To accomplish its goal, the LIFE INFUSION project is going to apply the process of stripping/scrubbing, among other technologies, to treat liquid waste streams. Stripping volatizes the ammonia from the liquid to a gaseous form and this separated ammonia is then washed out (or scrubbed) from this air by a strong acid, forming an ammonium salt. The proposed stripping process in LIFE INFUSION allows the recovery of a green fertilizer with low energy consumption, thus decreasing the production needs of inorganic ones from scratch. The first stream to treat is the liquid organic fraction of municipal waste, collected and treated at Ecoparc 2 in Barcelona, Spain.

The ammonia recovery unit was engineered and built by Detricon, a Belgian partner in the project. Lab-scale testing by Eurecat proved that it was essential to remove the ammonia from the liquid with the stripping process, in order to increase the biogas production in the downstream process. The arrival of the stripping unit to the demo site in Barcelona at the end of 2021 also provided the opportunity to meet face-to-face with all partners.

The stripping unit is ready to treat its first volumes of this challenging but nutrient rich waste stream!