Member - Eagleridge Innovations Corporation

MicroPoP uses a proven mechanical device to lyse (or pop) bacteria in waste activated sludge (WAS), a waste by-product from municipal and some industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), eliminating WAS for costly dewatering and disposal. MicroPoP lyses microbial cells using a high pressure homogenizer, a proven industrial machine that has been used in food processing for decades. This cell disruption converts WAS into a readily available food source to produce biogas by anaerobic digestion, and/or formation of carbon dioxide gas by aerobic co-digestion with in-coming wastewater in the WWTP' aerobic treatment system. MicroPoP provides the following operational, environmental, and economic benefits: • Destruction of WAS by aerobic activated sludge treatment and/or by anaerobic digestion, so dewatering and disposal of WAS is no longer needed. • Significant savings in operating costs and capital costs for sludge management at WWTPs. • Reduced GHG emissions through less truck hauling, less sludge to degrade to methane upon disposal, lower polymer use, and biogas displacement of fossil fuels, helping cities achieve carbon neutral and climate action goals. • Less residual solids (only primary solids remain) for handling, processing, and disposal, and therefore less reliance on landfills, incinerators, or land application. • Increased biogas production by double or more by anaerobic digestion, increasing energy self sufficiency for WWTPs. • Reduced treatment time for anaerobic digestion, increasing the digester capacity by three times, so fewer or smaller digesters are needed. This avoids high capital costs to build additional anaerobic digesters and to increase capacity for sludge handling, thickening, storage and transport. • By liquefying secondary WAS, MicroPoP reverses WWTPs' effect of concentrating pharmaceuticals, metals and PFAS in sludge. • Small and modular equipment can be retrofitted into the available footprint of most wastewater treatment plants. • Phosphorus removal with a technology called MagPi as a simple add-on. MagPi became available one year ago. • Ammonia nitrogen removal with a technology called Misty as a simple add-on. Misty became available about 6 months ago. • MicroPoP minimizes costs to process WAS and extracts value from waste in the form of biogas for renewable energy and nutrients for sustainable agriculture.