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Why electrodialysis is important to design the RUSTICA Bio-based fertilizer
Electrodialysis (ED), as highlighted in Fig.1 is one of the competitive membrane-based technologies for separating NPKs and Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) from fermented food wastes.
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It applies electric current and ion exchange membranes (IEMs) to separate the NPKs and VFAs into their purer forms (Fig. 2). Because electrodialysis mainly separates the NPKs and VFAs based on their ionic charges, it produces products of higher purity, higher concentration and less water (Fig. 3), which are mainly difficult to be attained simultaneously via Nanofiltration (NF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). Therefore, UGent, as a partner of the RUSTICA project, targeted at closing the loop of circular economy is applying laboratory and pilot scale ED (Fig. 4 and 5) to produce NPKs and VFAs of higher purity and higher concentrations (Fig. 6). The purer NPKs produced shall be used for bio-based fertilizer applications whereas the VFAs shall be used for fuels, biodegradable plastics, and oils (Fig. 7), as alternative to fossil-based products.
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The first workshop of RUSTICA project in Spain took place in Almería on 10th November of 2021
Tecnova counts on the presence of 10 stakeholders of the Rustica project (in Almería - Spain) to obtain bio-based fertilisers from organic fruit and vegetable waste.
Productive RUSTICA project meeting and inspiring field visits in Almeria
The RUSTICA project started in January 2021, with as key objective research on the processing of fruit and vegetable waste into bio-based fertilizers. Due to the Covid crisis, the consortium could not have any live meeting so far. But last week, finally, a real project meeting took place in Almeria.
Carboxilic Acid Platform (CAP) as starting point for a bio-based fertilizer
The Carboxylic Acid Platform (CAP) is a green, biological technology which allows the production of a complex solution. Multiple natural bacteria, found on the agricultural waste, break down the organic matter into nutrients and short carbon chains.