UK company offering patented anaerobic digestion technologies, for on-farm waste management/pollution abatement purposes, seeks licensing and joint venture agreements from partners in Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, and the USA (Delaware & Wisconsin).

This UK SME, based in North Wales, operates in the waste management sector and specialises in the design, supply, and management of on-farm waste anaerobic digestion (AD) plants. The core team consists of biotechnology and agricultural engineering experts, with an aim to implement the technology on farms across the globe and promote pollution abatement. The company custom build and install AD plants to suit each farm’s waste management and energy needs and to date, have installed nine 80kW-500kW on-farm digesters across the UK. Typically, mainstream AD plants are unable to simultaneously process the large varieties of gritty, high strength organic wastes found on farms i.e. slurries, manure or waste crops. As a result, operators have to sort through and process the various waste streams separately, proving time consuming and operationally inefficient. Most conventional digesters are fully mixed systems which involve continuously agitating the tank’s materials, using mixers and paddles, to prevent grit from entering the system in suspension. Such AD’s silt up over time, eventually compromising the processing capacity and causing plants to be shut down, for anywhere between 6 weeks to 6 months, in order to empty and re-commission tanks back to operational capacity. Microbial foaming commonly occurs in tanks processing high strength feed stocks and often form if processing capacity is compromised by the accumulation of grit and silt. Poor foam management can seriously damage or destroy AD generators, causing plants to shut down and undergo repairs for generally 6-8 weeks, leading to an economic loss. Therefore, the Welsh SME offers patented combined de-gritting with activated sequential gas-mixing and foam alleviation technology designed to process grit-laden, high strength farm wastes, removing the need to agitate and de-silt tanks. The patented systems are proven, robust, and engineered to address the technical limitations found in mainstream AD offerings. The technology can also be used to create nutrient rich digestate, removing a farmer’s need to externally source fertiliser to farmland/crops. The client primarily seeks licensing and joint venture agreements from SMEs (11-250) and/or large AD suppliers across Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, and the USA – with partners from Delaware and Wisconsin desired. A licensing and joint venture agreement from such markets is sought because of their perceived potential to build and integrate the offered technology into existing agricultural systems and practices. Partners should be able to target local dairy/poultry farmers/landowners as primary customers of the licensed technology. By accessing small/large AD suppliers with industry links to farmers, the client hopes to support global waste management and pollution abatement goals whilst maximising soil nutrient levels, via the licensed proprietary technology, as a result of international partnership.