Environmental Technologies and Eco-innovation in the Czech ...

station cogeneration units 5 . Waste treatment also takes place in the biogas stations.
In the Czech Republic, the input in the facilities is mainly BDW from agricultural
production, particularly manure, dung and suds, sludge from WWTPs, biodegradable
household waste and waste from catering facilities.
The environmental benefits of biogas stations are mainly the outputs from the
facility. If all technological processes and the quality of input waste are observed, any
facility using this technology is in fact a facility that uses waste for the production of
materials and energy. A large expansion of biogas stations is anticipated in the future
as a means of treating biodegradable communal waste.
8.2.2 | Biodegradable waste utilisation through anaerobic fermentation
One of the devices treating BDW is the EWA aerobic fermentor of AGRO-EKO spol.
s.r.o. in which controlled thermophilic aerobic fermentation (composting) of
a mixture of BDW and biomass from agriculture and forestry occurs. In the mixture,
the metabolic processes of the bacteria present in the bio-waste are activated by
aeration and shovelling. This leads to the initiation and intensification of thermophilic
aerobic fermentation. The subsequent increase in temperature cleans the mixture, i.e.
eliminates present viruses, bacteria and molds to permissible levels. At the end of the
process, waste humidity is reduced to a desired level through drying. The resulting
product is a biofuel suitable for combustion in units that regularly combust biomass
or low quality coal.
The system has low energy consumption since it is supplied by the energy
produced from the recovery of the produced heat. The process is fast (about 4 days)
and the final product has a wide range of possible applications.
8.3 | Waste processing through pyrolysis
The technology of pyrolysis processing organic waste in the Czech Republic is rapidly
developing. It is a process of decomposing organic matter under the simultaneous
actuation of heat without air, also called thermolysis. Heat leads to the degradation
of complex organic compounds into simpler compounds. The product of pyrolysis is
5 cogeneration unit – a device on gas combustion engines that produces thermal energy and electricity during biogas
combustion