Zebec has a track record of successfully delivering large complex waste management projects over the last 20 years.
PROJECT CONSULTING
due diligence
management systems
auditing
technology reviews
operational guidance
project risk assessment
investment case appraisal
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
site and technology selection
planning and permitting
grid connections
regulatory checks
tendering
quality management
recruitment training
PROJECT FUNDING
Existing capital funding channels
planning and permitting
Small to large-scale projects
Owner’s engineer for Funder
Project Delivery Options
Our strong partnership with leading technology providers and financing institutions allows us to provide a tailored solution to your waste management challenges.
BUILD ONLY
ZBL consortium design & build
customer finances plant
customer operates plant
BUILD, FINANCE & LEASE
ZBL Consortium Design & Build
ZBL Consortium finances
customer leases plant
customer operates plant
BUILD, OWN & OPERATE
ZBL Consortium Design & Build
ZBL Consortium finances
ZBL Consortium operates plant
effluent services, waste handling, heat & power provided to customer
BUILD, OWN, OPERATE & TRANSFER
ZBL Consortium Design & Build
ZBL Consortium finances
ZBL Consortium operates plant
effluent services, waste handling, heat & power provided to customer
asset transfers to customer after agreed period
CURRENT FOCUS
The management and disposal of high-water content biowaste such as sewage sludge is an increasingly difficult problem. Anaerobic digestion provides only a very partial solution.
Concerns about the presence of highly persistent chemicals, pharmaceuticals and micro-plastics in biosolids has meant that spreading on land is now subject to increasing restrictions.
We are therefore very pleased to announce that we are working on a major industrial scale initiative to demonstrate that Hydrothermal Carbonisation (HTC) offers the most cost-effective solution to the problem of high-water content sludges.
HYDROTHERMAL CARBONISATON (WET PYROLYSIS)
Using Hydrothermal Carbonisation, wet biomass feedstocks such as sewage sludge at 3-5% dry solids is dewatered to 15% dry matter with no further drying required.
In the HTC reactor the dewatered biomass is carbonized into hydrochar (biocoal) within 4 hours at a temperature of about 180-200°C and a pressure of 20 to 25 bar. The hydrochar / biocoal can then be easily dewatered to 75% dry matter.
Hydrochar has an energy content similar to anthracite and can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels in many industrial applications.