Udvikling af ny nanoboble-teknologi til energioptimering på renseanlæg

Electricity consumption for the water sector's wastewater treatment accounts for up to 0.5-1% of Denmark's total electricity consumption. At Danish and foreign wastewater treatment plants, aeration is widely used to support biological processes. In the project we will develop a new membrane-based technology to produce nanobubbles that is particularly suitable for carrying out energy-demanding aeration of biological processes at the wastewater treatment plants. Nanobubbles have an enormous oxygen transfer capacity, because they are so tiny that they have no buoyancy and thereby distribute evenly in the water column and provide high oxygen transfer efficiency. Nanobubbles are a relatively new, yet well-documented technology that we want to develop further so it will be applicable for aeration of wastewater, which pose a challenging environment with a high-energy demand. We want to deliver the first Danish-produced nanobubble unit, which will be able to provide a more effective oxygenation of wastewater than the current traditional forms of aeration (bottom aeration and surface aeration). Through optimization of oxygenation, it is our goal to be able to document a continuous reduction in energy consumption in the range of 50-75%. We also expect a reduction in nitrous oxide emissions from treatment plants of 50%.