Company ProfileThe ET Process
The Environmental Problem
The disposal of waste and effluent from organic industries by traditional methods poses increasing environmental problems. The bulk of waste material is either dumped at sea or, more commonly, used as landfill or land spread. Alternative methods of disposal can create environmental hazards when done inefficiently. Most alternative methods also produce by-products with negative market values and ignore the potential value of producing safer and more useful by-products as a source of revenue.
EversTech has developed a range of processes to meet the challenge of waste disposal in an environmentally sensitive way while decreasing waste processing costs by creating marketable by-products. The centerpiece of our work is the ET Process.
Overview of the ET Process
EversTech’s key technology, the ET Process, is a biological system for the treatment of organic wastes. The process incorporates bio-augmentation, whereby specific bacterial formulations tailored to the waste product are introduced into the system. The bacterial cultures used in the formulations are naturally occurring organisms that have been selected, isolated and cultured. Each formulation is specifically blended to suit the precise nature of the effluent and the conditions prevailing at the site.
The introduction of the formulation into the system optimizes and controls the treatment, increasing the overall efficiency of the treatment process. This ensures that maximum resource recovery is achieved producing:
• Top quality single cell protein• High Nitrogen organic fertilizer
• Clean biogas free of sulfur
• Effluent polishing with algae as a carbon sink
• Recyclable water
The result is a “closed loop” waste management system.
The ET Process retains the maximum amount of material as biomass, generates the optimum quantity and quality of biogas, produces recyclable water and is odor-free.
A Closer Look at the ET Process
The aim of the ET Process is to convert wastes which have little or no positive value into products with a marketable potential. The ET Process feeds on waste materials which are costly to dispose of and which represent a significant environmental challenge in terms of safety, volume and odor.
The chart below lists a selection of the most commonly used bio-cultures in the ET Process. Other species are added to the formulations as required by the specific conditions that apply to each waste product and each site.
| A selection of the most commonly used Bio-cultures in the ET Process | |
| Formula Code |
Description |
| 1000 | For domestic sewage treatment. |
| 1050 | Specific for generating a denser and more flocculent biomass for handling very high COD wastes. |
| 1100 | Starch and carbohydrate wastes from food preparation. |
| 2000 | Lipid digestion, for fats, oils and greases of animal or vegetable origin. |
| 2025 | High loads of protein, FOG etc., from meat and dairy processing. |
| 2030 | High concentration of lactoses and very high COD levels from whey and whey concentrates. |
| 2050 | Complex industrial waste streams containing petroleum and petrochemicals and other hydrocarbons. |
| 3000 | Anaerobic digesters, septic tanks and biogas plants. Increased quantity and quality of methane generation. |
| 4000 | Low temperature digestion of petroleum products in refined and crude form. |
| 5000 | Treatment of light and freshly refined hydrocarbons in soil, salt and freshwater. |
| 5075 | Treatment of heavy and tarry petroleum products. Phenolics and polyaromatics. |
| 6000 | Control of waste in freshwater aquaria. |
| 6050 | Control of waste and ammonia in large scale fresh water aquaculture. |
| 6050N | Oxidizes ammonia in waste streams treated within aerobic biological treatment. |
| 6100 | Control of waste in sea water aquaria. |
| 6150 | Control of waste and ammonia levels in large scale sea water aquaculture. |
| 7070 | Odor control in agricultural and farm wastes. Nitrifying conversion of toxic ammonia in poultry houses, piggeries and intensive animal housing. |
| 8000 | Biogas and compost production at elevated temperatures in the thermophilic range. |
| 9100 | Booster formulations for the re-seeding of aerobic and nitrification systems following failure due to outside forces. |
| 9200 | Booster formulations for the re-seeding of facultative systems. |
| 9300 | Booster formulations for the re-seeding of denitrification systems. |
| 9500 | Degraduation of complex organic compounds such as chlorinated hydrocarbons. |
Range of effectiveness
The micro-organisms selected for the formulations are chosen because they are super efficient and their metabolic pathways do not generate any unpleasant odors, by-products or have any side effects, but can operate at a pH range of 3–12, and temperatures from 4°C–70°C.
Benefits of the ET Process
Using bio-augmentation, the ET Process allows for the assimilation of the constituent proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and other molecules present in the waste mixture into a microbial biomass which is carefully controlled. The biomass has a high protein content, as a single cell bacterial biomass, and low lipid content. Thermal shock flocculation and drying stages, combined with pH control, ensure that carry-over contamination does not occur. This means that the biomass is pathogen free and, therefore, has a value as a non-ruminant animal feed. The high Nitrogen of the biomass also recommends the material as an organic fertilizer. During the anaerobic digestion stage, biogas is produced. Due to the high calorific value of the material during digestion, the biogas has a high energy potential. At over 80% methane, the biogas is suitable for power generation. The liquid effluent discharge can be reduced to less than 60 mg/l COD.
Analysis of the by-products determines their marketable use, either as fish feed (see Fish Feed section below), fertilizer, gas fuel or electrical energy.
Operational advantages of the ET Process over conventional anaerobic/aerobic processes are:
- Only 20–25% aeration energy is required for the same BOD/COD reduction efficiency.
- By using specially selected bacterial formulations in a program of bio-augmentation, the efficiency of the process is guaranteed.
- The process is odor-free.
- In the event that the system accidentally is shut down, it can be brought back on-line and to a steady state in a matter of days by reintroduction of replacement bio-cultures.
- It handles all organic wastes.
- It removes a cost and creates a profit center.
- Operation of the process is controlled and managed, thus eliminating guesswork.
- Anaerobic Digestion on its own can tolerate little variation in input to the plant before sub-optimal conditions are reached. However, the use of a multi-stage process effectively reduces fluctuations in the digestion products.
- The efficiency of the ET Process and the reduced treatment time it creates facilitate smaller plant footprints and, therefore, lower capital cost.
- Differing input of raw materials will alter the proportions of the stream diverted to the second-stage fermenters, but the combined output will be relatively constant.
The ET Process plant is run on a continuous basis, handling the whole, fluctuating output of the site.
By-products used as fish feed
The single cell protein generated from waste by the ET process at some sites is a rich protein source which is ideal for use in aquaculture/fish farming. The single cell protein has an equivalent amino acid balance to the Icelandic fish meal currently in widespread use as a feed source at fish farms, but the single cell protein has one important advantage. Icelandic fish meal is made from "trash fish" harvested from the sea which contain minute quantities of toxins such as PCBs. When larger, farmed fish feed on the fish meal, the toxins become more concentrated. These toxins are passed on to people who eat the fish, creating a serious health risk.
By substituting the single cell protein generated by the ET process, fish farms are able to feed their fish without risk of the accumulation of toxins, thereby producing a much healthier product for consumers.
The farmed fish listed on the the Safe Seafood Chart below in the "Worst Choices" section are examples of the health threat which could be eliminated through use of the single cell proteins generated by the ET Process.
See Safe Seafood Chart
See the Environmental Defense Fund web site