Presentation hold during EIP Water Conference in Porto, as part of the Porto Water Innovation Week in Session 5 “Water and the circular economy, part 2 - agriculture”

1. WATER INNOVATION: BRIDGING GAPS,
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
27 AND 28 SEPTEMBER 2017
ALFÂNDEGA PORTO CONGRESS CENTRE
WATER AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY, PART 2 -
AGRICULTURE
CURVING THE LINE TO ACCELERATED RESOURCE
RECOVERY: THE LIFE MEMORY, INCOVER AND RUN4LIFE
PROJECTS, AND A CLOSER LOOK AT RESOURCE RECOVERY
FACTORIES
JOSÉ VÁZQUEZ
FCC AQUALIA

2. Curving the line to accelerated resource recovery:
the Life Memory, INCOVER, RUN4LIFE projects
and a closer look at resource recovery factories
Innovation and Technology
J. Vázquez-Padín, E. Martínez, F. Rogalla

3. 3
Aqualia

4. 4
Aqualia today. Main magnitudes
The Company - Aqualia
13.5 M
INVOICES ISSUED
END USER PER
YEAR
2,570
DRINKING
WATER
TANKS
1,100
TOWNS
23,620,000 INHAB.
POPULATION SERVED
(GWI)
70,577 km
OF NETWORKS
MANAGED
618,463,970m3/year
OF WATER SUPPLIED
17
SPORT
FACILITIES
246
DWTPs
445
WWTPs
33
SWDPs
7,639
EMPLOYEES
5 ACCREDITED LABORATORIES
ISO -17025

5. Aqualia treats 500 000 000 m3/year of urban WW
Electric consumption associated:
0,5 kWhel /m3 = 250 M kWh = 25 M €
The energy content of urban WW is tipically ~ 2 kWhth/m3
Wastewater is Bioenergy!
N fixation
Haber-Bosch Process
10 kWh/kg N
Wastewater as
nutrient source!
AnMBR - Introduction
Energy Consumption in WW treatment

6. 6
LIFE MEMORY: AnMBR

7. AnMBR - Objective
Life MEMORY(Membrane for ENERGY and WATER RECOVERY)
LIFE Memory aims to validate at demonstrative scale the AnMBR technology as an
alternative to traditional urban wastewater treatment
http://www.life-memory.eu

8. AnMBR - Objective
Energy Harvesting from WW
Wastewater
Anaerobic
MBR
25% less
surface
50% less
biosolids
production
80% less CO2
emissions
Bioenergy
Water reuse
Biosolids
70% less
energy
consumption
Net production
+0,11 kWh/m3
40 m3 Anaerobic Reactor
3 Membrane tanks
41 m2 filtration area/module
Ultrafiltration (0.03 µm)

9. Life MEMORY - AnMBR
CONCLUSIONS
From an environmental, economic and social point of view, AnMBR for urban wastewater
treatment is a promising technology:
• Suitable COD removal (> 90%) and methane production (70% in biogas)
• The AnMBR system can be operated with flux around 20 LMH (comparable with aerobic
MBR systems), no chemical cleaning needed after one year of operation
• Low biosolids production can be achieved, far below the reported values in aerated
MBRs
• AnMBR can be a net energy producer, but recovering methane from effluent is a crucial
step for the favorable energy balance of the process
• High quality treated water is obtained, which is rich-nutrient water  Identify value of

10. 10
H2020 INCOVER – Bio-product

11. http://incover-project.eu/
This project has received funding from the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
under grant agreement 689242
INCOVER concept has been designed to move
wastewater treatment from being primarily a
sanitation technology towards a bio-product
recovery industry and a recycled water supplier

12. CASE STUDY
AT CHICLANA
ALGAE
HARVESTING
WATER REUSE for
irrigation
WASTEWATER
ANAEROBIC CODIGESTION
THERMAL
PRETREATMENT EVAPORATIVE S.
3x32 m2 HRAPs
2x500 m2 HRAPs
ANAEROBIC
UASB
BIOMETHANE for
vehicle use
N,P RECOVERY as
biofertilizer
BIOGAS
UPGRADING
BIOPLASTICS
0.4 kg PHA/kg VS

13. ALGAE
HARVESTING
IRRIGATION
WATER
3000 m2 HRAPsScreening
Planted filter Solar anoxic oxidation Smart irrigation
CASE STUDY
AT ALMERIA
WASTEWATER

14. 14
H2020 RUN4LIFE – Nutrient Valorization

16. Conventional
WWT
Sneek Vigo Ghent Helsingborg
People equivalent 100 70 150 1280 1650
GW Flow (m3
/d) 20 7.5 120
BW Flow (m3
/d) 0.50 7.5 15 20
KW Flow (m3
/d) 6.5
Water saving (%) 0 >90 50-100a
35 35
Water reuse (%) 0 0 60-80 >80 >80
N recovery (%) 0-20 90 35 >5 35
P recovery (%) 0-20 60 40 35 60
K recovery (%) 0 90 50 0 0
Biogas (m3
CH4/yr) 600 560 1 000 20 000 21 500
aWater saving in toilets

17. Industrial park premises:
o 102 hectares fully equipped to accommodate companies (BREEAM® certificate for sustainable
edification)
o Business Center: Main office building equipped with BW/GW segregation
 GW: Treated in MBR and reused for irrigation and toilet flushing
 BW: AnMBR + nutrients recovery (precipitation and/or BioElectricalSystem) + irrigation water

18. J.R.Vázquez Padín
aqualia
E-Mail: jvazquezp@fcc.es
aqualia R&D – The Team