Member - Développement Solugen Inc.

Mission Statement To produce and market organic fertilizers in a circular economy by treating agricultural effluents with an innovative process that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture. Solugen: the company, business model, and technology Solugen is a young company that was born from an innovative technology for the treatment of highly contaminated water. It soon became apparent that its process was a particularly suitable solution for treating pig manure. The company therefore decided to focus its efforts and activities on the hog production industry. The company's business model evolved when it realized that the investment required was, for a majority of producers, a disincentive to purchase, and that one of the by-products of manure treatment, a liquid nitrogen fertilizer named AZOGEN, has a high commercial value in the rapidly growing organic farming market. On this basis, Solugen decided to offer a manure treatment service rather than sell its system. The business model is based on the company financing the manure treatment plants it operates. Solugen takes over the management of the manure and charges a competitive service fee to hog producers, relieving them of the often time consuming management of this effluent. Solugen processes the manure, recovers, packages and markets the liquid nitrogen fertilizer resulting from the process to organic farmers in Canada and the United States. Starting sales is planned for 2022. Technology Solugen offers a solution for the treatment of highly contaminated water that facilitates the management of pig slurry. The system is based on a fully automated treatment process. The operation as well as the general maintenance of the equipment are carried out by the Solugen team. The system pumps the slurry directly from the hog producer's pre-pit to perform the treatment as quickly as possible to limit the digestion of the slurry and greenhouse gas emissions. The treatment process is composed of two distinct steps: The pre-treatment of the manure which consists in the separation of the liquid and solid fraction by means of a custom designed centrifuge and The treatment of the liquid fraction by distillation with vapor recompression. Following the distillation stage, we obtain a large volume of totally clean water, which represents up to 84% of the initial volume. This water can be used by the hog producer for cleaning purposes or be released to the watercourse. Three subproducts with fertilizing values, that can be valorized by the farmer, represent the remaining 16% . The Solugen process thus makes it possible to separate the pig manure into a solid fertilizer composed mainly of phosphorus representing 9% of the initial volume, a liquid fertilizer concentrated in potassium representing approximately 5% of the initial volume, and a nitrogen-based solution representing 2% of the initial volume of manure. Environmental benefits -Energy required for operation The system works with hydroelectricity, a clean energy. The solution is energy efficient, 30 kWh are enough to treat one cubic meter of slurry. -Reduction of greenhouse gases 90-95% reduction in greenhouse gases normally emitted during storage and spreading of liquid manure. A Solugen system treating 10,000m3 of manure per year, results in a reduction of 572 t CO2 per year. -Optimized management of phosphorus 85% of the phosphorus initially contained in the slurry is concentrated in the solid fraction which represents 10% of the volume of the slurry. It is therefore easier and less costly to transport this phosphorus-rich biosolid to agricultural areas not saturated with this element. -Reduction of pollution risks Significant reduction in the risk of eutrophication of rivers and water bodies. -Limitation of the transport of liquid manure on the roads Use of a clean operating energy which considerably limits the constraints of spreading and especially the use of fossil fuels for its transport. For 10 000 m3 of treated manure, the number of transports to the spreading areas is reduced by 425 on average. -Recovery of cleanwater for reuse Recovery of clean water up to 84% of the volume of treated slurry. This water can be used for cleaning the breeding installations for example or be discharged without negative impact on the environment.