Aquaculture Sludge Technology Evaluation

Context

An international aquaculture company expanding operations to a site in the Northeastern United States was seeking a solution for handling of the salty sludge generated by their on-land seawater-based process. Many companies dewater sludge for landfill or pipe the sludge far offshore for disposal, but a more sustainable solution providing for energy recovery (e.g., biogas) or compost suitable for land application was preferred.

The conventional aquaculture industry solutions were already known but recognizing that new ideas can come from other areas and teams with broad experiences, they contracted with Next Rung Technology to bring their knowledge from commercializing in a broad range of sustainable industries to assist with an options study. The goal was to identify new or novel solutions and help down-select to the best option for the site.

Process

Next Rung Technology initiated the process with a review of sludge sources and handling at the client’s existing site. A joint brainstorming session was held with the client and a Next Rung team of differing industry backgrounds to identify potential unit operations of interest. Finally, a technology matrix summarizing the identified options, along with examples of relevant applications, advantages and drawbacks, economic considerations, and reliability, and recommendations for testing and further evaluation was supplied. 

Outcomes

The study was completed summarizing the 10-15 options considered and presented to the client with a summary memo. The site is currently moving forward with the recommended solution, which provides for energy recovery, and a more sustainable solution for waste handling.