STRUVITE - Treatment of digestate to reduce emissions and recover a fertilizer, struvite

Scientific Director: Prof. Massimo Coltorti
Project Leader: Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali Soc. Cons. P.A.

Project Partners:

• Terra & Acqua Tech

• UNIBO - CIRI FRAME

• ASSOCIAZIONE CLUST-ER ENERGIA E SVILUPPO SOSTENIBILE

Granted Funding: €456,499.22
Funding Allocated to Terra&Acqua Tech Laboratory: €86,493.75

Duration: 30 months

The proposal aims to reduce the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content in digestates (biomass output from anaerobic digesters), encompassing both agricultural digestates derived from agricultural and agro-industrial biomass, as well as municipal digestates resulting from the anaerobic digestion of urban organic fractions. The objective is to recover fertilizing elements and reduce atmospheric emissions of ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide, both during storage and agronomic use. The nitrogen and phosphorus recovered from the digestates will produce a renewable, slow-release recovered fertilizer (struvite) that can replace mineral and synthetic fertilizers, as promoted by the new European Fertilizer Regulation 2019/1009.

The plan involves installing a prototype downstream of an anaerobic digester to treat the liquid fraction obtained through mechanical separation processes, commonly used in wet anaerobic digestion plants. The innovation of the process will focus on valorizing different types of effluents, recovering nutrients to obtain sustainable fertilizers as an alternative to traditional ones, in line with the principles of the Circular Economy.

Website: https://www.struvite.it/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=32491