The industrial processing of vegetables generates large quantities of wastewater and organic waste materials, which are normally disposed of in municipal sewage treatment plants or used in local biogas plants and in animal feeding. The company LimnoTec Abwasseranlagen GmbH has developed an environmentally and economically sound alternative for the medium-sized business Meyer Gemüseverarbeitung: An innovative system in which the water cycle is almost closed and the vegetable waste transformed to produce biogas for energy generation. For this cause, new procedures are employed, such as the FAR-SBR process and a mass algae culture (MAK). FAR-SBR refers to an inorganic sludge treatment of solid waste and waste water in combination with a cyclic feeding and a long duration time of biomass in the fermentation process. By means of this optimized process more than 80% of the solid matter can be transformed into biogas. MAK supports the final purification of the water. The project aims at a recycling rate for water of about 80 percent.
The complex treatment plant provides a largely self-sufficient energy-, water- and material cycle management that shows certain economic and environmental benefits: The waste water is no longer delivered to the municipal sewage treatment plant. At the same time the re-use of process water protects fresh water resources. The biogas produced from the vegetable residues generates energy in the combined heat and power plant. The waste heat is used to heat the fermentation vessels and the production halls. With this new plant the company Meyer saves about 4,500 tons of carbon dioxide per year and contributes decisively to climate protection.
The next step of the project is the optimized use of waste heat for the dehydrating of fermentation residues and their conversion into an organic fertilizer.
Project Operation
LimnoTec Abwasseranlagen GmbH
Dr. Niels Christian Holm
Eickhorster Str.3
D - 32479 Hille
Telefon: 0 57 03 / 51 03-0
Telefax: 0 57 03 / 51 03-33
info@limnotec.de
www.limnotec.de
Cooperation Partners
Meyer Gemüseverarbeitung GmbH, Twistringen, Niedersachen, www.gemuese-meyer.de
Leuphana-Universität Lüneburg, Niedersachsen, www.leuphana.de
ifak – Institut für Automation und Kommunikation e. V. Magdeburg,
Barleben, Sachsen-Anhalt, www.ifak.eu
FlowConcept GmbH, Hannover, Niedersachsen, www.flow-concept.de
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