Biogas and valuable components from industrial waters

Industrial activities generate significant amounts of various wastewater and side streams. These industrial waters are very variable in quality and composition, depending on the industry sector and production process. This project focuses on various waters from the food, mining, and forest industries. The aim of the project is to determine the treatment methods suitable for selected industrial waters and a comprehensive solution that promotes the circular economy, in cooperation with companies. The aim is to recover and recycle valuable fractions, such as metals and nutrients, from water, utilize organic matter into biogas, nutrients into microalgae, and produce value components (pigments, fatty acids, proteins) for various applications. The aim is to provide sustainable, cost- and energy-efficient technical solutions, taking into account the differences in industrial waters. With the treatment solutions tested in the project, the goal is to purify the water either for reuse, or discharging back into nature or with less burden to the municipal wastewater treatment plant.

The project is coordinated by the HAMK Bio research unit of Häme University of Applied Sciences, with the Chemical Process Engineering of the University of Oulu and the Department of Separation Science at LUT University as research partners. The project involves several companies from the mining, dairy, beverage and forest industries, as well as technology companies representing processing solutions.

The University of Oulu sub-project (A90792) is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Agnico Eagle Finland Oy, EPSE Oy, Outokumpu Chrome Oy, Outokumpu Mining Oy and the University of Oulu.

The VESITAR project was prepared with funding from the European Regional Development Fund, which was granted to the Biogas and valuable components from industrial waste waters - Preparatory project - (A90288) by the South Savo Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment