Royal HaskoningDHV, a Netherlands-based engineering company, has entered into a cooperation agreement to buy the patents for HpH digestion technology from Anglian Water, an England-based water company.
The engineering company will introduce the technology as “Helea,” to promote as a solution for sustainable, advanced sludge digestion. Financial details about the investment were not disclosed.
Every wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) produces sludge as part of the treatment process. The treatment and disposal of these biosolids is expensive, representing up to 70 percent of a plant’s operating costs.
Responsible for processing around 150,000 tons of sludge per annum, Anglian Water identified an opportunity to develop a new hydrolysis technology that would maximize a plant’s biogas production from sludge. This would also reduce operating costs and the plant’s carbon footprint. The technology is now successfully installed across four Anglian Water sludge treatment plants.
Helea provides wastewater companies with a technology that significantly increases the biogas yield over conventional digestion. At the same time, it transforms the remaining biosolids into a high-quality biosolids resource that can be utilized in agriculture as a nutrient and a soil conditioner.
“We are excited about the opportunities for this technology in the water sector, both in the UK and abroad,” said Erik Oostwegel, CEO of Royal HaskoningDHV, in a press release. “With the environmental and climate changes that surround us, there is an increasing focus on resource recovery and energy efficiency.”
“We are really proud to have developed this innovative, green technology at Anglian Water — it epitomizes what we stand for as a business: forward thinking, environmentally conscious, and always looking for better ways of doing things,” said Peter Simpson, CEO of Anglian Water. “We have benefitted from HpH technology over the past six years at four of our recycling centers and now, we are excited to work with Royal HaskoningDHV, leading international consulting engineers, to increase the access to this advanced technology across the UK and beyond. The advantages of Helea combined with other treatment technologies will in our experience provide significant benefits, both in process efficiency as well as cost savings and the environment.”
