A high-tech test facility that uses heat to capture ammonia from sewage, ready to turn into green fuels, is now up and running in the North East.
10 July 2024 Page 96 of 201 We have taken delivery of a purpose-built advanced ammonia stripper and recovery system – a small-scale treatment plant which would be trialled at our existing Howdon Sewage Treatment Works in North Tyneside. The project, in partnership with environmental technology company, Organics Group, would see thermal energy strip and recover the ammonia from wastewater – the first time in the world that a water company has ever recovered ammonia using a thermal technique in this way.
The recovered ammonia product can then be used to generate fertiliser products and green fuels that may be used in the emerging hydrogen economy. Since the ground-breaking piece of kit arrived in the UK, work has been ongoing to get it up and running, and a testing programme is now in full swing, with the facility already recovering 95% of a high strength ammonia product. Ammonia is present in wastewater through the natural breakdown of proteins and is a building-block used widely in the production of valuable chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals, fertiliser products and green fuels.
Removing ammonia will also have a number of benefits for our wastewater treatment process, making it more efficient by reducing overall energy demand, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately helping to keep customer bills as low as possible. By minimising emissions from the biological treatment process, it will also help to accelerate our ambitious net zero goals. Angela MacOscar, Head of Innovation, said: “To be the first, not just in the water industry, but in the world, to use this bespoke technology is incredible and testament to our commitment to improve the environment and drive us even further on the road towards net zero. “As a business we have been supporting a circular economy for many years by generating renewable energy, recycling sludge to land and maintaining a healthy water cycle. This is the next stage of our continual journey to maximise our resource efficiency.”
The idea to develop a thermal ammonia stripper plant at Howdon first won a £225,000 funding bid from water regulators, Ofwat, back in 2021.