Aqua Enviro Ltd - Development of a Novel Microwave Hydrolysis Technology to Enhance Anaerobic Digestion Performance and Derive New Feedstock Materials

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Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a biological process which degrades organic material to generatebiogas and a stabilised, nutrient rich residue. The UK Government recognises the importanceof AD in meeting its environmental and renewable energy targets and has introducedincentives to support and develop the industry. The rate limiting step in AD is the bacterialhydrolysis (solubilisation) of the feedstock which is very slow compared to the subsequentconversion to methane. Readily biodegradable materials (i.e. food waste) hydrolyse rapidly,giving a good conversion to methane. However many substrates such as crop residues, silagesand manures contain slowly hydrolysable material (i.e. cellulose, ligno-cellulose) resulting inreduced methane yields. It is therefore highly desirable to enhance the hydrolysis step to boostbiogas yields, improve performance and increase revenue.Aqua Enviro identified that a novel pressurised microwave hydrolysis process developed byYork Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) to breakdown energy crops for fermentationto biofuels, could be used to pre-treat complex AD feedstock in order to boost processefficiency. BDC and Aqua Enviro carried out initial self-funded tests demonstrating dramaticincreases in biogas yield of up to 340% when pre-treating maize silage. Such increases wouldrevolutionise the AD sector by; accessing new feedstocks, making AD viable at smaller scaleand improving AD economics. Aqua Enviro wishes to develop and introduce this technologyinto the market. This Proof of Concept project aims to produce a robust scientific appraisaland full business case for this technology to enable funding/industrial partners to be securedfor its widespread commercialisation. This will comprise MW pre-treatment of a range offeedstock types under varying conditions and AD process assessment via laboratory scalebench trials. The outputs of this project will justify the investment to move up to full-scaledemonstration trials.