The future of the landfill industry depends on managing the legacy issues of the sites, more than 50% of the costs relate to disposal of the leachate. Reducing these and recovering resources from the leachate is critical for the circular economy – we are excited to be working with LAT Water on achieving these objectives.
Without the BEIS – IEEA programme, Viridor wouldn’t have been able to explore LAT Water’s cutting-edge technology. Bringing innovation to market is notoriously difficult, but vital if we are to meet decarbonisation targets. The IEEA has helped to bridge the technology ‘valley of death’ from research and development to industry uptake, by supporting commercial-scale pilots that would not happen otherwise and we have really benefited from our participation.
The LAT technology performs in excess of our expectations.
Tim Rotheray, Director of Innovation and Regulation, Viridor
Location
Devon, UK
Project
Treatment of Raw Leachate
Installed
January 2021
Project Background
In January 2021, LAT Water completed the installation of a highly efficient wastewater treatment plant at Broadpath Landfill in Devon, UK. The single LAT Unit at the Viridor site was designed to treat a daily input of 10m3 of raw leachate, while significantly reducing energy consumption, transportation costs, and environmental impact.
Leachate Composition
The raw leachate at Broadpath Landfill had a high total dissolved solids (TDS) reading of over 5,500 mg/L, as well as elevated levels of ammonia, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC) – see the table for full details.
Solution & Results
The LAT Unit is powered by recovering waste heat from the exhaust gas of a 1MW GE Jenbacher biogas generator – this method significantly reduces leachate volumes and subsequently lowers the costs associated with transporting leachate to the treatment facility over 60 miles away. By combining the use of waste heat with reduced transportation requirements, Viridor not only achieved their energy reduction and sustainability targets, but also saw an outstanding 80% reduction in overall treatment costs.
LAT Water’s wastewater treatment plant achieved exceptional water recovery rates, ranging from a minimum of 70% up to a maximum of 95%. This successful water recovery process contributes to the conservation of valuable water resources, as well as meeting (and exceeding) local discharge requirements. This achievement also ensures the protection of the surrounding ecosystem and the health of nearby communities.
The project delivered an overall operating cost reduction of 48% and a 70% reduction in energy use.
The pilot has been partly funded by the Department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (DBEIS), as part of their Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA). The programme is managed by The Carbon Trust with support from Jacobs and it provides funding for energy efficiency process technologies, alongside incubation and commercialisation support.
IndustriesKey Stats
- Operating cost saving: 48%
- Total energy reduction: 70%
- Total treatment cost reduction: 80%
- Electrical energy use: 7kwhr/m3
Water Quality
- Input flowrate: 10m3/day
- Minimum water recovery: 70%
- Maximum water recovery: 95%
Maintenance & Monitoring
- To ensure the success of the project and reduce potential downtime, LAT Water continuously monitored and measured a wide range of parameters relating to input and output water quality to ensure a consistent and reliable operation.
- All results for both distillate and concentrate streams were within the agreed specifications and environmental permits for safe discharge at all times throughout operation.
| Paramater | Feed Waste Water | Clean Distillate Water |
|---|---|---|
| Suspended Solids (mg/L) | 80 | <2 | Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L) | 5,500 | <50 | Ammoniacal Nitrogen (mg/L) | 3,400 | 196 (without ammonia stripper) | COD (mg/L) | 3,600 | 72 | TOC (mg/L) | 964 | 21 |