Phosphorus recovery plants can reduce pressure on scarce resources

EasyMining has chosen COWI as engineering partner for the launch of the Ash2®Phos process, which recovers vital phosphorus from sewage sludge ash. The new technology reduces the need for extraction from scarce virgin resources.

29.08.2017

To be able to recover phosphorus from society-generated waste, EasyMining, a subsidiary of Ragn-Sells, has developed a process that recovers phosphorus from the ash that remains after the combustion of sewage sludge.

Phosphorus is one of the major plant nutrients in the soil and vital for seedlings and young plants. To produce enough food for the world’s 7 billion people, farmers use phosphorus as a fertilizer. However, the virgin resources are running out and consequently, phosphorus recovery is becoming increasingly important. Most of the virgin resources are found outside the EU.

The Ash2®Phos technology recovers a very high percentage of phosphorus, and COWI has been chosen to develop and design the process for scaling up production to full industrial scale.

“What persuaded us to choose COWI is their broad experience of every stage, from development to the industrialisation of processes,” says Jan Svärd, CEO of EasyMining.

Technological breakthrough

A large industrial demonstration plant in Helsingborg, Sweden is in the planning stage. Following this, EasyMining is planning to construct several recovery plants in Europe over the coming ten-year period.
COWI will help EasyMining with the technical design for the Ash2®Phos process, and will have the opportunity to take overall responsibility for implementing the project.

The company has extensive experience gained over many years of taking overall responsibility on behalf of clients when realising new industrial plants.

“We see this project as a technological breakthrough for resource efficient phosphorus recovery,” says Anna Berggren, Head of Bioenergy at COWI.

About EasyMining Sweden

• EasyMining is a company that develops and commercialises resource-efficient chemical processes for the extraction and recovery of pure commercial products from society-generated waste.
• Based on a holistic approach, from process to market and product usage, the company has developed the Ash2®Phos process for sewage sludge ash.