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Clos du Bois Tests New Wastewater Treatment System

Bioelectric technology converts pollutants into methane fuel

BY TED RIEGER, SENIOR FEATURE EDITOR

ambrian Innovation of Bos-ton, Mass., and Clos du Bois Winery in Geyserville, Calif.,

have cooperatively field-tested the world’s first industrial-scale bioelec-tric wastewater treatment system. A demonstration scale system was installed and operational at the win-ery during the 2012 crush, and it continued to operate successfully through the summer of 2013, pro-cessing 10% of the winery’s total wastewater output.

Dr. Matthew Silver, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology (MIT), is CEO of Cambrian Innovation, a spinout company from MIT that commercializes envi-ronmental products and technolo-gies based on newly discovered electrically active microbes.

The phenomenon of bacteria capable of direct electric transfer was discovered in 1999.

Silver said the EcoVolt bioelec-tric system is a relatively small-footprint anaerobic wastewater system that treats water for reuse and can significantly reduce energy costs and cut a winery’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2 kilograms (kg) per case of wine production. The system can also reduce waste-water solids levels to save time and money compared with pro-cessing or transporting them for disposal.

According to Silver, existing wastewater treatment systems nationwide consume more than 3% of the total electricity used annu-ally in the United States. The aver-age U.S. winery produces 12-23 gallons of wastewater per case of wine produced. This wastewater is commonly treated in aerated ponds that consume significant electricity to power pumps and cover acreage that might be put to better use. Or wastewater is sent to the sewer

Cambrian Innovation CEO Matthew Sil-ver stands in front of the EcoVolt treat-ment system at Clos du Bois Winery. Photo: Ted Rieger

properly sized to the facility, and it required significant operator over-sight. It was later decommissioned, and Clos du Bois went back to using more traditional aerated wastewa-ter ponds. However, infrastructure for the Biothane system was still in place that could be connected with the EcoVolt, such as a particulate removal and solids settling tank, and an equalization tank to homogenize the wastewater prior to entering the EcoVolt’s reactor treatment unit.

INSTALLATION AND OPERATION

Cambrian previously called its system ExoGen, but it is now Eco-Volt. It is designed as a modular system, assembled by Cambrian in standard units the size of cargo shipping containers, which are then shipped to the facility for installa-tion as a complete unit. A system includes at least one shipping con-tainer, the “Headworks” unit, con-

at cost to the winery. But winery wastewater contains energy that can be used to offset (or eliminate) treatment and disposal costs.

BIOELECTRIC SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY

Bioelectricity is the generation or consumption of electrical cur-rent by living organisms. Certain microbes generate electricity while degrading organic matter, and oth-ers consume electrical current while generating value-added prod-ucts. The EcoVolt system for win-ery wastewater uses bacteria to carry out both reactions on biologi-cally coated electrodes. Organisms on an anode oxidize organic matter in the wastewater to generate elec-tric current. Organisms on a cath-ode convert carbon dioxide and this electric current into methane fuel.

This process, called electro-methanogenesis, occurs in the Eco-Volt reactor to convert wastewater pollutants into electricity and sub-sequently convert electricity into methane fuel. This methane can then fuel a cogeneration turbine to

generate electricity and heat that can be used onsite at the winery.

Clos du Bois is an appropriate site to test the EcoVolt. The winery has a history of using sustainable practices throughout its operation, and has ongoing goals to reduce water and energy use for wine pro-cessing. Clos du Bois produces 2 million cases of wine annually and generates about 14.5 million gal-lons of wastewater per year. Its ratio of 7.25 gallons of wastewater to one case of wine produced is low by wine industry standards.

The winery previously tested an innovative wastewater system, the Biothane Biodigester installed in 2002, an anaerobic system designed to reduce wastewater solids levels by converting them to methane gas (see the article in V&WM’s January/February 2004 issue). Brian Hemp-hill, director of operations at Clos du Bois, said the Biothane technology was sound, but the system was not

Cambrian Innovation is bringing its bioelectric wastewater treatment system to Northern California wine country.

+ Bioelectric wastewater treatment utilizes bacteria that generate and consume electricity to convert pollut-ants into methane fuel.

+ The system tested at Clos du Bois reduced biological oxygen demand in waste-water by 80%-90% and generated high-quality methane fuel.

+ Methane can fuel a cogen-eration turbine to gener-ate electricity and heat to use for winery processing operations.

+ EcoVolt systems can reduce a winery’s carbon footprint by 2 kilograms per case of wine production.

AT A GLANCE

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taining system controls, the reactor treatment system for solids and water management, and a cogene-ration unit. The Headworks unit has a minimum footprint of 8 feet by 20 feet by 9 feet. Additional shipping container modules can be installed as needed for larger facilities, or for expanding facility capacity.*

According to Silver, wineries pro-ducing 100,000 cases per year or more are good candidates for the

EcoVolt, but he said he believes sys-tems could be designed for produc-tion levels as low as 25,000 cases.

