WASTE2BIO project - From the organic fraction of the MSW to bioethanol through the PERSEO process
The management of the vast quantities of
municipal solid wastes (MSW) that we generate daily is one of the major
environmental challenges of our society. Many are the initiatives and projects
that are being initiated to transform waste into resources following the
premises of the circular economy. Taking advantage of the recent news about the
launch of the project WASTE2BIO, we are going to approach to an interesting
proposal to valorize the organic fraction of the MSW.
PERSEO Bioethanol® process
PERSEO Bioethanol® is an innovating technology, developed by IMECAL, to transform the organic fraction of
the MSW into ethanol and an organic solid of high heating power able to
generate thermal and electric energy (CHP) or biomethane and biofertilizer
(anaerobic digestion).
IMECAL started the PERSEO project in 2003 with
the cooperation of CIEMAT, Ford España and different scientific teams
nationally and internationally. Three years after, IMECAL built a pilot plant
in its L´Alcúdia facilities. The plant had the purpose of validate and
demonstrate the process and determine its profitability at preindustrial scale.
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the PERSEO
Bioethanol® process (courtesy of IMECAL)
The demonstration plant is fitted with the
reactors, fermenters, separation and distillation units required to obtain
bioethanol from the organic fraction of the MSW. It also has analytical support
labs. The process is designed to work continually and comprise the following
stages:
1. The feedstock is subjected to a pretreatment
to remove the inert materials contained in the organic fraction of the MSW,
such as stones, plastics, metals, glasses…
2. Through thermochemical hydrolysis with
diluted acid, cellulose and hemicellulose are solubilized.
3 After the hydrolysis of the substrate, a simultaneous
saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process is carried out. The
saccharification of the cellulose and the fermentation of the glucose to ethanol
happen in the same fermenter, adding enzymes, yeasts and nutrients to the
efficient conversion of sugar into ethanol. Enzymes are provided by Novozymes.
4. The broth obtained is distillated and
dehydrated to concentrate the ethanol produced by fermentation.
During the demonstration stage, improvements
have been implemented in the process and the pilot plant. The processing capacity
has been increased until reaching 25 tons per day with yields of bioethanol conversion higher than 75%. The
technology is totally compatible with existing MSW treatment plants and it is
possible to deploy it before incineration, anaerobic digestion and composting,
due to its compact modular design. In this way, waste treatment value chain
grows and the economical results of the management improve.
Currently, studies are being performed to include
the process in MSW facilities at industrial level. Moreover, IMECAL is
participating in projects intending to take the process to the next level. One
of them is the WASTE2BIO project that will be introduced in the following
section. The other one is URBIOFIN project (BBI JU 2016, DEMO) that will be
launched soon. In both projects, investments will be made to improve the
existing plant and introduce new modules for the integral valorization of the
wastes.
The WASTE2BIO project
The WASTE2BIO project started last month with
the kick-off meeting held in the IMECAL facilities. Main data about the project
are summarized in the next table.
Name
|
Valorization
of urban WASTEs TO new generation of BIOethanol (WASTE2BIO)
|
Objective
|
To demonstrate
and validate a global process of energy recovery from the organic fraction of
the MSW through its transformation into bioethanol (PERSEO Bioethanol® process)
and biogas, decreasing the energetic cost and the impact during its
treatment.
|
Call
|
ERA-NET
Cofund Bioenergy Sustaining the Future 3 (BESTF3) of H2020
|
Partnership
|
IMECAL (Spain)
EXERGY Ldt. (UK)
Unidad de Procesos
Biotecnológicos - IMDEA Energía (Spain)
Unidad de Biocarburantes -
CIEMAT (Spain)
|
Expected impact
|
It is expected that the costs related to the
MSW management diminish in a 20% comparing to conventional treatments, at the
same time the volume of wastes sent to landfill are reduced by the
valorization in bioethanol, biogas and biofertilizers.
|
Duration
|
3 years
|
Acknowledgements: I would like to express my appreciation to Caterina Coll (CFO and Innovation Manager at IMECAL) for her kind collaboration.
