Axolot Solutions Holding Granted Patent for Phosphorus Recovery Technology
Axolot Granted Patent for Phosphorus Recovery Technology
Axolot has been granted a patent by the Swedish Patent and Registration Office for a refining technique for phosphorus-containing organic sludge, enabling the recovery of phosphorus. The new technology will be implemented, among other things, within the framework of the ongoing large-scale investment in Axolot’s electrocoagulation technology, AxoPur®, at the Aspa Bruk sulfate pulp mill.
The supply of artificial fertilizers is crucial for the productivity of today’s industrial agriculture. Phosphorus is one of the main components of artificial fertilizers. Phosphorus is a finite resource, extracted through mining. Finding methods and processes for recirculation and reuse of phosphorus is therefore a very important area. This is reinforced by environmental reasons, as phosphorus that leaks into waterways and seas causes eutrophication, algal blooms, and dead seabeds. The technology that Axolot has now been granted a patent for enables the recovery of phosphorus from sewage sludge or other organic residual flows, resulting in a product that can be used as fertilizer and soil improvement agent in agriculture.
The largest part of the phosphorus comes from North African Tunisia and Morocco, and especially from the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. A problem with today’s phosphorus extraction is that it is linear, i.e., the phosphorus is mined, used in agriculture, and eventually ends up partly in recipients, i.e., lakes, waterways, and seas – not least the Baltic Sea – where it then contributes to eutrophication, algal blooms, and dead seabeds. Another problem is that phosphorus is very often contaminated with transition metal ions, especially cadmium. Cadmium is toxic to humans and, as a basic element, it never breaks down but is always somewhere. Cadmium-containing phosphorus fertilizer that is spread on fields therefore means, over time, a build-up of the cadmium content in the soil – the soil that will then produce food, which thus gets an increased cadmium content. This applies to most of the mined phosphorus in the world as well as the phosphorus found in various residual streams in society. Finding a way to separate phosphorus from cadmium and other transition metal ions in sewage sludge is therefore something that has long been high on the agenda of many social actors.
Axolot’s now granted patent addresses this challenge by taking dewatered sewage sludge – from a pulp mill or from some other organic residual flow – and adding it to the evaporation at a sulfate pulp mill and then running the recycling process in a slightly different way. In this way, cadmium, together with other toxic transition metal ions, ends up in the electric filter ash, while the phosphorus is obtained as a phosphorus-rich lime in the form of rejected dregs and can be used as fertilizer / soil improvement agent.
At the Aspa Bruk sulfate pulp mill in Olshammar outside Askersund in southern Närke, the construction of what is probably Europe’s largest electrocoagulation plant with Axolot’s AxoPur technology is currently underway, with planned start-up in December. The investment aims to purify the mill’s wastewater from, among other things, organic substances, phosphorus, and transition metal ions. An important part of the project is the now patented technology where the sludge separated during wastewater treatment is centrifuged before being fed into the middle liquor in the evaporation process. Aspa Bruk will thus not only be the first with large-scale electrocoagulation for wastewater treatment but also the first with phosphorus refining.
Image: Aspa Bruk is a manufacturer of high-quality specialty pulps, located at northern Vättern.
For further information, please contact:
Martin Ragnar, Technology and Development Manager Axolot Solutions Holding AB, +46 70 817 11 16 or martin.ragnar@axolotsolutions.com
About Axolot Solutions
Axolot Solutions Holding AB is a Swedish environmental technology company that sells systems and solutions for industrial and public water treatment based on the company’s unique and proprietary AxoPur® technology. AxoPur® is a cost-effective broad-spectrum purification for complex contaminated water that does not require the addition of precipitation chemicals and that enables increased recirculation and reuse of process water. This means a minimal impact on the environment. The company works internationally through close collaborations with local and regional well-established partners. In Sweden and Norway, the company sells its products and solutions through the associated company Mellifiq, where it is the second largest owner. More information about the business can be found at www.axolotsolutions.com.
Axolot Solutions Holding AB has its headquarters in Helsingborg and the company’s share (ticker: Axolot) has been listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market, Stockholm, since November 21, 2018. FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s Certified Adviser.
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