DE RESE

WASTE & WASTEWATER:

ANAEROBIC TREATMENT
BIOGAS UTILIZATION

DATA SHEET OF THE “DE RESE” PROJECT IN ZEDELGEM - BELGIUM

1. Project description
This project is a thermophilic anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse wastes (“unborn”
animal manure , stomach content of pigs and cows , DAF sludge , blood and excess bio-
sludge…) , kitchen waste , fruit and vegetable wastes , etc…. and aerobic treatment of the
wastewaters of the slaughterhouse in a SBR .
Capacity of the slaughter house:
• 6,000 pigs per week
• 2,000 sows per week
The digested material is used as fertilizer in the agriculture.
The treated wastewater is discharged.
About 7,500 m³ biogas is produced per day for a digester size of 1,000 m³. The biogas is
converted to electricity (625 kW).

SLAUGHTERHOUSE

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 2. Process description

DE RESE
The different kinds of concentrated wastes are stored in separate tanks and eventually
crushed before being mixed and fed to the digester.
The wastewater of the slaughterhouse is submitted to a DAF before treatment in a SBR
type of aerobic process including nitrification and denitrification phases.
The excess sludge from the DAF and from the SBR are both digested in the thermophilic
reactor. The process thus includes the following steps:
• Screening of the wastewater with a rotary screen
• Treatment of the unit of the screened wastewater in a DAF
• Nitrification/denitrification of the DAF effluent in a SBR
• Crushing and homogenization of the different concentrated solid and liquid
wastes
• Anaerobic thermophilic digestion of the homogenized and mixed wastes
• Electricity and hot water production with the biogas

3. Important process parameters

SLAUGHTERHOUSE
• Amount of waste submitted to digestion : 20 to 50 T/d
• Percent destruction of the organic material submitted to digestion :
50 to 70 %
• Process temperature of the anaerobic digester: 50 to 53°C
• Hydraulic retention time in the of the anaerobic digester : 20 days min

4. Financial data
The investment cost for the project including the digester and the wastewater treatment
plant amounted to 750,000 Euro in 1994, biogas engine for electricity production not
included. The actual income from the “green” power production amounts to 90,000 Euro
per month or 1,080,000 Euro per year.

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