The mission, organised by Paula Twin of Vine Tree Solutions <www.vinetreesolutions.co.uk>, demonstrated the increasing interest shown in renewable energy and environmental solutions to waste challenges by companies and municipalities of all sizes in this remarkably buoyant economy. 

Chris Newman, Sales & Business Development Manager at ESI commented, “To have potential customers of this quality literally knocking at our door not only demonstrates the serious need for environmental technologies in Brazil but also the very high regard in which the British industry is held internationally. 

Eco-Solids will be building on these and other contacts to further increase the geographical breadth of our customer base.

Job Title: Manager, Engineering & Technology

Company: Eco-Solids International

What was your first job?

I was a graduate civil engineer with Black & Veatch, working in their environmental consultation department.

What do you like/hate most about your current job?

I get to do a bit of everything. Come to think of it, I actually get to do a lot of everything.

How has past job experience helped in your role?

I spent three years working as a water resource engineer designing hydro-power schemes in New Zealand. Working overseas gave me the confidence to broaden my workload and rely more on using my own initiative.

Where would you like to be in ten years, career-wise?

I have no fixed targets, but would like to be working on interesting and challenging projects, possibly overseas. Maybe a nice WwTW project in the Caribbean for a change?

What ringtone Sat/Nav do you have?

Just an old fashioned ringtone for me because if it was music I probably wouldn’t realise people were calling. My Sat-Nav is switched to silent. I don’t need someone else telling me where to go!

What do you look for in a job?

A testing and interesting one, with plenty of diversity.

What is your most immediate concern?

Is it going to snow again? – so will I be able to get to site to commission our first Cellruptor (which increases the yield of biogas) at Elsholt for Yorkshire Water.

What vehicle do you drive?

A VW Transporter combi van, which I am converting into a multi-sport campervan, mainly for windsurfing and mountain biking equipment.

What advice would you give somebody wanting to embark on a career in the water sector?

There are many avenues available, so try and get some broad experience and see which tasks you enjoy most and which ones suit you best.

How would you change government legislation?

More help and incentives for new technologies so that ideas can be fully developed.

What skill of yours would surprise your colleagues?

I’m possibly more persuasive and assertive than they realise! I was on a deadline to install our Packaged Wastewater Treatment Plant at a landfill in the Philippines and one day had no option but to get to the locals to work their precious lunch hour. They weren’t too thrilled.

What skill of yours would surprise your colleagues?

I have competed in a couple of 24 hour adventure races. They were probably the toughest challenges I have undertaken, but amazing team experiences and huge satisfaction to finish them.

What has been your greatest failure?

On one of my visits to China to supervise the manufacture of our Eco-Solids Process I risked insulting our hosts by failing to finish an important meal. Mind you, it was a thick sea-slug soup – served cold. Truly disgusting. I might have managed it on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, but I failed on this occasion.

What would you do to combat the water industry’s skills shortage?

Low starting salaries were the main issue when I graduated, but thankfully they have improved a bit since then. In the current climate I think the main help would be to promote future job prospects to students, to encourage people to take suitable courses at university.

If you could job swap with anyone for the day, what would you do and why?

An extreme base jumper – one of those guys who jumps off a mountainside in a flying suit. Zooming through the air at 100mph looks amazing. I’d really like to give that a go!

The new Cellruptor is a cell disruption technology designed to massively increase the biogas production from SAS with Anaerobic Digestion.

The eagerly awaited Cellruptor, which has been the talk of the waste-water market in the UK for a number of years, is expected to be fully commissioned in the next couple of weeks. Full process testing will commence early December with results due around the end of January. Eco-Solids are expecting to see a substantial biogas increase and a huge reduction in digested solids resulting in impressive annual revenue increases at the Esholt site. The UK water industry waits with baited breath to see how effective this incredibly cost effective AD pre treatment will be. Eco-Solids says watch this space.

Jan Ward from Southampton took the coveted NatWest everywoman Award for the most inspirational female entrepreneur.

Jan always knew she wanted to work in international trade, so she could explore her love of travel. Having left school aged 16, she worked at a number of companies exporting engineering materials, carving a niche for herself by specialising in dealing with clients based in the Middle East.

Taking control of her career, Jan set up Corrotherm International in 1992, specialising in supplying high grade metals. The company has since expanded significantly, with offices now in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Libya, India and Iran, in addition to a team of 14 in the UK and a turnover of £10m.

Jan sees determination as vital to her success, as she was initially told by peers that it was not possible for a woman to set up on her own or to work successfully with clients in the Middle East, but she refused to take ‘no’ for an answer. She is particularly proud of the team she has around her, having never had anyone leave the company; she still enjoys the thrill of watching her staff develop and grow.

Jan comments, “I work in a sector which is dominated by men, but I’m proof that if you have the determination, you can do anything you want to do.”

Richard Taylor, Brand Director, NatWest comments, “Jan has seen her company grow from a micro business working out of one room, into an extraordinary global success with offices in many countries across the world. Jan is a great role model and this award recognises her determination and business success despite some significant challenges along the way. At NatWest, our team of over 170 Women in Business Ambassadors help many female entrepreneurs like Jan to start up and grow and we are delighted that female entrepreneurship is becoming a career choice for more and more women.”

Co-founder and Director of everywoman, Karen Gill, MBE, comments “2009 has been an incredibly tough year for UK plc.  This year, more than ever, we are overwhelmed by the achievements of our award winners.  They have all exhibited gritty determination to succeed, regardless of the obstacles that are thrown at them, all the while demonstrating ethical working practices.”

