to consider the general public as a target group of the NEWAPP plan, raising awareness of advantages of the NEWAPP technology in relation to
▪ Researchers, aiming at the exchange of knowledge and results to achieve a faster development of the technology
▪ Standardization agencies and initiatives, working already in including HTC coal in their norms. The efforts have been focused in this case in aligning the NEWAPP standards with future standards
The dissemination activities undertaken during the project aim at ensuring that the results are disseminated as swiftly as possible, with EUBIA being responsible for assuring that they are compatible with the protection of intellectual property rights, confidentiality obligations and the legitimate interests of the SMEs and SME associations.
The general dissemination instruments for the presentation of the project activities and expected results include:
• a web page, http://NEWAPP-project.eu
• a project handout
• Press releases published in generalist media
• Appearances in radio or television outlets
The specific dissemination activities consist of the following activities:
• Including the project in the websites and/or newsletters of the partners
• Advertisement of the project at the SMEs and via institutions supporting the activities of this sector such as chambers of commerce, the relevant ministry of enterprise, as well as any industrial association they might belong to
• Promotion on specialised trade fairs
• Publications in specialised magazines, according to the SME's business, market and target groups.
• Scientific publications: The RTD performers will submit any scientific paper prepared on the work performed in the project to the SMEs, and will request their consent to publication before its submission for review.
The following sentence has been added to all publications developed under NEWAPP, as well as the project’s website: “The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by RES – Research Executive Agency (FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 605178”
Dissemination policy
The partners in the consortium have identified dissemination activities as necessary for the successful completion of the project, and have sought not only participating in events such as conferences and fairs, but also to present the project to their business partners. These contacts are not reflected in the tables for dissemination events due to their informal nature.
Even though dissemination of the project objectives and results is an objective for the partners, each beneficiary is aware of the restrictions in terms of disclosing confidential foreground.
Dissemination activities including but not restricted to publications and presentations shall be governed by Article II.30 of the Grant Agreement. In the case of a party objecting a publication has to show that its legitimate interests will suffer disproportionately great harm and shall include a request for necessary modifications.
In order to avoid conflict, a party may not publish foreground or background of another party, even if such foreground or background is amalgamated with the party’s foreground, without the other party’s prior approval. Any data which is to remain secret should be cleared labelled as confidential. Parties agree to abide by the default notice period foreseen in the grant agreement to communicate their planned dissemination activities with a notice at least 45 days prior along with sufficient information about the intended dissemination.
In the final meeting the partners have agreed on continuing the dissemination activities once the project is over, both attending to events (fairs, conferences) where the results of the project can be showcased, and meetings at the Ingelia plant, where the prototype can be used in demonstration workshops and meetings. The booklet, available online, will be promoted as a high-quality and long-lasting training and dissemination tool after the project ends.
• Scientific publications:
• ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION OF FOUR WET BIOMASS WASTE STREAMS AT PILOT- AND FULL-COMMERCIAL SCALE
Mikolaj Owsianiak, Morten Ryberg, Michael Renz, Martin Hitzl, Michael Hauschild
• LIFE-CYCLE BASED EVALUATION OF HYDROCHAR APPLICATION TO SOIL AS A POTENTIAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
Mikolaj Owsianiak, Jennifer Brooks, Alexis Laurent
• LIFE-CYCLE BASED COMPARISON OF HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION OF FOUR WET BIOMASS WASTE STREAMS WITH ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT OPTIONS
Mikolaj Owsianiak, Morten Ryberg
• Fuel and chemicals from wet lignocelulosic biomass waste streams by hydrothermal carbonization
Pedro Burguete et. Al. Green Chemistry, 2016, 8. P.1051-1060
• Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for valorizaiton of food waste. M. Renz et al, presentation at the 3rd International Symposium on Green Chemistry, May 3-7 2015 La Rochelle, France
• Production of a solid fuel from garden prunings, food waste, OFMSW, digestate and sewage sludge on pilot plat scale, M. Renz et. Al, oral presentation at the 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
• Poster presentation at the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference, Berlin, Germany,
03/06/2016–06/06/2016
• NEWAPP, estudio de la valorización de residuos alimentarios a través de carbonización hidrotermal (HTC), Retema: Revista técnica de medio ambiente, ISSN 1130-9881, Año nº 27, Nº 179, 2014, págs. 6-7
Expected exploitation:
The partners started discussing the need for patenting the results obtained from the end of the test season until the end of the project. In the discussion about IPR issues in the final meeting, all SMEs agreed on the following points, as collected in the final meeting’s minutes:
The partners in the consortium have identified dissemination activities as necessary for the successful completion of the project, and have sought not only participating in events such as conferences and fairs, but also to present the project to their business partners. These contacts are not reflected in the tables for dissemination events due to their informal nature.
