THE PROBLEM:
Very simply, effluent from ethanol production is environmentally damaging when disposed untreated and the cost of full industrial treatments are so high that they can render plants economically unviable some have already been forced to close in Europe.
Environmentally acceptable solutions at large scale have involved a wide range of technologies none of which seem to be completely successful. The exploitation of the constituents of vinasse as fertilizer has worked (usually at a smaller scale) where farmers collect free vinasse and spray it on their fields.
Excessive use can lead to mineralization of soils and unbalanced populations of bacteria and fungi with a resulting negative impact on soil and plant health as well as on groundwater.
BIOLOGICAL CONVERSION OF VINASSE INTO FERTILIZER USING ERGOFITO
INTRODUCTION:
Vinasse, for its chemical and organoleptic characteristics becomes an excellent agricultural fertilizer when biologically treated.
The fusion of Vinasse with Ergofito Micro Concentrate provoke, bacterial, enzyme and fungi activity which are integral to Ergofito Micro Concentrate, thus transforming organic sub-stances into humic substances. Increasing mineral and nutrition assimilationthe process of absorbing and digesting food, regenerating soil and avoid soil fatigue.
With this approach we avoid plant nutritional stresses as the organic substance plus the micro-organisms activity, make the mineral nutrients available to the plant at its request. Furthermore those micro-organisms fix 100 Kg of Nitrogen per hectare, extracting same from the atmosphere which leads to a financial and logistical saving.
COMPOSTING:
Beside Vinasse, the mill produces three other wastes, namely:
All of the above three wastes are organic and good to compost. The Ergofito full composting protocol should be used in conjunction with Vinasse to further produce a high quality non-liquid fertilizer that can supplement or replace further conventional fertilizer.
CONCLUSION:
Ethanol production is rising worldwide, Vinasse is considered by some a fertilizer and by some an effluent waste. Around the world, Vinasse disposal by means of de-hydration, gasification, fertilization and many other methods have only been margin-ally successful.
In essence biological conversion solves both the ecological and the fertilization problems. If the mill would supply the ready Vinasse to its suppliers even logistical problems are abated.
It would be possible to consider that when the trucks delivering sugarcane to the mill, could have a 20 tons inflatable bowser that can be filled after delivering the sugarcane, thus avoiding logistical costs.
For a full description and application see the brochure on Vinasse under Vinasse
