Brussels, July 13, 2023. Global Omnium’s technical team showcased their recent advancements and results at the 6th IWA International Conference on Eco-Technologies for Wastewater Treatment held in Girona.
The team’s progress mainly focuses on the development of the artificial intelligence component of their tool, which is based on machine learning. This work was presented at the conference, and they expect to complete the tool’s implementation in the coming weeks, followed by its validation in the pilot plant.
One of the highlights of their research, authored by María José Tárrega, Carlos Lafita, and Daniel Aguado from UPV, is the advancement “Prediction of methane production of co-digestion of pig manure in WWTP based on metabolic and machine learning models.” Due to the growing concern surrounding the significant volume of pig manure production, anaerobic digestion is being employed as a method to obtain high-energy gas, such as biogas. This work applies metabolic models that reliably reproduce methane production through the anaerobic degradation of pig manure, despite the complexity of the operations involved.
Under the leadership of María José Tárrega, Carlos Lafita, Pau Granell, and Tatiana Montoya, the second advancement “Effect of temperature on the kinetics of methane production in the co-digestion of manure and agri-food waste in WWTP” enhances energy costs in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) account for 25-40% of the total operating costs. Consequently, the LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 project aims to develop a tool that enables process control and the addition of co-substrates (agri-food waste and/or manure) to meet the energy requirements of the WWTPs. This tool is based on the modeling of the co-digestion process to simulate different scenarios for achieving desired methane production levels to satisfy WWTP’s energy needs. The results demonstrate that the optimal operating temperature for the degradation of both waste types is 38 °C, leading to the degradation of 88% and 73% of the agri-food waste and manure, respectively.
Global Omnium continues to drive innovation in the field of wastewater treatment, leveraging advanced technologies to address the challenges associated with sustainable energy production and waste management. Together with them, at LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 we continue to join efforts to launch project phases that allow real action in the green transition.
About LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0
This is a pilot demonstration project, funded by LIFE Programme and with a budget of more than 970,000 euros, which generates biogas in sewage treatment plant digesters by mixing organic waste (pig manure and agri-food industry waste) and sewage sludge, thus transforming them into green energy through technology. The initiative led by Global Omnium, (Spain), in collaboration with the Finnova Foundation (Belgium) and Águas do Centro Litoral (Portugal) aims to become the most versatile digestion control tool on the market, achieving environmental and economic benefits through the production of biogas by making optimal use of waste. Thanks to this technology, it favours the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment processes, thus achieving a positive impact on the environment. This programme is easily scalable with other funds such as FEDER, NextGenerationEU or Repower EU.
About Global Omnium
Global Omnium is a business group of national and international reference,specialized in the different processes that have to do with the Integral Water Cycle, developing multiple complementary business lines that create synergies for the optimization of water resources, in addition to waste treatment.
It currently provides coverage to 5.5 million people in more than 300 Spanish cities, in addition to having a presence in 3 other continents. It is a project of social commitment, made up of century-old companies that have been contributing to the growth of the cities and municipalities in which they operate for more than a century.
