710027Bactest CYTOMAIA respirometer technology for optimisation of wastewater processesClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKThe business opportunity this project (Shepherd) addresses is to bring to market the first insitu, real time activated sludge monitoring system, that would enable the waste water industry to dramatically cut their energy consumption and carbon footprint. Fundamental to the process of dealing with wastewater is the generation of a stable population of microorganisms in the process plant for the purification of raw sewage and commercial waste. The process is continuous and kept in balance by adjusting flow rates of effluent and by maintaining the correct oxygen content to allow efficient microbial growth and purification. Air is forced into the "activated sludge" by large compressors to maintain the gaseous composition. Key causes of poorly performing plants are inadequate plant operation control and testing. Increasingly, biological monitoring is seen as the solution to optimising processes and is a significant driver within the industry. Currently there are no microbial monitoring systems suitable for real time process control. The industry spends up to 50% of its energy OPEX on ad-hoc aeration of activated sludge with the aim to optimise bacterial activity in waste water treatment plants. Currently the standard test is BOD5 which takes 5 to 7 days for results to come back to the plant by which time the “situation” has dramatically changed. Thus the test can be useless. The industry has been seeking a solution to this problem for years. An on-line, reliable, real time BOD analysis device (or analogue) would transform control and lead to enhanced discharge standards and lower, optimised, energy consumption throughout the industry. In order to address this business opportunity BACTEST will need to modify its current proven technology platform CYTOMAIA that was designed to be used in a portable contamination testing instrument (Speedy Breedy) such that the technology could be used in a larger device that would permanently reside on a waste water plant sampling activated sludge, testing and transmitting results to a monitoring centre. This would enable plant operators to have results on the “health” of bacterial activity every hour (as opposed to every 7 days) enabling them to make more efficient use of aeration resulting is lower energy spend. In addition the data generated by Shepherd will also be transmitted to BACTEST where a database will be grown and software tools built to analyse waste water facilities to assist in management and planning of waste water facilities. Project outcomes from this TSB project will prove that our technology platform can be modified as outlined above and will culminate in 2 prototypes being deployed on test waste water facilities, one at Anglian Water in Cambridge, the other at Cranfield University. Industry experts used to trouble shooting problem plants suggest savings of 20% should be a target for well controlled processes. We anticipate proof of concept will cost around £168,000 and take 12 months.