Even though dissemination of the project objectives and results is an objective for the partners, each beneficiary is aware of the restrictions in terms of disclosing confidential foreground.
The partners will not pursue any joint protection action (patent).
Dissemination activities including but not restricted to publications and presentations shall be governed by Article II.30 of the Grant Agreement. In the case of a party objecting a publication has to show that its legitimate interests will suffer disproportionately great harm and shall include a request for necessary modifications. In order to avoid conflict, a party may not publish foreground or background of another party, even if such foreground or background is amalgamated with the party’s foreground, without the other party’s prior approval. Any data which is to remain secret should be cleared labelled as confidential. Parties agree to abide by the default notice period foreseen in the grant agreement to communicate their planned dissemination activities with a notice at least 45 days prior along with sufficient information about the intended dissemination.
In the final meeting the partners have agreed on continuing the dissemination activities once the project is over, both attending to events (fairs, conferences) where the results of the project can be showcased, and meetings at Lempe, where the prototype can be used in demonstration workshops and meetings.
A session of the final meeting was dedicated to future dissemination events, and the partners have prepared a list of events where the objectives and results of the project can be explained to potential clients. A preliminary list of actions and comprises the references below:
- Integration of the booklet in existing training programs at the SME-AGs
- Presentation of the booklet at the EUBCE conference in Amsterdam in June 2016
- 5. Mitteleuropäische Biomassekonferenz, Graz, Austria, January 2017
- 2nd World Bioenergy Congress and Expo, Madrid, Spain , June 2017
- Conference on Energy efficiency and Renewable Energy, April 2016 ,Sofia, Bulgaria
- 2nd Euro Global Summit and Expo on Biomass, Brussels, Belgium, August 2017
- Presentations at fairs (IFAT, TERRATEC, etc)
The RTDs have also expressed their compromise to further dissemination using the basic materials prepared during the project (leaflets, PowerPoint presentation)
List of Websites:
www.newapp-project.eu
European Biomass Industry Association
Rond Point Schuman, 6
B-1040 Brussels
administration@eubia.org
www.eubia.org
Lisa Labriga - ACR+
Project Manager
Avenue d'Auderghem 63 · B-1040 Brussels · Belgium
T+32 2 234 65 06 · F+ 32 2 234 65 01
ll@acrplus.org · www.acrplus.org
DDr. Thomas Probst, Dipl.-Chem. Univ - bvse - Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V.
Hohe Straße 73, DE 53119 Bonn
Tel.: 0049.228.98849-20 Tel.: 0049.228.98849-0
Fax: 0049.228.98849-99
Internet: http://www.bvse.de E-Mail: probst@bvse.de
TERRA PRETA GmbH
Vertriebsbüro Akazienstraße 28, 10823 Berlin
Sitz: Gustav-Müller-Straße 1, 10829 Berlin
Tel +49 30 78711909 | Mobil +49 173 2339156
www.terra-preta.de | dk@terrapreta.de
Martin Hitzl- Technical director, Ingelia
www.ingelia.com Tel.: +34 963 814 447
C/ Jaime Roig 19 Móvil: +34 657 837 038
E-46010 Valencia martin.hitzl@ingelia.com
Michael Renz
Instituto de Tecnología Química
Universitat Politècnica de València – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Avda. de los Naranjos s/n
46022 Valencia, España
Mikolaj Owsianiak - DTU
miow@dtu.dk
Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, MAN-QSA
DTU Management Engineering
Technical University of Denmark
Department of Management Engineering
Produktionstorvet
Building 426, room 105
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Phone +45 4525 4660