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Global Water Energy - Model RAPTOR-IChemE - Waste-to-Energy System
The IChemE Energy Award – recognizes the best project or process to demonstrate innovation in renewable energy, alternative energy sources, efficient energy use or the development of energy production methods that reduce energy and water intensity.
GWE’s entry involved a world-first with Chok Chai Starch in Thailand, where a GWE RAPTOR™system is used to convert wet pulp waste product from the processing of cassava roots into biogas (methane) green energy, at their tapioca starch plant in Uthai Thani.
RAPTOR™ stands for RAPid Transformation of Organic Residues. It is a robust liquid-state anaerobic digestion process that converts almost any organic residue (waste) or energy crop (substrate) into biogas, “green” electricity, renewable natural gas (RNG), or heat.
The process consists of enhanced pretreatment followed by multi-step biological fermentation, and typically includes digestate treatment, biogas conditioning, and utilization.
RAPTOR™ A Complete Waste-to-energy SolutionA RAPTOR™ plant is a total solution, from the logistics for the organic waste intake and handling and ending with the production “green” forms of energy.
The detailed design of GWE’s RAPTOR™ systems is always adapted to the specific needs imposed by the three major application sectors:
- Industrial;
- Agricultural;
- Municipal.
How does RAPTOR™ benefit your business?
- Can make your existing business more sustainable and less fossil-fuel dependent;
- It is a complete solution, including the waste reception facilities, digestate processing, biogas conditioning, and utilization, rather than just an anaerobic digestion system;
- Designs are optimized for your application and specific organic waste streams;
- The organic feedstocks can be modified due to the RAPTOR™‘s flexible and adaptable process application;
- Effectively transforms your waste into profitable products;
- GWE control software allows for remote monitoring of the facility for smooth operation and uninterrupted processing;
- Solid digestate can be sold as an agricultural fertilizer or compost, for additional return on investment.
Suitable substrates can be in the form of liquid slurries or wet solid residues. The process at a RAPTOR™ plant always begins with a reception facility, including liquid storage tanks and solid organic waste storage boxes, tanks, bunkers or silos. Solid organic feed is more or less continuously extracted from the reception and storage boxes and transported into the preprocessing facilities.
Depending on the types of substrates to be processed, several different approaches are taken regarding pre-processing and pulping of the wastes. Simple, uncontaminated materials can be prepared in a quick mixer device, consisting of a hopper with a rugged double shaft disk shredder, liquid inlet pipe, and a slurry extraction pump. Large amounts of contaminated waste can be processed in a GWE reception pit and decontamination system, to remove metals, plastics, and cardboard, which are not suitable for digestion. Liquid (liquid wastes, clean water, or recycled final effluent) is added in a suitable amount to convert the organic solids into the liquid slurry of manageable consistency.
Proper blending of the substrates is key to the successful operation of a RAPTOR™ plant when treating wastes from various sources. The decontaminated and pulped, a blended material is then sent to a holding tank or tanks for storage prior to digestion.
Pretreatment for rapid digestion
For the highest possible conversion efficiency of waste material into biogas within the digestion stage, the organic feedstocks require pretreatment. GWE’s RAPTOR™ plant can include one or more of the pretreatment steps that are chosen based on the composition of your raw organic wastes. Possible pretreatment technologies include:
- Enzymatic pretreatment
When specific (hemi-) cellulosic substrates are present in the waste feedstocks, the proper pretreatment is a high-temperature enzyme reactor. This high-temperature enzymatic treatment solubilizes organic matter prior to fermentation and enhances fermentation speed overall. - Chemical pretreatment
In some cases, this mild caustic treatment is applied at elevated temperatures. Its purpose is to partially hydrolyze hard-to-digest polysaccharides and proteins and to increase biogas yields within the anaerobic reactor. - Thermal pretreatment
Heating of the waste slurry for hygienization is sometimes required for some types of waste, for example when they originate from the animal food processing industry. Thermal pretreatment allows protein denaturation and cell autolysis. It is used in combination with enzymatic, chemical or mechanical pretreatment. - Biological pretreatment
The most commonly applied pretreatment process is the GWE Thermophilic Acidification Reactor (TAR). The TAR enhances the digestibility of many organic substrates via partial solubilization of solids, low pH-induced protein denaturation, and polysaccharide hydrolysis, and is utilized in applications containing primarily pre- and post-consumer food waste, manures, and food production/processing residuals. - Mechanical pretreatment
Mechanical pretreatment is included in most RAPTOR™ systems, either in the form of pulping via a hammermill or GWE’s POWERPULPER™ system, which is a powerful chopper pump-equipped pulping unit that turns coarse slurry into a uniform mash. Mechanical treatment, including pulping and size reduction, is designed to increase the surface area of the waste open to digestion, remove shells, skins, and other coatings on the waste, and begin the breakdown of the structure of the waste, in order to speed up the digestion of the material.