Last week, I had the opportunity to spend two packed and productive days in Belfast with colleagues from across the ALPS Ecoscience team, focused on three feedstock pre-treatment projects that push the envelope of what’s possible in anaerobic digestion (AD). Each project addressed a common but critical challenge in the AD world: difficult feedstocks with poor pumpability and high solids and fibre content. These are the materials that often cause headaches on site—clogging pumps, limiting throughput, and reducing gas yields with incomplete digestion. But for us, they represent an opportunity. A challenge to solve and determine the most appropriate feedstock pre-treatment protocol.

Putting Cavitation to Work

At the heart of these trials was hydrodynamic cavitation (HDC)—a feedstock pre-treatment technique that uses controlled fluid dynamics to break down fibrous and viscous materials. By reducing viscosity, cavitation makes these challenging feedstocks easier to handle and, crucially, much more bioavailable for anaerobic digestion.

During our time in Belfast, we conducted trials on three distinct feedstocks. Early results have been promising, showing clear improvements in pumpability and rheological properties. Comprehensive lab analyses are now underway, including biomethane potential (BMP) testing and physico-chemical characterisation, to evaluate the potential for increased biogas yields.

In parallel, small-scale dark fermentation experiments and additional HDC testing were carried out to assess the feasibility of dual-stage anaerobic digestion. These findings will inform the next phase of work and help clients determine whether to invest in testing using our pilot-scale continuous digesters.

Due to the confidential nature of the projects, we can’t name the clients involved, but what we can say is that this work sits at the forefront of ALPS’ mission to unlock value from underused and problematic bioresources.

A True Cross-Team Effort

This trip brought together our most talented group of people. I travelled up from the Bristol office with Mike Platt to join Wade McRoberts, Mael Wilford, and the full Belfast-based team at our Northern Ireland lab. We also hosted external visitors from around the UK and mainland Europe, all bringing their own perspectives to the table. The energy and focus across the trials were second to none—everyone pulling in the same direction to embrace the opportunity of novel feedstock pre-treatment technologies in the real world.

Supporting Scale-Up of SMASH

Alongside the trials, we also made time to visit a brand-new advanced anaerobic digestion facility outside Belfast. ALPS Ireland is supporting the site as it scales up using our dual stage SMASH platform—a huge milestone for both us and the client. It’s an exciting moment, seeing the SMASH system being deployed at commercial scale and making a real impact. This facility is also incorporating extensive digestate treatment for a truly circular approach to agricultural AD.

Meet Us at the World Biogas Expo

Looking ahead, we’re getting ready for the World Biogas Expo on 9th and 10th July, where ALPS will be exhibiting at Stand G30. It’s a great chance to come and chat with both the UK and Ireland teams, learn more about our feedstock pre-treatment work, and hear how cavitation and SMASH are reshaping what’s possible in AD.
There’s a lot happening across ALPS right now—and this trip to Belfast was a perfect snapshot of that momentum in action.
Hope to see you in Birmingham.

Jack