The 40 Hottest Technologies of 2018 – as voting gets underway, the nominees in depth
Biowave, developed by Ashleigh Environmental
What does it do, how does it work, who is it aimed at?
BIOWAVE is a new and ground breaking bio-technology which harnesses microwave energy to valorise organic by-products. A fully modular industrial scale system has been designed. It includes continuous flow microwave treatment, heat recovery, screening, pressure control and a bespoke automation & control system. The system can process >20m3 of biowaste per day and allows for efficient energy transfer, pressure control and discharge to biogas production reactor. The modularity of the technology lends itself to be a bolt on for an existing anaerobic digestion plant or in the construction of new plants throughout Europe and the United States, but the technology is suitable for use in several other markets for creating higher value product.
Competitively, what gives this technology an edge?
The application of microwaves to pre-treat lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most promising valorisation techniques. So far successful applications of microwave technology have been primarily in the synthesis of high value compounds like pharmaceuticals, sterilization of hazards, and extraction of higher value natural products. Developed through two major European R&D funded projects, Biowave has been successfully validated at scale with results from the projects showing >50% improvement in the production of biogas from feedstock treated with microwaves within an anaerobic digestion process. It is disruptive biomass treatment system and a major advance in microwave technology – one of the best examples of its use in a commercial operation. It has successfully demonstrated the power of microwaves to disrupt recalcitrant feedstocks and dramatically improve digestibility in terms of reaction time and biogas yield.
What stage of development is this technology at right now?
Biowave has been in development for 10 years and has been successfully validated at lab and industrial pilot scale. The development has involved academia and industry leaders in Microwave, Anaerobic Digestion, Control and Automation and Agri-food throughout.
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