FCC targets new conversion technologies

The FCC Aqualia division of Spain-based FCC Group says it is working in partnership with Area Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB), FCC Medio Ambiente (the Spanish brand for FCC Environment), Gas Natural Fenosa, the Catalan Energy Institute (ICAEN) and Spanish automaker SEAT to develop “an innovative process for enhancing biofuel production from municipal, agricultural and industrial waste.”

Methamorphosis, which was granted funding in 2014 by Europe’s LIFE Programme  (designed to support actions to mitigate climate change), seeks to increment biogas production from municipal waste leachate by modifying and innovating processing techniques. The gas produced by this methanization process is enriched for use as fuel in vehicles. In the future, it may be injected into the natural gas grid, says FCC.

The project foresees the installation and operation of prototypes to increase biogas output and enrich its biomethane content at the Ecoparc 2 municipal solid waste treatment center near Barcelona, which is owned by AMB and managed by FCC Medio Ambiente. The prototypes are based on three technologies developed by FCC Aqualia: an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR), a patented system for autotrophic denitrification (ELAN®), and a patented upgrading facility designed to produce enriched biomethane from biogas (ABAD®).

“This new process will enhance efficiency while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by cutting energy demand by 70 percent and reducing CO₂ emissions by 80 percent with respect to conventional processes,” says FCC. ICAEN will assist in transferring the knowledge obtained from the project and in enhancing its replicability.

Methamorphosis represents a step forward in extracting energy from waste and is an important contribution to a circular economy, since it turns a waste treatment center into a fuel production facility with the ability to feed both vehicles and the distribution network, according to FCC.

The efficiency of the enriched biomethane will be tested in trials with SEAT vehicles monitored by that company’s engineers and in FCC Medio Ambiente vehicles that currently use natural gas, in a series of tests totaling 120,000 kilometers per vehicle.

FCC Group describes itself as a world leader in environmental services, end-to-end water management, and infrastructure development. It currently employs more than 50,000 people and operates in 25 countries. In 2015 it obtained close to €6.5 billion ($7.3 billion) in revenue, with 47 percent of that derived from countries other than Spain. FCC Aqualia is the water management subsidiary of FCC.