Undifferentiated waste material is delivered to an enclosed, negative pressure air flow receiving area equipped with a bio filter to prevent odor from spreading outside the facility.
Waste is coarsely ground and loaded into a powerful press extrusion process where it is squeezed through a high pressure machine and converted into wet fraction and dry fraction – the whole procedure consumes less than 12 KWh per ton of waste.
During the press process, the organic waste is separated from the dry components without additional grinding, in order to preserve the quality of the organic matter.
The wet fraction, or organic material gel (OMG), is sent from the press extrusion process to the software controlled biodigestion phase where it is converted into biogas.
The biodigestion phase is comprised of two systems:
- high loading rate continuous flow stationary biodigestors (parallel coupled or in a series)
- medium loading rate continuous flow biodigestors
Thanks to advancements in process design and software controlled technology, we have successfully optimized the biodigestion process rendering it even more efficient and productive: higher efficiency = more recycled energy.
Our stainless steel biodigestors have a carefully studied coefficient of shape designed to enhance surface contact with bacteria and prevent against material compression. To further preserve the quality of the organic material, and therefore ensure a continuous biogas production.
The resulting biogas from the biodigestion process is then purified and dried, before being sent to the cogeneration engines where it is converted into electric and thermic energy.
The dry fraction from the press extrusion process is further sorted of to remove all recyclable materials: glass, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and inert materials — which can be sent to recycling centers for further processing.The remaining dry material, called RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel: 3000/4000 kcal/kg), is sent to the VLE (Very Low Emission) Steam Boiler to produce huge amounts of electrical energy and/or steam.
This technology derives from the evolution of the traditional technology in waste treatment, developed with the specific aim of finding low environmental impact solutions.
Furtthermore, the VLE technology gives an answer for the urgent need to convert numerous materials (RDF, medical waste, biomass, industrial waste) into electrical energy and/or steam in the best environmentally friendly way available so far.
See also:
ROI
Energy Application
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