The treatment of wastewater is a major societal issue. In developing nations such as India, inadequate wastewater treatment costs the country over 6% of its GDP due to the effects of contaminating ground water, rivers and crops. However, if managed correctly, wastewater, particularly the wastewater sludge can be a great energy and mineral resource. MASH Biotech ApS uses a Pyrolysis process to break down the biomass in sludge into a bio-oil (to sell), bio-gas (to fuel the pyrolysis process) a bio-char (used as a high phosphorous fertilizer). The bio-oil can be used as a direct replacement for fossil based coal and fuel oil and therefore has great sustainability potential.
The pyrolysis process is particularly interesting for the developing world as the capital investments and infrastructure demands are low. As well as being able to treat the wastewater sludge, the pyrolysis process can also be used for wood-based feedstocks. From these feedstocks an Activated Carbon can be produced instead of a biochar. The Activated Carbon produced is used as a filter material at wastewater treatment plants, but can also be used as a soil amendment helping the soil to retain water and nutrients in arid environments.
