The work in this phase aimed to determine the chemical and physical properties of the wet organic streams and the optimal process conditions of the pilot plant

WE ARE READY FOR THE PILOT CAMPAIGNS !

Pilot testing has begun and the first stop on F-Cubed´s European tour is the Smurfit Kappa paper manufacturing plant in Sweden. Here the F-Cubed team will be scaling up their efforts to convert paper sludge into a viable bioenergy carrier.

Stay tuned for more reports and updates from the next phases of F-Cubed´s pilot testing from olive oil producers Appo in Italy and Delafruit in Spain.

The long-duration test with the TORWASH® pilot plant was performed for 18 days, continuously operating for more than 300 hours. During the long-duration pilot test 8500 kg of TORWASH® effluent was produced with a very consistent and high dry matter content in the range of 57-60%.

Over 150 kg of TORWASH® press cake has been produced. This means that there is sufficient material for both the pelletizing of 100 TORWASH® pellets and for analysis by the consortium members.

Furthermore, throughout the entire long duration test the presence of oil in the TORWASH® effluent and on top of the membrane of Limburg Filter´s filter press was observed. Both the quantity and quality of this oil is being analysed. The presence of oil should influence the properties of the press cake and press water effluent which are also both currently under analysis.

The TORWASH® pilot plant was then dismounted and transported back to TNO´s biomass research facilities in Petten, Netherlands for maintenance prior to the next long-duration testing with orange peels at Delafruit in Spain for WP4.

The fantastic team of operators, members of TNO, LIMBURG FILTER, CA.RE. FOR. Engineering and APPO prepared for months for these activities and worked together to ensure a successful installation and operation.

Special thanks to WP3 leader Marco Ugolini from CA.RE FOR Engineering and to Gianvito Chimienti, the olive oil mill owner, for hosting and giving active support to the F-CUBED project.

(Photos and text courtesy of Marco Ugolini from CA.RE FOR Engineering).

The third and final F-CUBED pilot test has been completed at the Delafruit facility in Tarragona, Spain where orange peels were hydrothermally treated by the Torwash® reactor and dewatered using Limburg Filter´s filter press.

The resulting dry cake has been sent to F-CUBED partner CPM for pelletisation, and by the end of June 2022, all pellets produced from the paper sludge, olive pomace and orange peel work packages will have been tested by Heat Systems to analyse their combustibility.

The remaining filtrate will be sent to Paques for testing of its biomethane potential and both the cake and filtrate will be analysed by the University of Hoffenheim to determine their nutrient content.

Now that the pilot tests have been completed it is now a case of waiting for the results of the analyses and for the technoeconomic and lifecycle assessments to be completed, and the F-CUBED team are excited to bring you the updates as soon as we have them.