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Working with industry leaders in food waste processing.
We were approached by market-leading anaerobic digestion operators, BioteCH4 to support them with the opportunity to develop another valuable by-product that not only sustainably processed their feedstock for value-added material. BioteCH4 could then sell this sustainable product as an additional revenue stream parallel to their existing process.
Alongside BioteCH4, we developed this technology fuelled by a shared passion to develop a new approach to sustainable fuel resources to help fill the gaps in emerging sustainable fuel markets.
We worked with the oil process manager for the BioteCH4 group to understand how they operated their AD sites, the type of waste they processed and the industries they work. Though this we understood how we could increase the value from the oil within their feedstock when compared to conventional processing methods.
Using our years of expertise in the anaerobic digestion industry, we were able to put our heads together to envision an entirely new method of oil extraction, which gave BioteCH4 the opportunity to increase and diversify their revenue streams.
Through our years of experience, we collectively understood that not all fats, oils and greases were destroyed throughout the AD process and thought that there must be a way to extract more value from that material. We sought to develop a method of oil recovery that could extract those oils from AD feedstock without all the additional costs associated with traditional oil processing equipment.
We knew that for clean separation to occur, you need heat and you need acidity. With these facts in mind, we knew that to get the best yields from our process, we needed to integrate the Alfa Laval oil separation equipment prior to methanogenesis. In doing so, we have developed this solution so that integration into an anaerobic digestion site can be quick and very cost-effective and does not interrupt the existing process flow in any way. Through 3 years of partnership with Alfa Laval, we have developed the equipment and our process to be the turnkey solution, ready to be integrated into any AD process with a fat, oil, and grease content to extract added value from your feedstock.
Using the relationships we have developed over our years in the waste industry, we have paved the way to easily get this new oil stream, which has been coined “Biocrude”, into the market by working with Harris Tobias, which has all the sustainability credentials to extract the maximum value from the process. Historically, the separated oil has gone on to be refined into biodiesels, but recently, it has been used to help satisfy the ever-growing drive for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
“The time we have spent optimising this process at our site in Hemswell has been well worth the rewards. From the work we did at Hemswell Biogas, we have since rolled this process out to 3 more of our AD sites, with scope to go further. The ability to put this process into action and using the expertise of Harris Tobias to get it to market has increased our revenue and has meant that our group has been able to develop and grow at a faster rate.
It’s been a very rewarding experience to be a world first in developing this process which has so much potential to help drive growth in the anaerobic digestion industry and the sustainability benefits they offer.”
Oil Process Manager - BioteCH4
If you are interested in our services and would like to get touch, please contact us at:
The Fisheries
1 Mentmore Terrace
London
E8 3PN