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CAPITALIZING on the benefits of high-efficiency wastewater treatment plants developed by Global Water Engineering (GWE) to replace fossil fuels with green energy is paying off for agricultural as well as food & beverage operations worldwide.
Anaerobic treatment converts the organic pollutants in wastewater into a small amount of sludge and a large amount of biogas (methane, CH4, + carbon dioxide), whilst leaving some pollution unremoved. In the absence of oxygen, many different groups of anaerobic bacteria ‘work’ together to degrade complex organic pollutants in CH4 and CO2. For treatment of industrial wastewaters, the main of anaerobic systems, particularly for bigger plants, are: Low operating costs, low space requirements, and valuable biogas production coupled with low sludge production.
Since its founding more than 22 years ago, GWE has always emphasized the importance of not only considering anaerobic wastewater treatment as a technology to remove the bulk of the organic pollution at much lower operating costs than conventional (aerobic and physicochemical) methods, but also as a producer of a renewable energy source that should not be flared off but put to use in the factory to replace fossil fuels.
With increased focus on climate change mitigation, the re-use of waste as a resource and new technological approaches which have lowered capital costs, anaerobic digestion has in recent years received increased attention amongst governments in a number of countries, particularly those of emerging regions where infrastructure investment is high. Even in oil-producing regions such as the Middle East, however, governments have begun to embrace renewable and alternative sources of energy[1].
As a result of their efficiency, anaerobic digestion facilities have been recognized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as one of the most useful decentralized sources of energy supply, as they are less capital-intensive than large power plants. They can also benefit local communities by providing local energy supplies and eliminate the need for large and often smelly and environmentally challenging settling lagoons.
GWE has installed more than 300 anaerobic wastewater plants globally, which clean the water to high discharge standards whilst producing biogas that can be used to generate green electricity for sale to the local grid or to fuel boilers and other factory plant fuel consumers. Many of the plants utilising the biogas in this way achieve payback of plant costs in two years – or even a year in some cases – as they permanently reduce the amount of fossil fuel used and generate permanent environmental gains and financial savings.