A Circular Biorefinery-Integrating Wastewater Treatment with the Generation of an Energy Precursor and an Organic Fertilizer

Tabassum-Abbasi, Pratiksha Patnaik, Ranjan Rahi and Shahid Abbas Abbasi
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Tabassum-Abbasi: School of Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studied, Dehradun 248 007, India
Pratiksha Patnaik: Centre for Pollution Control & Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
Ranjan Rahi: Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Technology, Emergy Enviro Private Limited, Mumbai 400 076, India
Shahid Abbas Abbasi: Centre for Pollution Control & Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: A circular (close-loop) biorefinery, which integrates wastewater treatment with the generation of an energy precursor and organic fertilizer, tested at the level of a pilot plant treating 54,000 L per day (LPD) of sewage, is described. In the biorefinery’s first stage, sewage was treated in a novel SHEFROL ® (sheet-flow-root-level) bioreactor at a very rapid rate, indicated by a hydraulic retention time of a mere 6 h, to a level that met the prevailing national standards for the discharge of treated sewage. The main bioagent of the reactor—water hyacinth—was then processed for the generation of energy precursors. For this, volatile fatty acids (VFA) were extracted in a simple batch reactor operating at ambient temperature and pressure. The ‘spent’ weeds were then converted into organic fertilizer, also at ambient temperature and pressure, by the high-rate vermicomposting process earlier reported by the authors. In this manner, wastewater treatment, energy production, and the generation of a fertilizer were achieved rapidly and efficiently, creating a circular close-loop system that required very little energy and materials and generated almost zero net waste.

Keywords: biorefinery; sewage treatment; energy precursors; organic fertilizer; closed loop (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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