First Cellruptor Results Set To Give Water Industry A Massive Gas Boost

Built following a close R&D partnership between ESI and Yorkshire Water, Cellruptor is designed to increase gas yield by up to 40% from surplus activated sludge, or 12% from the total sludge stream. A discreet treatment process that is low on energy and pressure requirements, Cellruptor makes Secondary Activated Sludge (SAS) more receptive to digestion.

“We are all looking forward to seeing the data from our first Cellruptor installation in the UK and the anticipated wider roll-out of this technology,” commented Clive Rigden, Managing Director of Eco-Solids International - who are also working with Barhale on the Esholt WWTW (pe 750,000) project.

He added: “Water companies and AD operators will soon see results that will be impossible to ignore – results that we believe will be very beneficial to the bottom line of their businesses”.

Simple to install and operate, Cellruptor units can be retrofitted into existing digestion facilities as well as green field sites. They benefit from low capital and maintenance costs relative to other gas yield-enhancement technologies.

Cellruptor’s cell-disintegration technology dramatically improves the process economics of AD. It is a simple process that improves the reduction of volatile solids to increase overall gas generation - without introducing additional large energy requirements or complex operational process equipment. Cellruptor has a relatively small foot print and can be skid-mounted, making it ideal for retro-fitting into existing AD/CHP facilities.

The process equipment is readily scalable to meet SAS volume demand and can be operated in continuous or batch process modes to suit the operators’ specific AD plant requirements. The reduction in volatile solids means less digested sludge to be stored, transported and disposed of, enabling additional operational savings to be made and increased throughput and efficiency of the treatment works.

As well as holding the international rights to the ‘Cellruptor’ and ‘Eco-Solids Process’ technologies, Eco-Solids International works in close conjunction with some of Europe’s leading universities on R&D projects into sludge, food waste and manures. It is able to offer a consultancy service, looking at ways to enhance the renewable energy properties and future product opportunities of waste feedstocks.