Partners
This project, which has been granted from the LIFE-Environment instrument, is being developed between CESPA GR, PROFACTOR and IQS (Institut Químic de Sarrià). Each participant is in charge of the following tasks:
- CESPA GR
- Management and coordination of the project. Information to European Commission.
- Demonstration of the applicability of microturbines for thermal and electric generation using landfill biogas.
- Evaluation of environmental cost/benefit ratio of landfill biogas energy recovery.
- PROFACTOR : Demonstration of the applicability of hydrogen sulphide and siloxanes biological removal from landfill biogas using biotrickling filters.
- IQS : Definition and experimental demonstration of an analytical method for the acquisition and identification of siloxanes in biogas.
Cespa GR [www.cespa.es]
The firm CESPA GR develops environmental services and waste management and treatment activities. It belongs to the CESPA Group, which with more than 12.500 employees, carries out services in Spain, Morocco and Portugal. Since 2003, CESPA Group belongs to the Ferrovial Servicios Group.
CESPA was set up in 1970 as a firm dedicated to urban and public administration cleaning services to become a group leader in the service area of waste management.
CESPA Group has two big areas. One of these areas is Urban services which include the urban cleaning, urban waste collection and gardening. The other area is Industrial services, which include activities as urban waste treatment, industrial waste collection, inert and industrial landfills, sanitary waste treatment, physical-chemical waste treatment plants, sorting and transfer plants and engineering and consulting.
In the waste sphere, CESPA manages 29 landfills (27 in Spain and 2 in Portugal) where 6.121.000 t of waste have been collected during 2004. The total number of landfills with biogas recovery is 15, which have produced more than 100.192 GJ of electricity and 181.834 Gcal of thermal energy in 2004 with 20 engines. Therefore it can be well demonstrated that CESPA has a wide experience in the waste management area and in particular in the exploitation of biogas recovery technologies.
From the R+D department, CESPA has carried since 1999 projects related with landfill management activities, like biogas recovery, leachate treatment, landfill closure techniques, etc. Among them, the project called CLONIC: "Closing the nitrogen cycle from urban landfill leachate by biological nitrogen removal over nitrite and thermal treatment" obtained in 2003 financial support from the LIFE-Environment program (LIFE03 ENV/E/000140). The R+D Department belongs to the Technical Direction of the CESPA Group, and collaborates with the rest of the technical direction areas to carry out the R+D projects. The technical direction has 25 technicians, some of them taking part in this project.
PROFACTOR Producktionsforschungs GmbH, Austria [www.profactor.at]
PROFACTOR is a non-profit organisation in Austria, founded in 1994 by a group of scientists, head of companies and politicians. Its goal is to develop new integral, holistic concepts in the field of research and development, design and manufacturing and to support development and application of new technologies. For it the company has a multidisciplinary staff, currently over 70 employees, working together in close cooperation to guarantee efficient solutions for industry problems.
The company strongly contributes to the establishment of the usage of renewable energy sources in combination with advanced energy conversion technologies on a European level. The Energy & Environmental Technologies department, (currently 13 members), has recently been successfully involved in European RTD-projects, like EFFECTIVE or AMONCO, which are co-ordinated by Profactor. They deal with biogas usage in fuel cells and advanced prediction of biomass fermentation process. PROFACTOR is also engaged, as RTD performer, in three CRAFT-projects (3A-BIOGAS, ENERDEC and POLAR), in the field of biomass anaerobic fermentation, biogas upgrading and trigeneration with an innovative adsorption cooling system.
Additionally, PROFACTOR has the Chair of the Scientific Network “Biomass fermentation towards usage in fuel cells” of the European Science Foundation (ESF).
Profactor contributes to MICROPHILOX by bringing in know-how regarding the removal of H2S and Siloxanes from biogas via biological technologies. Profactor has worked for the past 7 years in this field within research projects, both on national and international level; the experience acquired will be applied to this project, conferring a great asset.
IQS. Institut Químic de Sarrià [www.iqs.edu]
The Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS) is a University founded by the Society of Jesus in 1916. In 1990 it became federated as a Founding Member of the Christian-inspired Universidad Ramon Llull, which aims to provide interdisciplinary training, both humanistic and ethical.
Since 1991, when the activities of the Universidad Ramon Llull began, IQS’s training has been based in the Escuela Técnica Superior (Higher Technical School), with degrees in the fields of Engineering and Chemistry, and in the IQS Faculty of Economics, in the field of Business Studies.
The full time equivalent teachers (FTE) in the IQS (Higher Technical School) are 33 and the total number of students in all three degrees belongs to 571.
Since it was founded, the main characteristic of the instruction imparted by the IQS has been its practical approach as a result of close collaboration with the industrial and business community.
The IQS has collaborated with companies and industry for 50 years by contributing its knowledge to solve real, specific problems and coming up with innovative procedures and technologies.
PEINUSA, Promotora de Enlace Industria- Universidad, S.A. is the company responsible for managing the studies and projects executed by the IQS. Within a context of technical rigor and confidentiality, agreements with companies are signed to carry out medium- and long-term research, consulting and industrial analysis.
PEINUSA has access to all of IQS’s infrastructure, as well as the research personnel contracted specifically to provide these services. It also receives collaboration from the teaching staff for the execution of studies and contracts, which contributes a great deal toward promoting the development of IQS teaching and research and ensuring they are equipped to satisfy the needs of innovation of industry and the scientific community.
Nowadays IQS is developing more than 50 national and international research projects, 30 of them with external financing. At a European level, IQS is participating in 8 projects.
