Research study will focus on biology decay, studies on thermolysis and susceptibility of selected, common biodegradable polymers to hydrolysis, a necessary condition for the MF process to take place. This will allow to evidence in which direction to go with modification of biodegradable polymers so to make them prone to methane fermentation process. In this regard, following studies will be included in the project research scope:
- Biochemical processes of individual stages of methane fermentation,
- Odority of the process and the possibility of eliminating odour emission to the environment,
- Stabilization of the digestate along with the evaluation of the post-fermentation value of the digestate.
The project is multidisciplinary and addresses a variety of problems, facing not only producers and waste recipients, but also society in general. The vision for this project is to create a model exploiting the energy-generating potential of waste through methane biogas digestion. This project will establish the groundwork for the following vision to be accomplished within coming years. Learning from the research experience, cooperating between research institutions and the private sector and using supporting funding, the target Pomeranian region has a chance to implement the new system efficiently, following the model solutions and avoiding not yet recognized threats and mistakes made by others.
To summarize, the development of scientific knowledge based on research will enable to find answers on:
- Way of collecting waste,
- How biodegradable plastics influence the process?
- How biodegradable plastics decompose in methane fermentation?
- Whether biodegradable plastics undergo hydrolysis?
- Whether any plastics will be present in the digestate,
- Guidelines for the methane fermentation process in the presence of biodegradable plastics.
In order to reach the project objectives the activities will be divided into following five work packages:
- WP1. Market of biodegradable plastics
- WP2. Feed preparation
- WP3. Biogas yield
- WP4. Process scale up, pilot investigation
- WP5. Digestate properties and usage
The concept of the project is based on the approach to first assess the market of biodegradable plastics (WP1), then prepare and analyze the biomass substrate for biogas production (WP2), then to enhance the biogas production process and evaluate the influence of biodegradable plastics on the proess flow (WP3), next to scale-up the process and determine the basic process parameters (WP4) and finally to make use of digestate formed at the end (WP5).
The project is a continuation of the successfully completed POM-BIOGAS project, hence attaining goals, is guaranteed by an experienced team. Cooperation with a waste utilization plant is focused on the actual use of project results and is based on a ‘Lab to market’ approach.
