Ravinteet kiertoon – vesistöt kuntoon | Kiertotalouden kärkihankkeen lähtölaukaus | Recycle nutrients for clear waters | Forum for Action 19.– 20.4.2016

1. Products from waste water
components – Resource Container
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Inka Orko
Forum for Action, Helsinki, Finland
20 April 2016

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State-of-the-art in municipal waste water
treatment
§ Motivated and guided by environmental legislation and permits
§ Most plants owned by community partnerships or cities
§ The given goal: to separate and dispose of nutrients, solids, microbes and harmful
substances to meet the permit conditions, with minimum cost
§ Community operators have little incentive and minimal funding to develop waste
water treatment from any other point of view
Nutrients and carbon leakageLarge centralized plants,
considerable footprint
Basic ideology and technology
developed in the ’70s
Big investment costs
CO2 emissions
Efficient treatment and effluents well within standards, however!
Sensitive to fluctuations

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We think it’s time to rethink
§ With the currently applied
paradigm of design for disposal,
we overlook the opportunity to
extract, reprocess and reuse.
§ We loose energy and material and
contribute to CO2 emissions.
§ The current technology and
legislation does not adopt to
distributed waste water
management, or local or seasonal
needs.
§ We miss business opportunities.

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VTT Resource recovery
concept

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A novel approach: non-biological resource
recovery unit based on waste hierarchy principals
1. Advanced physical filtration/separation unit. Chemical/physical advanced filtration using high speed
cross-flow and novel anti-fouling membranes
2. Selective nutrient/resource removal. Evaporative, chemical and electro chemistry based technologies;
N, P, C as pure products
3. Water polishing. Disinfection and filtration to drinking water/irrigation quality
4. Sludge carbonization/chemical routes to products. Thermal and other conversions to fuel, chemicals,
activated carbon, carbon black, and/or soil amendment
Wastewater Filtration unit
Carbon
capture unit
P Capture
N Capture
Me Capture
Water
polishing
unit
Drinking/
irrigation
water
Biochar
P Product
N Product
Me Product
Endproducts
Biomass (optional)

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Resource Container initiative
§ Phase 1 Proof-of-concept for the integrated concept (planned for 2016-2017):
§ Concept modelling
§ Concept integration and bench-scale laboratory tests and analytics
§ Techno-economic pre-feasibility
§ Cleantech Finland and Baltic Sea Action Group collaboration
§ Phase 2 Piloting / upscale: planned for 2017-2018
Initiative benefits:
-high rate of nutrients and carbon recovery demonstrated
-related cost and potential revenue streams understood
-collaboration initiated with relevant partners and stakeholders
-business opportunities created for cleantech companies
-final target: resource efficiency and lowered emissions to the Baltic sea

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VTT capabilities: competent team and infra
Understanding water quality and
recovery targets for the end use
Development of
membranes/filters,
fractionation, and treatment
options (thermal etc.)
Module and
equipment
design
Fouling/scaling
control and solutions
Concept
development
Piloting & testing
ØOptimized performance
ØCost efficient operation
ØSimple and robust structure
ØFouling control
Alfa Laval M20
lab module
Forward osmosis
equipment
CR250 for micro-, ultra, and
nanofiltration
Pressure
filtration
Screw press
Flow-through
dryer
Belt filter press

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Resource recovery has strong drivers
“Second generation phosphorus recovery technologies capable of removing
phosphorus directly from wastewater down to the discharge requirements will be
highly profitable if they can be developed. Ammonium recovery will also be highly
profitable.”
“The world price of ammonium (fixed nitrogen) is increasing rapidly, as is the
world price of phosphorus, so income from selling recovered nitrogen and
phosphorus will increase. The cost of energy to power biological removal of
nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater, which is the “conventional solution,”
is also rising and the carbon footprint of that energy is a second penalty.”
“Overall, there is an ideal combination of drivers for adopting
recovery technologies that are both reliable and efficient.”
- Nutrient Removal and Recovery Market and Technology Overview – BlueTech Insight Report 2014

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VTT is looking for collaboration partners
We believe the winner concept will be developed as a collaborative effort
using technologies and business thinking from different areas.
VTT is looking for complementing technologies, business owners and
other stakeholders to work with us.
Meet or contact us at after the seminar:
Inka Orko Mona Arnold
inka.orko@vtt.fi mona.arnold@vtt.fi
+358 400 966 884 +358 405 681 222

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10
TECHNOLOGY FOR BUSINESS