The Environmental Biotechnology research group (BIOGROUP) from the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Santiago de Compostela has a long and solid track record in the treatment and recovery of resources from waste.
In 2012, it started a specific line of research on the production of VFAs from waste, which already has two doctoral theses and two more in progress, as well as participation in various European projects as coordinators (BIOCHEM-ERA-IB) and as partners (CONSERVAL-Interreg, ECOVAL-Sudoe, CELL4CHEM-ERACOBIOTECH).
Its involvement in ECOVAL will allow BIOGROUP to achieve a new milestone in VFA production by using the know-how developed previously with model substrates when applying it to problematic and abundant waste such as sewage sludge. It will particularly focus its work on the following activities:
- Development of a metabolic method that describes the conversion process of urban sludge to VFAs.
- Preparation and execution of an optimised experimental plan to obtain the parameters that calibrate and refine the metabolic model.
- Informative and scientific dissemination of the knowledge generated.
- Assessment of the environmental impact of the new management system and of the products derived from it.