2009 sees the tenth anniversary of everywoman, the UK’s largest and fastest growing independent network for women in business, and the seventh annual NatWest everywoman Awards. To mark this milestone year, everywoman has launched a five point manifesto identifying areas for radical change to the landscape for women in business over the next decade. Whilst acknowledging that much progress has been made, there is still a long way to go before women are on an equal footing with their male counterparts in the business sphere. By 2019, everywoman is calling for an increase in the number of women-run businesses of 100,000, using initiatives such as the NatWest everywoman Awards to identify those who are already exhibiting success, in order to give others the confidence to go it alone.

VALORGAS will examine the processes involved in the production of renewable biogas from collected food waste, from the sorting and collection stage, to the anaerobic digestion (AD) stage itself, with a view to process optimisation.  Eco-Solids is involved in looking at the pre-treatment stage for AD feedstock from the point of pathogen removal and biogas production.

European partners include those from academic and industrial bodies from the UK, Italy, Finland and Portugal.  The work will be completed by the end of 2013.

On the Monday morning the conference organisers had arranged a site visit to the Esholt Waste-water treatment plant for all delegates and Eco-Solids were centre stage at the site.

Mr Clive Rigden (Managing Director) of Eco-Solids gave a welcome speech to the visitors which was then followed by a technical presentation by the companies Dr Peter Barratt (Manager, Product & Market Development) on the new Cellruptor full commercial unit installation at the Esholt site.
Visitors were taken, by the Eco-Solids team, on to the site to see the new installation and Dr Jake Spooner (Manager Engineering & Technology) gave a full tour & process explanation of the new technology.

On the Tuesday Dr Peter Barratt gave a technical paper to delegates at the conference about the Cellruptor technology and the site installation at Esholt.

At the invitation of Yorkshire Water, delegates from the UK and as far afield as San Fransico gained special access to the inaugural installation of this Eco-Solids’ cell disruption technology, which is set to provide a significant and valuable increase in biogas production at Esholt.

Jon Brigg of Yorkshire Water said:  “After working so hard to install this ground breaking Eco-Solids’ project, it was an excellent opportunity to be able to introduce it to the industry at  first-hand.  Eco-Solids’ Dr Jake Spooner conducted an excellent and full process tour with a productive Q&A session too”.

Speaking for the conference organisers, Aqua Enviro, Frances Woodhead added:  “The Cellruptor tour at Esholt was a resounding success.  It proved an excellent hands-on visit for our delegates and was also followed by a very informative technical presentation at the conference by Eco-Solids’ Dr Peter Barratt”.

During the conference there was much discussion about the recognized benefits of the Cellruptor process and everyone is looking forward to seeing the early operational results from Esholt.

In his conference paper on the first morning, Dr Paul Hunt of AECOM compared the operational and economic characteristics of several pre-treatment processes, concluding that; “The comparative simplicity of Cellruptor offered an advantage in selection over the other processes in addition to its claimed increased gas yield”.

Later in the conference, Ruyi Hu of United Utilities presented a paper on a model for reviewing the operational costings for various digestion enhancement technologies in which Cellruptor came out very well indeed.  Mr Hu mentioned that; “For sludge pre-treatment, APD, EH and THP are the most common and popular technologies in the market. There are a few encouraging new technologies, such as Cellruptor which are showing great potential”. Cellruptor’s cell-disintegration technology dramatically improves the process economics of AD. It is a simple system that enhances the reduction of volatile solids to increase overall gas generation - without introducing additional large energy requirements or complex operational process equipment.

Eco-Solids International’s new Cellruptor technology can enhance the anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge to generate a massive 25% to 40% extra gas.

A highly efficient and extremely cost-effective pre-treatment, Cellruptor’s cell-disintegration technology utilises AD to dramatically improve the operational and process economic dynamics of treating sewage and wastewater sludges.

Cellruptor’s simple process enhances the reduction of volatile solids to increase overall biogas generation, but without the large energy requirement and operational problems that can plague some ultrasonic or high shear technologies.  And unlike some alternative technologies that require high pressures, skid-mounted Cellruptor only needs a maximum of 10bar.

Additional gas also means less digestate solids to be stored, moved and transported, with Cellruptor (which in some cases has a rapid payback of less than 24 months) improving the throughput of the treatment works and prolonging the life of capital equipment.

Newly launched in the UK and Europe, the Eco-Solids Process is a continuous stabilisation process for treating all types of sewage sludge, including sludges that contain a proportion of hard to handle Surplus/Secondary Activated Sludge (SAS).

Available exclusively from Eco-Solids International, the process not only produces an enhanced treated biosolid and income-generating product (which exceeds European and U S regulatory requirements), but results in significant reductions in sludge volume, volatile solids (VS), total nitrogen and water extractable phosphates.  Complete inactivation of microbiological activity is also achieved, as well as an improved percentage of solids of the product.

Already a proven technology in the U S, the small footprint Eco-Solids Process is readily adaptable to any operating sequence, commensurate with the dewatering cycle and availability of cake from centrifuges or belt presses.  Individual systems, including mobile units, can be tailored to meet specific requirements at each site, and can include dewatering equipment.

From sludge volumes ranging from 2,500kg/hr up to 10,000kg/hr (wet cake), a single Eco-Solids Process unit ensures that a proportion of the treated material is recycled back into the feed hopper along with the other raw materials at the start of the process. This recycling increases the temperature of the raw feed material and can significantly reduce the amount of calcium oxide required in the process, which in turn means lower operating costs compared with conventional lime-based processes.

The result at the end of the process is a non-malodorous enhanced treated (Class A/EQ) biosolid, called Eco-Solid, which is placed into a container for disposal off-site. Being highly stable and low in odour, the Eco-Solid product does not require silo storage, giving further CAPEX savings for the overall scheme.