Effective sewage sanitation with low CO2 footprint

Purpose

Provide proof of concept of anaerobic digestion coupled with heat sterilization for a self-sanitizing system for developing communities.

Activities

The overall objective of our project is to develop and demonstrate the proof of concept a novel self-contained and energy neutral sanitation technology that relies on anaerobic digestion of the wastes to generate biogas and utilization of the biogas thus produced to heat-sterilize the treated effluent. The system utilizes simple and reliable equipment so that it does not require a skilled operator or any special maintenance regime.

Countries of activity

Location of main activity

Objectives

Activities and objectives
The project has been divided in two main parts:
a) The anaerobic reactor (lab scale): design and performance
b) The heat sterilization system (full-scale or near full-scale): design, construction and proof of concept to heat-sterilize the treated sewage effluent

The main goal of the lab anaerobic reactor is to prove the suitability of a mixture of feces and urine to serve as a substrate for the anaerobic process focused mainly in the yield and rate of biogas production. The concern is mainly to achieve usual biogas yields and obtain suitable rates of biogas production.

Regarding the heat sterilization system, the challenge is to design a simple and low-cost system with virtually no moving parts, that can effectively deployed, e.g., as a replacement of pit latrines.

Filter tags

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Biogas systems Global North America Product design and engineering Sub-Saharan Africa Treatment of wastewater or greywater University, education or research institution

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