Cambrian plans to work with win-eries individually to calculate the economics of system installation and operation. Silver noted that the cost and benefits of an individual system are site-dependent, based on the winery’s current wastewa-ter handling and costs, whether it is processed onsite, or if it pays a fee

for disposal. The methane biogas generated can be used in a cogene-ration system – a turbine that gener-ates electricity and heat for winery operations, such as heating water for cleaning. Other gas utilization options include fueling gas-pow-ered boilers and refrigeration equip-ment. Water from the system can go to a holding pond, to be used for vineyard and landscape irrigation, or stored for frost control in winter.

“Some anaerobic systems tend to be finicky, due to variable waste-water flow rates and composition, but our technology has much more stability,” Silver said. Wastewater management depends on main-taining healthy and active microbial populations to perform the decom-position and conversion processes.

“Based on our research, we’ve developed an optimized proprietary microbial inoculum that is part of a system that can handle variation very well,” he added. As with other wastewater systems, monitor-ing and maintaining proper pH and nutrient levels to maintain viable microbes is required. Re-inoculation may sometimes be required, but Sil-ver estimated this would be needed no more often than annually.

Hemphill stays current on win-ery wastewater technologies and practices. From a user standpoint, Hemphill said, “The EcoVolt was commissioned quickly, and it came

the future.” Silver said the system should not require regular onsite maintenance, but regular monitor-ing will provide alerts about peri-odic maintenance needs, or if equipment, such as a pump, fails and needs service or replacement.

The system was trialed at Clos du Bois treating 10% of the facil-ity’s total wastewater flow. Hemp-hill said it performed well over the course of 10-plus months on a vari-ety of flow rates and wastewater chemistries, pH levels, etc., rep-resenting the variations in output during the facility’s seasonal wine production activities.

Silver noted that the system trial demonstrated an 80%-90% reduc-tion in biological oxygen demand across a range of wastewater rates and concentrations, and generated high-quality methane (about 80%-90% pure). Based on the trial, Sil-ver said EcoVolt systems can be scaled to process winery wastewa-

up to speed and operated better in some areas than competing tech-nology.” The previous Biothane unit required a lot of daily monitoring by one in-house person almost full time. “With this EcoVolt unit, it can be managed remotely by Cambrian without requiring our time, which makes more sense for us, because we’re in the business of making wine, we’re not in the wastewater business.”

Si lver explained Cambrian’s ongoing role in managing the sys-tem: “We’re remotely monitoring system conditions and operation from our offices in Boston and Sonoma. The bioelectric process enables direct feedback and auto-mated control of reactor health, and with sensors getting cheaper, and by using cloud-based network systems, most other functions have been automated at relatively low cost. We plan to be monitor-ing a network of these systems in

The EcoVolt system includes a shipping container, the “Headworks” unit, the reactor treatment system and a cogeneration unit.

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ter flows of 10,000-250,000 gallons per day. He said a single reactor generates enough methane to pro-duce 30-46 kilowatts (kW) of elec-tricity from a cogeneration turbine as constant output, assuming con-stant wastewater flow and system operation. EcoVolt systems can provide electric power output rang-ing from 30 kW to 276 kW, depend-ing on system size and capacity.

The EcoVolt system is now on the market. Clos du Bois’ parent-company, Constellation Brands, is supporting a full-scale installa-tion at the winery. Clos du Bois currently has sufficient wastewa-ter processing capacity, so in this case, the EcoVolt provides the ben-efits of reducing aeration pump electric costs while also generating usable energy.

“This system generates a good return for us, but it would fit even better in a scenario for planning a new winery, a winery operating at

ogy since 2008, with funding and assistance from the National Sci-ence Foundation and private inves-tors. Cambrian is also working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and the military on bioelectric technology applications.

The company is also ready to work with wineries on an over-all systems approach to decrease water use and utilize renewable energy technologies, Silver said. “Our goals are to help process-ing facilities move off the electric grid and to reduce their carbon footprints.”

Ted Rieger, CSW, is a writer and photographer based in Sacramento, Calif., and has been a contributing editor for V&WM since 1990.

Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com.

full wastewater capacity or a win-ery expanding its production capac-ity,” Hemphill said. “Constellation has wineries in all three of those situations. Our plan as a company is to go full scale with the EcoVolt system here, and then assess other site opportunities.”

In Northern California, Cambrian has been in contact with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. regarding utility financial incentives and energy effi-ciency programs that can help pay for system installation. “A range of local utility and state and federal incentive programs exist for agri-cultural and industrial customers and our team will be working with customers as part of their evalua-tion of the economics of installing a system,” Silver said.

Cambrian has been talking with wineries and breweries worldwide about the EcoVolt for possible future installations. The company has been developing the technol-