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The Australian-made innovation uses high temperatures without oxygen to make a carbon-rich product called biochar, which can be used in carbon electrodes for batteries and other advanced energy storage devices, or can act as a fertiliser or soil amendment.
The pyrolysis technology, known as PYROCO, thermally processes materials from waste streams, including treated sewage (biosolids) and food and garden organic materials destined for landfill, to remove pathogens, PFAS and microplastics, which can cause harm to humans and the environment. RMIT has filed patent applications to protect the technology that the team has developed.
Project lead Professor Kalpit Shah, from RMIT University, said the technology could help make the management of biosolids and other waste more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective.
“Around 30% of the world’s biosolids are either stockpiled or sent to landfill, which is a big challenge that PYROCO aims to address,” said Shah, Deputy Director (Academic) of the ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource.
RMIT and project partners South East Water, Intelligent Water Networks (IWN) and Greater Western Water have just completed the latest series of trials of the technology at the Melton Recycled Water Plant.
“The latest trials validated results of the first trials and showed further improvements,” Shah said.
During the first trials in 2021, the PYROCO demonstration unit turned biosolids into biochar and removed all pathogens, PFAS and microplastics.
The latest trials for PYROCO Mark 2 went further by using materials from other waste streams, and demonstrated enhanced safety features and automation.
“The Mark 2 unit processed food and garden organic waste as well as canola straw co-mingled with biosolids to create biochar,” Shah said.
“The trials we’ve just completed are an exciting step towards scaling up this innovative pyrolysis technology to prove the findings and operationalise it — this represents a real step-change in the field.”
The PYROCO Mark 2 pilot unit at Melton Water Recycling Plant. Image credit: Seamus Daniel
Following the latest trials, the partners are now progressing towards commercialisation.
South East Water General Manager Research, Innovation and Commercialisation Daniel Sullivan said the project could potentially address the water industry’s challenge of biosolids disposal, while also removing carbon from the atmosphere.
“We believe that this exciting technology has the potential to transform by-products of the wastewater process into a valuable resource, in a way that is the most carbon-efficient while maximising the quality of the biochar,” he said.
The Deputy Director (Industry) of the ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource, Dr Aravind Surapaneni, said the technology could help achieve progress towards Victoria’s net-zero carbon pledge.
“The European Union has highlighted the potential of biochar in breaking the carbon cycle, and we see this technology as an opportunity for the water industry to support the Victorian Government’s path to net-zero emissions by 2045.”
The Victorian Government, through the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action (DEECA), contributed $100,000 to the $1 million project. RMIT University, South East Water, IWN, Greater Western Water, Barwon Water, Westernport Water and East Gippsland Water co-funded the remainder of the project.
The PYROCO Mark 2 pilot unit was commissioned and installed at the Melton Water Recycling Plant. It was built using the funding received from Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF).
Top image credit: Seamus Daniel
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SA Water has just completed the single largest concrete pour at South Australia’s Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant — part of a $64 million upgrade that will create a new inlet structure at the facility.
More than 310 cubic metres of concrete was poured into the steel-lined base to create the inlet’s foundation, involving the coordination of around 50 mixing trucks across the complex 15-hour pour.
Bolivar’s new inlet is being built to increase the plant’s capacity to receive and process higher projected flow rates of sewage as Adelaide’s population grows.
SA Water’s Senior Manager of Capital Delivery, Peter Seltsikas, said along with the slab pour, the project has achieved a number of other milestones, including delivery of new screens that will be retrofitted on the inlet and act as the plant’s first line of defence, capturing and removing inorganic material.
“We’ve also recently started replacing three of our existing inlet pipes — which transfer raw sewage from across metropolitan Adelaide to the plant — while they remain temporarily connected to the existing inlet structure,” Seltsikas said.
Bolivar’s capacity to receive sewage from the network will more than double to about 630 million litres per day once the new inlet is operational.
A 20-tonne tower crane was deployed next to the inlet’s concrete slab to help crews lift equipment and pipes into place, along with large panels to facilitate concrete form work.
“Once the new inlet is complete, we’ll change the connections over and construct an additional three inlet pipes to accommodate increased flows that will come into the plant as the local population grows,” Seltsikas said.
“Despite ticking off the project’s single largest concrete pour, we anticipate we’ll need a further 1990 cubic metres, with our team now working on forming the concrete roof structure, overflow channels and walls.”
Seltsikas said SA Water hoped to begin installing the inlet’s mechanical equipment in the next few months. This process will involve eight customised screens, major support steel structure and ancillary items such as penstocks and stoplogs that control and isolate the flow of sewage.
To accommodate future projected flows, Bolivar’s capacity to receive sewage from the network will more than double to around 630 million litres per day once the new inlet is operational.
Top image caption: More than 310 cubic metres of concrete was poured into the steel-lined base to create the inlet’s foundation across the 15-hour operation.
