Treatment Processes
Organic waste residue is shipped out to one of our regional biomass treatment centres in Québec but can also be treated on the site of a client’s choosing.
Solutions offered by Biogénie rely on several organic waste matter treatments: biodrying, composting, anaerobic digestion, agricultural spreading, dehydration, mechanical and optical sorting as well as extrusion. Our company works in close collaboration with each of its clients in order to apply the best solution to meet their needs – one that is efficient, cost-effective and environmentally-conscious (or friendly).
Biodrying
This treatment process (on site or off site) removes the humidity in organic matter while generating heat. The steam is extracted and a portion of the heat produced is returned to the process. The heat allows the matter to dry without having to rely on an external source of energy.
There are several advantages to this technology, including:
- A significant reduction in the volume of residual matters,
- A reduction in the use of external energy sources,
- The destruction of most of the molecules responsible for foul odours, and
- The maximization of the material's calorific virtues.
The product resulting from the biodrying process is used as a biomass boiler energy source or as a value-added organic fertilizer in agriculture, depending on the organic matter's qualities and the region's needs.
Composting
Composting has been in use since 1979. We process more than 100,000 tons of organic residue every year on our sites.
Composting is a process where natural decomposition transforms the organic matter via micro-organisms, oxygen and water. It is carried out in two phases: firstly, extremely high temperatures contribute to making the product more hygienic. Secondly, low temperatures allow the product to stabilize. Biogénie uses various processes in its treatment centres. The technology used varies depending on the process, as does composting time:
- Aerated composting platforms,
- Clamp silos,
- Exterior piles of compost, also known as static pile composting, and
- Small mechanized composting units, installed at the client's premises.
Invessel Composting System : BG-BOX
Anaerobic Digestion
Biogénie offers its clients a number of facilities of different sizes that use anaerobic digestion to treat organic waste matter. Our company works with a European partner with over 30 years of experience working with dry and humid digesters. Anaerobic digestion is a natural biological degradation process that transforms part of the organic matter into biogas, through absence of oxygen. The remaining solid waste present in the digester or reactor is called digested sludge. Contrary to other processes, anaerobic digestion requires heat.
Each ton of organic matter generates methane (CH4) whose percentage varies depending which organic matter is processed. Based on the client's requirements, it can then be purified to obtain natural gas that can be transferred through a distribution network. Food residues and biosolids can be treated by this process.
Agricultural Uses
Biogénie provides more than 200,000 tons of organic matter to 200 farmers annually. The Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP) provides the necessary Certificates of Authorization.
Biogénie has been practicing land farming for more than 15 years. Transforming organic matter into fertilizers gives waste matter a second lease on life and saves it from being shipped off to landfills. Moreover, land farming is very beneficial to those who practice it by maintaining and improving the fertilization of cultivated land as well as the agronomic quality of the soil.
A team of agriculturists helps the client during the process. Biogénie's services vary, but include characterization of the material, rigorous agronomic control tests and analyses, help for administrative procedures and rules for land farming as well as guaranteeing product quality. In short, we take care of our clients by making recommendations and accompanying them throughout the process.
This includes communicating with local communities by informing them of the advantages of reusing residuals for farming as well as educating them on the safety of this process.
Do you have material you wish to convert into fertilizer?
Please contact Nathalie Duchesne or dial 1 800 267-4422
Would you like to use the fertilizers we provide?
Please contact Étienne Fortin or dial 1 800 267-4422
Revegetation of Degraded Sites and Erosion Control
Every year, Biogénie provides approximately 100,000 tons of residual waste (sludge, compost, recycled soil) for use in restoring degraded sites including:
- residential or mining sites,
- quarries and sand pits,
- landfill sites,
- roadside landscaping, and
- abandoned industrial lands.
Along with providing a degraded site with a second life, revegetation usually allows us to control various nuisances such as erosion, noise levels, odours and dust. Biogénie offers a variety of organic matter and recycled soil (sludge, compost, etc.) as a replacement for synthetic materials and non-renewable resources.
The processes can take place in a very large area, sometimes even in an isolated region. A multidisciplinary team will be able to provide turnkey services that are adapted to our client's objectives and to each site's characteristics.
Dehydration
Clients often cannot ship their septic sludge to a sewage treatment plant or to aerated lagoons so they must treat the waste before disposing of it. Biogénie offers a recognized, proven and adapted solution for dehydrating septic tank sludge (STS). This process extracts the solid waste from the sludge to obtain a sludge that is 20 to 25% solid. This is then carried away or composted according to the client's needs.
There are several advantages to using this process, including:
- low acquisition and operating costs,
- simplicity — as it is designed for minimal intervention,
- efficiency,
- reliability — very few mechanical components,
- robust construction, which means no operation maintenance for long periods of time, and
- lighter filtrate output.
Mechanical and Optical Sorting
Biogénie provides clients with two types of mechanical separation, depending on the nature of the material to be treated. Mechanical sorting allows us to refine compost or horticulture soil and separates the heavy from the lighter matter like rock or wood by fractional process.
Optical sorting is used to break down organic matter by detecting and removing plastics, for example. It is mostly employed during pre-treatment and used to polish composted material when it must be highly refined.
Extrusion / Press
Fine-tuned in Europe, this pre-treatment process of waste material collected in bags extracts the organic components. This treatment is useful when dealing with 2nd lane municipal collection. The sludge that results from this operation can then be treated biologically (composting, biodrying, anaerobic digestion). The resulting solid sludge can then be used as a source of energy after being treated mechanically, so long as it complies with regulations.
