AMPHORE pilot plant for phosphorus recycling is built and goes into trial operation

The Emschergenossenschaft Essen is involved as a project partner in the planning and implementation of the BMBF joint project "AMPHORE" on technical phosphorus recycling from wastewater, sewage sludge or sewage sludge incineration ash ("Regional sewage sludge and ash management for phosphorus recycling for a conurbation").

A demonstration plant for phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge ash is currently being built on the premises of the Bottrop sewage treatment plant. As part of a pilot study, different sewage sludge ashes from different partners are to be treated using process technology in order to investigate the ecological and economic effects of recycling. The end product will be phosphoric acid, which will then be marketed as a raw material for various industrial products.

The installation area of the pilot plant first had to be elaborately prepared; for this purpose, various decommissioned thermal conditioning plants were dismantled in a first step. The corresponding dismantling concept was prepared by TABERG Ingenieure GmbH and the subsequent implementation, which lasted several months, was accompanied by an expert opinion.

In parallel, TABERG Ingenieure GmbH developed a comprehensive investigation concept for the preparation of an "AZB" (initial status report according to BImSchV) for the demonstration plant.