• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

Britain’s sewer fatbergs could power your home with green energy

Scientist develop way to break down oils so they can be converted into methane

Ben Gelblum by Ben Gelblum
2018-08-02 14:06
in Environment, Science, Weird News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Fatbergs clogging up sewers in Britain’s cities could soon be providing homes with green energy, according to new research.

A technique to break down the solid masses of congealed fat, wet wipes, nappies, oil and condoms has been developed by scientists.

The flushed waste can grow into fatbergs like the 130 ton monster and 250 metres long that blocked up a Victorian tunnel in Whitechapel, east London, a year ago.

Earlier this year a Channel 4 documentary unveiled another three times as long – under the capital’s South Bank.

But the fats, oil and grease, known collectively as FOG, threatening public health have now been found to have a potential environmental use by being turned into green biogas methane.

In experiments, the Canadian team heated them to temperatures between 90 and 110 degrees centigrade.

RelatedPosts

Shocking pictures show Italy’s Lake Garda at near-historic low

Source of River Thames moves five miles downstream for first time in history

Grass on the grass? Neighbours asked to report on hosepipe rule-breakers

It appears Truss has a problem with solar panels but not fracking

Adding hydrogen peroxide, a chemical that kickstarts the breakdown of organic matter, then reduced the volume of solids by up to 80 per cent.

It also released fatty acids from the mixture that can be broken down by bacteria in the next stage of treatment.

Engineer Dr Asha Srinivasan, of the University of British Columbia, explained: “FOG is a terrific source of organic material that microorganisms can feed on to produce methane gas, which is a valuable, renewable energy source.

“But if it is too rich in organics, bacteria cannot handle it and the process breaks down.

“By preheating it to the right temperature, we ensure that the FOG is ready for the final treatment and can make the maximum amount of methane.”

Her team’s method will enable farmers to load more FOG into their biogas digesters – the large tanks that treat farm wastes, including cow manure, to produce methane.

Dr Srinivasan said: “Farmers typically restrict FOG to less than 30 per cent of the overall feed.

“But now the FOG can be broken down into simpler forms, so you can use much more than that, up to 75 per cent of the overall feed.

“You would recycle more oil waste and produce more methane at the same time.”

Lead researcher Professor Victor Lo said, ultimately, the technology can be used in municipal FOG management programmes.

He added: “The principle would be the same. You pretreat the FOG so it doesn’t clog the pipes, and add it to sewage sludge to produce methane from the mix.

“To the best of our knowledge, this type of pretreatment for FOG has not been studied before, although simple chemical methods do exist to break down FOG.

“We are hoping to do more research to find the optimal ratio of FOG to dairy manure so they can be pretreated together.”

Fatbergs form into huge concrete-like slabs and can be found beneath almost every UK city, growing larger with every flush.

They also include food wrappers and human waste, blocking tunnels – and raising the risk of sewage flooding into homes.

They can grow metres tall and hundreds of metres long, with water providers declaring an epidemic of fatberg emergencies in 23 UK cities, costing tens of millions of pounds to get rid of.

The biggest ever discovered in the UK featured in Channel 4’s Fatberg Autopsy: Secrets of the Sewers, when cameras followed a team of eight ‘flushers’ as they chipped away at the 750 metre whopper under the Southbank.

The one discovered beneath Whitechapel last September was longer than Tower Bridge – and weighed as much as 11 double-decker buses.

Fatbergs take weeks to remove and form when people put things they shouldn’t down sinks and toilets.

The study was published in the journal Water, Air, & Soil Pollution.

By Ben Gelblum and Mark Waghorn

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

LATEST – Seven dead at Kabul airport

Liz Truss to Foreign Sec, yes really: ‘Pork markets’ meme resurfaces

Migrants aren’t a threat to the NHS – Losing the migrants that helped build it is

Chopard’s journey towards sustainability

‘What are the odds?’ Reactions as BBC and Mail aboard Navy ship that was ‘attacked’ by Russia

Traditional Christmas is dying out

Room in Room Provides Innovative Solution to Winter Chill

Angry comments as Minister suggests people who work from home are ‘watching TV’

Hospital visitors ignoring covid rules, removing masks & telling nurses to ‘get lost’ when challenged

The Weekly Cocktail Recipe: Tia Maria Iced Popcorn Frappe

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.