Collect millions of dollars by turning waste into clean coal

Thanks to the development of biochar production process from organic waste, a company in Spain has earned "money".

Turn waste sludge and compost into biofuel

Biochar biochar.(Photo: Ingelia).

Ten years ago, Marisa Hernández, co-founder and CEO of Ingelia, and two colleagues, worked hard to develop a production process capable of turning organic waste (like mud). waste and compost) into biochar (biochar) . Products create unexpected success.

This coal is active as coal, but the most remarkable thing is that although it produces the same amount of heat, biochar does not emit carbon dioxide, and the concentration of other toxic gases such as nitrogen, sulfur and Chlorine is much lower than conventional coal burning.

'Under conditions of pressure of 20 bar and temperature of 200ºC, we dehydrate organic substances and convert moisture into liquid form. In other words, we concentrate up to 95% of the fuel in this waste, ' said Ingelia CEO.

During the process of thermonuclear transformation (hydrothermal carbonization), harmful wastes such as nitrogen, sulfur and chlorine, most have been transferred into residual liquid. After an 8-hour treatment process, the result is a solid, dry cylindrical fuel that can completely replace today's coal.

Ingelia handles waste as sludge with high pressure and temperature to produce biochar.(Photo: Shutterstock).

Marisa also emphasized that unpleasant odors generated during hydrolysis will be treated in a closed warehouse, so it is possible to place these biochar plants near residential areas.

'Our biochar produces the same amount of heat and burns as normal coal. Compared to plants that implement composting or biogas composting process, it takes up to 30 days, the process of our process takes only 8 hours'.

Ingelia has applied this biochar production process at waste treatment plants in Spain, England and Italy. In fact, Italy's largest waste management company has deployed this process at its Tuscany plant to handle 80,000 tons of waste each year, and Belgium's Oostende is also planning to build a factory with 4 incinerators have a capacity to process 20,000 tons of organic waste each year.

Marisa Hernández, co-founder and CEO of Ingelia.(Photo: EIT).

Become a raw material for producing batteries, bio-polymer

This Spanish company aims to achieve a clean energy storage method in biomass form, however, not only that, biochar biochar also has many applications.

This coal can be used to make batteries, or even to produce specific materials such as biological polymers for the manufacture of plastic products, or as substitutes. for peat, making soil fertile.

Biochar also has many other applications such as producing batteries or making fertilizer for soil.(Photo: Flickr).

'With this process, by 2022, we can replace 220,000 tons of coal every year and limit half a million tons of CO ₂ emissions to the air,' said Hernández.

In 2017, Ingelia company achieved a turnover of 2.29 million USD and this year the company is aiming to increase to 3.44 million USD and is expected to reach 107 million USD in 2022.

Hernández's contributions to the development of this biochar in Ingelia, have been nominated by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) for female scientists. The award was announced earlier this month at the Institute's annual conference in Budapest, Hungary.