In order to support wastewater treatment plant operators in implementing the legislative obligation, the cooperation partners in the project will jointly commission a pilot plant. In addition to reliable upscaling for continuous operation, the mobile pilot plant also offers the opportunity to serve as a demonstration plant for interested wastewater treatment plant and biogas plant operators. In the project, the competence center is responsible for monitoring the construction, the preliminary tests on a laboratory scale to determine the necessary operating resources and the operation of the pilot plant. Geltz is supplying the pilot plant, instructing the staff at KIT and providing support for conversions and retrofits. ISU mbH is responsible for project management and reporting and is involved in discussions on achieving the benchmarks and necessary process engineering modifications. The IMK-AAF provides administrative support for the project.
In spring 2024, the dimensions of the pilot plant will be determined and construction will begin. The pilot plant will then be used at a bio-digestion plant in Hesse to remove nutrients from the fermentation residue liquid produced during the dewatering of the fermentation residue so that more fermentation residue liquid can be spread and a storable mineral fertilizer can be produced at the same time. The production of a mineral fertilizer in granulate form saves storage capacity at the plant, as less fermentation residue liquid has to be stored. An application in the municipal wastewater sector, in which a municipality in the district of Aschaffenburg has expressed interest, is planned for fall 2024 in order to treat the sludge water from the dewatering of the digested sludge there. With upstream sewage sludge disintegration, the nutrients can be converted into a soluble form and thus be available for subsequent recovery using the P-RoC process.
For KIT and its cooperation partners, the construction of the pilot plant is an example of the successful transfer from research to application.
