Meat processing companies generate large quantities of waste that require cost-intensive treatment due to national and European hygiene regulations. Usually, such waste is transported to animal cadaver utilization plants where it is processed with high energy consumption. The end products are either burnt in waste incinerating plants or to a limited extent used as animal feed additives. Gro\u00dffurtner GmbH, one of the largest slaughterhouses and cutting plants in Austria, is the world’s first company to be able to utilise all of its Category 3 waste for energy production using a unique fermentation process on site. <\/p>\n\n
In this process biogas for energy production and a fermentation residue is obtained. Due to the relatively low nutrient density of the residue (high water content), an economic application – as is generally the case with waste biogas plants – is practically impossible. The company also produces considerable quantities of risk materials (categories 1 and 2) and straw that could previously only be disposed of thermally in animal cadaver utilization plants. The project aims to solve the two above-mentioned problems (expensive fermentation residue recycling and low-value waste requiring disposal) by combining them in a synergistic manner and obtaining a valuable product with soil-activating and soil-improving properties, which not only has a high nutrient density and storage stability, but is also largely free of climate- and odour-relevant emissions and counteracts climate change by long-term carbon fixation in the soil. The basic product biochar (nutrient carrier) is obtained by pyrolysis from the previously unused waste materials. By varying the process parameters and by a targeted modification of the coal surface by chemical processes, the basic product is optimised with regard to the quantity and quality of the nutrients to be fixed as well as the maximum achievable water retention capacity. To charge the coal with nutrients, anaerobically processed slaughter waste, i.e. fermentation residue, is concentrated using an innovative low-temperature process (membrane distillation) and used as a nutrient supplier. In addition to the concentrate, pure water is also obtained, which can replace treated process water during operation. <\/p>\n\n
The innovative membrane distillation process is being developed by AEE INTEC as part of the project. The obtained product will be characterized chemically, the focus is on toxic substances (EBC guideline) as well as the quantity and quality of the adsorbed nutrients and their bioavailability in the soil. Nutricoal thus enables an innovative and sustainable gap closure with regard to the energetic and material utilisation of all low-value waste streams arising in a slaughtering process to a high-quality and bio-based high-value end product. The main objective of the project is the development and adaptation of the individual process steps and the optimisation of the entire process chain. With regard to waste recycling and product development, this project represents a flagship project not only for the meat-processing industry, where around twenty million tonnes of waste are generated annually throughout Europe, but also for agriculture and the biogas industry. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2432,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-2433","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n