Lin, Haodong;
Black, Mairi J;
Borrion, AIduan;
(2023)
Life Cycle Assessment of a novel digestate treatment unit for anaerobic digestate plant: a UK case.
Presented at: 2nd BBNet Conference: "Green Futures" What's next for biorefineries?, Harrogate, UK.
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Abstract
Management of digestate co-product produced from anaerobic digestion (AD) has become a challenge due to impacts on the environment. Valorising AD into high-value products is not only considered as a solution to this issue but can also make AD more cost-effective. Project NOMAD (Novel Organic recovery using Mobile ADvanced technology) funded by H2020 is currently developing an innovative solution for valorising digestate. A designed mobile unit combines several digestate treatment technologies, i.e., solid-liquid separation, ultraviolet light and ozone oxidation, and electrodialysis. The valuable nutrients are concentrated from the liquid fraction, and the solid fraction is collected as compost. This study adopts Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to assess environmental impacts of the NOMAD unit incorporated into a UK AD plant, focusing on business-as-usual (BAU) case, NOMAD scenario, and upscaled NOMAD scenario. The BAU case is current management of digestate, where digestate is transported, stored, and applied to farmlands. The NOMAD scenario introduces one unit, capable of addressing digestate 5 ton/day, while the upscaled NOMAD scenario can process all digestate produced from the AD plant. 12 impact categories are selected using ReCiPe 2016. The results show that the upscaled NOMAD scenario can reduce 11%-69% of targeted impacts compared to BAU scenario, with 1%-24% reduction for NOMAD scenario. The NOMAD unit process, either upscaled or one-unit, contributes less than 6% of overall impacts, while AD activities and field application are the main impact contributors. The outcome of these scenarios validates the NOMAD unit for valorisation of digestate from environmental impact perspective.
| Type: | Poster |
|---|---|
| Title: | Life Cycle Assessment of a novel digestate treatment unit for anaerobic digestate plant: a UK case |
| Event: | 2nd BBNet Conference: "Green Futures" What's next for biorefineries? |
| Location: | Harrogate, UK |
| Dates: | 22 - 24 March 2023 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.bbnet-nibb.co.uk/2023/05/04/2nd-bbnet-... |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Digestate valorisation, High-value product, Nutrient recovery, Environmental impact assessment, LCA validation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167445 |
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