Valladolid will feature the composting plant at Europe's largest base of sludge

The company Biocompostajes Spanish (Bicoe), company dedicated to the recycling of sludge from sewage treatment plants and organic matter from urban and industrial waste, is about to complete the installation of which will be the largest in Europe aerobic composting plantlocated in Valladolid of Velascálvaro. A project involving particular level, Casimir and José Antonio Martínez, the two brothers proprietary Casimiro machines, with an investment valued at eleven and a half million euros.

With its opening scheduled for early July, this plant It will provide fertilizer for agriculture. in fact, it is expected Locate the plant in an area of 90,000 square metres. capable of processing some 300 tons per day of sewage sludge, which is about 80,000 tonnes per year, will be able to recycle sludge produced in the sewage treatment plants in a wide range of action of such plant. In addition, it will generate a production of compost of some 32,000 tons per year which may be applied to regenerate the soil of the area north and South of Valladolid Salamanca and Ávila.

For the treatment of sludge, Bicoe will employ a technique American, innovative in Spain but already implanted in Europe which, for its advantages, will make it possible to rule out other well-known traditional composting techniques.
This system is based on a technology of aerobic digestion in enclosed tunnels which, by means of forced ventilation, allow control of the process in the matrix of the composted.

Currently, the mud thrown directly on the grounds untreated or eliminate toxic substances, generating odours, and contaminated aquifers. In addition, the transport is done in normal trucks and agricultural trailers without guaranteeing the process to be successful.

On the other hand, by aerobic digestion in tunnels, the sludge transforms into high-quality compost to be able to be used in the field without polluting.And Bicoe will transport sludge from the sewage treatment plants to plant in camiones-contenedores, ajunstándose the laws in force.

• MUDs are not affected by the rain
• The wind not dry or disseminates materials
• The losses are minimized and contained
• Containment of the smell
• Minimized problems of volatility
• The system offers an ideal containment for mature compost
• No problem of proximity with other activities

Control of the process:

• The temperature is controlled by the flow of air
• The humidity is maintained through ventilation and control of fluids
• The percentage of carbon/nitrogen is regulated during the mix
• Compaction is controlled during the process

Applications of composting

One of the most attractive of the composting characteristics is that there is a market for this product: potential buyers include the own municipalities that cause waste, farmers practising organic farming, more or less intensive horticulture, fruit growers, individuals who have houses with garden, owners of pastures, nursery owners and operators of golf courses. The price of the compost varies considerably depending on the characteristics, packaging and quality, starting materials used and fate of the finished product, since that even today, he is considered as a residual in some cases product or as a product of luxury in others.

In arid climates, compost has extra value as enabling of soil conservation and key element in the fight against erosion

Applications go en masse to sale in agriculture, traditional destination of composted products. It is also in this sector where a need of organic matter and nutrients N-P - greater K is detected. It is now known that the contribution of organic matter provides benefits that go beyond the simple improvement of the production.

Bicoe recorded his final product with its labelling and develop a final application and distribution chain in the field.

The soils of the North and South of Valladolid area of Salamanca and Ávila, by the overexploitation which have undergone in recent years, are devoid of organic matter and loaded with chemicals and plant fertilizers.

The use of compost was an opportunity for regeneration of these soils on minerals such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium, thereby increasing its fertility and considerably improving its productivity.

The sludge from the sewage treatment plants, both urban and industrial - and these latest especially the food - contain a high percentage of organic matter that can be reused. One of the processes that can allow a less problematic use of sludge will be through a composting of them prior to final disposal. The composting of sewage sludge produces effects similar to the compostajes made on other materials that contain organic matter. I.e., composting is a biological process aerobic which, under conditions of ventilation, humidity and temperature controlled and combining stages mesophilic (average temperature and humidity) and thermophilic (temperatures above 45 ° C), transforms the degradable organic waste, in a stable and higienizado productwhich applied as fertilizer or substrate.

It is a technique for stabilization and treatment of biodegradable organic waste. The heat generated during the process (thermophilic phase) will destroy pathogenic bacteria, parasite eggs and many seeds of weeds that may be in the starting material, leading to a higienizado product. It is a biological technique of recycling of organic matter at the end of its evolution gives humus, factor of stability and fertility of the soil.

And the system Bicoe closes the natural cycle of recycling: will take care of transport sludge from the sewage treatment plants to plant in camiones-contenedores, in accordance with the regulations in force. On arrival at the plant, the mud will be heavy, analysed and valued for their different characterizations. They will be downloaded onto the ship of melaje, where a machine mixer surrounds them with remains of biomass, astillaje or waste from green pruning (10% of the mixture are volatilized in the process of melaje). It should be noted that the ship is equipped with a few Scruber filters that constantly filtered air and neutralizes the odor. This mixture is transported to the tunnels of fermentation.