Technical platform
Our technical platform is the experimental support of the APESA valorization team. It is as much a laboratory as a test platform.
With nearly 22 years of experience in the field of waste recovery and more particularly biomass, APESA uses this tool to carry out experiments aiming to validate the feasibility, to optimize the dimensioning and to help our customers decide of setting up projects and industrial solutions in the fields of energy recovery waste or biomass.
From the deposit (waste, biomass, effluents), through the process (anaerobic digestion, composting, wastewater treatment) and up to the quality of the downstream product (digestate, compost, discharges) we are able to test the whole industry.
Our team
Our team is composed of 6 engineers/doctors and of 5 experimental technicians who have already worked both on industrial sites (SEVESO) and on customers’ sites.
Description of our facilities
- 174 m² of laboratories
- 330 m² Indoor and outdoor platforms for pre-industrial pilots
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In anaerobic digestion
- Biochemical Methane Potential Tests (BMP)
- FlashBMP© by using Near Infrared Technology
- Seven reactors of various technologies (UASB, CSTR, dry) from 20 to 40 L of working volume: Anaerobic digesters trials in mesophilic and thermophilic condition, design of custom pilots.
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Composting :
- Respirometric tests
- Outdoor composting platform
- Technical assistance, quality and maturity tests
- Effluents’ treatment: microalgae raceway, aerobic pilots plants, reed bet plants…
- An exhibition chamber (phytotron): ecotoxicology tests on plants in total autonomy.
- Capacity for storage, grinding, drying, separation phase and pretreatment of biomass.
- Laboratory of Microbiology
- Analytical materials : UV and NIR spectrophotometer, automatic titrator, kits for nutrients analysis through photometric tests…
A few examples
- Tests of Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) to determine the maximum biogas production of a biomass sample. More than 300 BMPs tests per year / 15 years of protocol implementation and improvement / A database of more than 1000 references especially on agricultural wastes.
- Anaerobic digesters pilot tests to provide decision-making and design elements for a biogas plant in order to secure the project: optimal scenario, maximum organic load, choice of feed mixture, biogas production performance, characterization of the digestate ... (simulation on a pilot of 20-40 liters, for a minimum period of 12 weeks, at the operational conditions of the future unit) / 10 years of experiments on a wide variety of tests in anaerobic pilots (various configurations and substrates).
- Simulation of composting channels in respirometry and pilot tests.
- Digestate and compost characterization for agronomic purposes.
- Simulation of custom systems for effluent treatment) (microalgae raceway, aerobic pilots plants, reed bet plants…)
- Characterization of household waste
