A Themista installation increases the organic sludge degradation - and with this the energy yields - by 10% to 20%. Given the lab performance, affordable energy balance, simple and lower-developed costs, the payback time - depending on the local situation - will be 5 to 10 years.
Compared to a WWTP with a traditional sludge digestion concept:
The innovative sludge digestion technology Themista was developed by Royal HaskoningDHV in cooperation with STOWA (Foundation for Applied Water Research), Water board of Schieland and Krimpenerwaard. This project was co-financed with a contribution from the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union and with the Top Sector Energy subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
To stimulate the innovation process of Ephyra®, the following parties have set up a ‘triple helix’ partnership: STOWA (Foundation for Applied WaterResearch), Waterboard Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard, Royal HaskoningDHV, TU Delft, Logisticon Water Treatment and Endress + Hauser.
The aim of this partnership is to gain knowledge and experience from joint (pilot) research. In 2016 we jointly realized the first practical installations.
The research program is financially supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and European Union (LIFE+).
The parties involved have consciously opted for cooperation within the ‘triple helix’ of government, knowledge organizations and the business community. This was very successful, for example, in the development of the Nereda® technology for waste water purification from the National Nereda Research Program (NNOP).
In recent years there has been an increasing attention for extracting more energy and raw materials from wastewater globally. This is underlined by the realisation of numerous wastewater treatment plants worldwide.
In addition, in 2015, governments worldwide agreed on Global goals, also known as the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). The following goals for access to affordable and clean energy by 2030 have been formulated:
With the application of the Themista technology, water boards reduce the operational costs for wastewater treatment and the costs for sludge processing, while the biogas yields increase.