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EUROPEAN-MEDITERRANEAN ENERGY CO-OPERATION PROJECTS (EUROMED)
Euro-Mediterranean Project – Technical File: RUE / IN / No. 05
a. General information
Project title:
Integrated concept for the fermentation of sewage sludge and organic waste as a source of
renewable energy and for the use of the fermented product as a hygienic fertiliser and soil
improver
Location:
Geographical area where the research activities are performed or where the project results will find their eventual
application.
Middle East; Turkey: Aegean region, Mediterranean region ; Egypt : Sharkia governorate, South
Sinai governorate
Turkey: Karsiyaka (Izmir), Marmaris, Selcuk, Side ; Egypt: Zagazig (Sharkia), Sharm el Sheikh
(Sinai)
Code (identification of the project, reference programme, responsible official and DG):
AVI CT94-0005; AVICENNE Initiative 1994
Responsible official: Dr. M. Kayamanidou; DG XII
Area (RES, RUE, FF and sub-specifications):
Specific tasks and themes in the programme.
Joint research project
Research sector 13
Priority areas 1.2 3.2 3.3 3.4
Year of approval:
1995
Sector (industry, building, tertiary, etc.):
Application sector in which the project results will find their eventual application.
tertiary
industry
building
planning of concepts, planning of facilities
production of suitable facilities
construction of facilities
b. Co-ordinator, partners and suppliers
Co-ordinator:
Name of the organisation or company.
Stuttgart University – Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Waste Management
Dept. Solid Waste Management
Bandtäle 2, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany
Ph. +49 711 685 5427/ 5424; Fax +49 711 685 5460
Contact person: Dr.-Eng. K. Fischer, Dipl.-Geogr. D. Steinbach, Dipl.-Geogr. A. Schultheis
Partner 1:
Name of the organisation or company.
EGE University
Bornova, Izmir, 35100, Turkey
Partner 2:
Name of the organisation or company.
Environmental quality International (EQI)
3B Bahgat Ali St., Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt
c. Aims and objectives
Brief descriptions of the main objectives and tasks.
The objective of the project is to form the basis for an integrated concept for fermentation
technology. The project aims to use specific organic waste from households, agriculture, tourism
regions and waste water treatment to produce bio-gas for heat and power generation. The
fermentation end product is to use as fertiliser to substitute artificial fertiliser. In addition, soil
structure can be stabilised therefore preventing growing problems of soil erosion. So great parts of
the valuable organic waste can be returned into the bio-cycle. Further objective is to prevent health
risks for the farmers by means of fermenting the primary sludge before using it as fertiliser.
Implementation of the project requires to keep aware of social pre-conditions. The general objective
is to introduce fermentation as an environmental and social beneficial chance to use wastes in
Mediterranean countries.
Main Tasks:
 Analysis of housing and social structures of two cities (in Turkey and Egypt); determination of
specific bio-waste quantities.
 Identification of different agricultural residues which are of no value for the farmers until now
 Waste analyses of five resort hotels with half-board service and more than 400 beds.
 Testing different kinds of hydrophytes for surviving under local conditions.
 Erection of a pond based water treatment plant in Selcuk (Turkey).
 Experimental water treatment with the most suitable hydrophyte, harvesting and fermentation of
the hydrophytes and assessment of the water cleaning efficiency of these plants.
 Testing of different mixtures of hydrophyte and primary sludge for co-fermentation.
 Selection of test sites, taking into account social compatibility, ecological and infra-structural
impact, and local markets for energy, heat and fermentation product.
 Collection of data about bio-waste amounts from households by sorting analyses in the selected
city districts (two campaigns each, volume and composition).
 Analyses of samples taken for fermentation trials and analyses of the end product (water content,
loss on ignition, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, C-concentration, N-concentration, P-content, organic
pollutants, heavy metals).
 Fermentation trials (household bio-waste, agricultural waste, hotel waste, sludge, hydrophytes) at
laboratory scale (volume and quality of bio-gas, hygienic parameters of the fermentation
product) in each country.
 Erection of a pilot fermenter in Izmir
 Fermentation experiments at pilot scale with the most promising substrates identified before (one
pilot plant used by all participants).
 Evaluation of the technological options to use fermentation in view of optimised production of
bio-gas and fermentation product and assessment of the local pre-conditions to install
fermentation facilities.
d. Situation of the project
Synthetic but exhaustive idea about the main technical characteristics of the project in relation to the programme and
the general framework within which it has been developed.
Description:
The main idea of the project was to investigate the frame conditions of fermentation technology in
Mediterranean countries. This encloses determination of types and quantities of different suitable
wastes and residues. Moreover, the possibilities for the introduction of wastewater treatment with
plant ponds had been evaluated (pilot plant). The analytical part of the project covered the
determination of bio-gas production of different substrates by means of laboratory scaled
fermentation tests. Additional aspects were analyses of the socio-economic effects of fermentation,
the possibilities for energy and fertiliser production, hygienic improvement and utilisation of sludge
from wastewater treatment by co-fermentation.
Phase of advancement:
Determination of essential basis data (e.g. determination of waste quantities, bio-gas potentials,
methane production, suitable sites etc.), social aspects, infrastructure and political preconditions
being necessary for introducing fermentation technology.
Date of beginning and conclusion:
01.04.1995 - 30.09.1997 (official completion date)
Due to the interruption of payment by the Commission for more than one year, draft final report
was issued on 30.08.1998 ; due to resumption of payment by the Commission final report will be
issued on mid/end November 1999.
