Water Environment Research Foundation Launches New Co-Digestion Project

WERF selects Carollo Engineers to perform research as part of a series of new projects on furthering co-digestion

Alexandria, VA (PRWEB) - The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) has initiated a second project on furthering co-digestion. WERF selected Carollo Engineers to perform this research as part of a series of new projects. The project entitled Co-Digestion of Organic Waste – Addressing Operational Side Effects (ENER9C13) will help increase the number of utilities performing co-digestion by providing tools that enable them to better understand the implications of co-digestion, and reduce roadblocks and uncertainty associated with the process.

A primary benefit of co-digestion is that it uses existing infrastructure and expertise to divert food waste, fats, oils, and greases from other methods of disposal. This study will consist of two major phases:

• The first phase will focus on analysis of available operations and maintenance data and identification of operations and maintenance issues at a range of treatment facilities participating in the research.
• The second phase will focus on sampling at selected participating treatment facilities and bench-scale testing to identify variability in supplemental organic waste characteristics.

This project is co-funded by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and will provide specific benefits to municipal wastewater treatment facilities, food-processing industries, and the dairy industry within the state of New York. Potential benefits include implementing new co-digestion systems and/or expanding existing co-digestion systems at treatment facilities within New York State.

The Water Environment Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 1989, is America's leading independent scientific research organization dedicated to wastewater and stormwater issues.