Based in Quebec, the company presented its first hog slurry processing unit on a farm located in the Lotbinière region of Chaudière-Appalaches.
President of development André Beaulieu Blanchette explained the innovation. “There is currently no process in the world for treating contaminated water that achieves the same level of performance as that achieved by Solugen,” he said. “The process will have a significant economic and environmental impact on Quebec hog producers by recovering up to 84% of the volume of pig slurry in the form of clean water and eliminating up to 95% of the greenhouse gases and odours associated with pig slurry storage and spreading."
The technology will also contribute to the growth of agricultural operations, in full compliance with environmental standards, through job creation and the recovery of three important fertilizers in agriculture: phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. The recycled fertilizers will be reused as natural fertilizers.
More than three million [Canadian] dollars has been invested in the development of this technology and its ongoing performance. To help with Solugen’s research, $1,624,459 was granted by Transition énergétique Québec (TEQ) through its Technoclimat program, which aims to encourage the development of technological innovations in energy efficiency, renewable energy, bioenergy and GHG emissions reduction.
It has also received grants from the National Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Canada Economic Development. Solugen works in partnership with the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS).
As part of the agreement, with NSERC's support, Professor Jean-François Blais' research team at INRS will monitor the performance of the Solugen Development Inc process for the treatment of pig manure by performing physical-chemical analyses at the various stages of the process.