Innovative technology (if foreseen):
not applicable
e. Results and achievements
Energy saving, substitution, power production:
Rural areas: (co-)fermentation of some agricultural residues achieved very good bio-gas production
rates
Cities: introducing separate bio-waste collection; (co-) fermentation successful (bio-gas and
methane)
Tourism resorts: introducing separate bio-waste collection; (co-) fermentation very promising (biogas, methane) PWTP (pond based water treatment plant): co-fermentation of water hyacinths and
primary sludge (high bio-gas and methane production)
Environmental and social impact:
Improvement of environmental hygiene (treatment of faecal sludge) ; substitution of artificial
fertiliser, reduction of soil depletion/deforestation, soil conditioner for land reclamation ; CO2, CH4
and N2O reduction by using bio-gas technology ; reduction of organic waste which causes negative
effects to the environment when disposed of on uncontrolled open regulated dumps ; raise
employment through the collection of substrates, the running of facilities and the selling of products
(bio-gas, fertiliser) ; schooling, training the people and fringe groups dealing with waste for their
new tasks thus leading to social advancement
Economic data:
Saved disposal costs as benefit
Increased agricultural production
Substitute of import fossil fuels and artificial fertiliser
f. Co-operation data
Role of the partners (host, supplier and key enabler):
Stuttgart University: Performance of hotel sorting in Aegean/Mediterranean Region and Sharm el
Sheikh; calculation of specific waste quantities; laboratory scaled fermentation trials: bio-waste,
hotel-waste, agricultural residues, water-hyacinths; trials for optimising methane production;
examination on water content, loss on ignition, nutrients, C-H-N-ratio, decomposition rate, toxic
substances; research in technical options for adapted fermentation facilities; market study especially
on low-tech and low-cost facilities.
EGE University: Performance of city sorting analysis in Karsiyaka; calculation of specific waste
quantities; trials with plant based treatment pond; laboratory scaled fermentation trials: agricultural
residues, water hyacinths; pilot fermenter trials
EQI: Performance of city sorting analysis in Zagazig; calculation of specific waste quantities;
laboratory scaled fermentation trials: bio-waste, agricultural residues
Technology transfer (description of the technology, name of the provider):
not applicable
Localisation of the applied technology/plant:
Izmir: Pilot fermenter (half-technical size) – fermenter showed some technical problems
Selcuk: PWTP (pilot pond based water treatment plant)
Stuttgart, Izmir, Zagazig: Laboratory scaled fermentation unit
Characteristics of the non-EU area (short description):
Karsiyaka: City of Metropolitan Izmir Area; Izmir is 3rd largest city in Turkey ; Selcuk: Town in the
Aegean region; agriculture predominant; tourism destination: ancient Ephesos (Turkey) ; Marmaris,
Side: Tourism resorts in the Aegean and Mediterranean coast (Turkey) ; Zagazig: Capital of the
governorate Sharkia, surrounding predominantly agriculture (Egypt) Sharm el Sheikh: Tourism
resort in South Sinai, surroundings predominantly desert (Egypt).
Relevant aspects of the co-operation (management, technical, economic):
Laboratory scaled fermentation tests at each participating organisation ;
Trials on half technical stage by all partners in Izmir and Selcuk ;
Data collection for different tasks by the partners ;
Co-ordination meeting at each partner
Best practices and lessons learned:
Preferential consortiums with both private and public organisations ;
No essential project tasks in partner countries under the leadership of public organisations ;
To take mentality and local pre-conditions into account when working out the time table ;
Control everything (analyses, facilities etc. )
Employment observations:
not applicable
g. Potential applications
All experiences and results which had been gathered during this AVICENNE project are
indispensable pre-conditions in case entering the project into demonstration phase.
The demonstration phase to realise a technical fermenter can be subdivided as follows:
 Preparatory phase: negotiations and discussions with local authorities, solving practical
problems of collection and transportation, selection of the appropriate site for building the
reactor, looking for the best way to use the bio-gas.
 Building phase: building up of the fermenter, organising the marketing of the fermentation endproducts (bio-gas, fertiliser)
 Operating phase: detecting and solving technical, logistical, practical problems
For demonstration projects the following subject areas and facility combinations are suggested:
 decentralised fermentation of separate collected bio-waste and other organic waste in urban
districts (district fermenter in Zagazig)
 fermentation of bio-waste in hotels and tourism regions – co-fermentation with sludge from
STPs eventually (resort fermenter in Marmaris or Sharm el Sheikh)
 co-fermentation of water plants, primary sludge and agricultural residues in rural areas
(community co-fermenter in Selcuk)
Demonstration projects are the only possibility to see the workability of a new system under real
conditions during a longer period. However, people being involved in the new systems have to be
encouraged and must get help, guidance and instruction when needed. In addition, co-operation
between local authorities and third parties must be co-ordinated and output material must be
analysed periodically. After the demonstration phase, experience and information about
practicability of the fermentation technology in Mediterranean countries will be available and can
be transferred to other regions.
h. General comments
Consortium is helpless against interruption of payment by the Commission (blame of the
Commission).
Position/tasks of co-ordinator not adequately paid related to the expenditure of time.
Communication with several units of the Commission – bad communication among units.
Time consuming procedures (e.g. payment procedure/justification etc. too complex).
Change of staff at Commission often not announced to the co-ordinator causing irritations and
delays.
i. Contact person for further information
Name:
Telephone no.:
Telefax no.:
E-mail:
Dr.-Eng. K. Fischer, Dipl.-Geogr. D. Steinbach, Dipl.-Geogr. A. Schultheis
+49 711 685 5427/ 5424
+49 711 685 5460
[email protected] ; [email protected]
h. Photos and graphic material
not applicable