ManuREfinery Project Gathers Momentum at the 2nd Consortium Meeting and Joint CAPTURE Workshop in Ghent

The ManuREfinery project progresses on its mandate of smart modular mobile biorefining of manure through a successful consortium meeting and a joint workshop held at CAPTURE, University of Ghent between 24th and 25th of April 2025.

Bridging experts, researchers, and stakeholders in Europe, the two-day Consortium Meeting served as a place to reflect on the progress made in the technical developments and strategies of further deployment, as well as methods to advance toward a circular zero-waste future of rural manure management. Project partners examined the onward developments of:

• Liquid valorisation, i.e. anaerobic digestion, nutrient recovery and grass extrusion
• Gas valorisation featuring biofiltration approaches for ammonia
• Solid valorisation, with updates on drying, gasification, and syngas conversion units

Other barriers discussed by sessions were the regulative and societal barriers, inclusion design principles, and the future pathways on local deployment. The debates demonstrated the consortium’s willingness to change manure to valuable inputs like fertilizers, feedstuffs and bioenergy in a sustainable and scalable way.

A relaxed consortium dinner at the “De Wilde Brouwers” brewery provided an opportunity for networking and a bit of local flavour.

Spotlight on Innovation: CAPTURE– ManuREfinery Workshop

At the start of the gathering, there was a well- attended Joint Workshop on Modular Biorefining, hosted by CAPTURE on the 23th of April.

Intending to connect rural and urban resource recovery, the event included presentations on:

• On-site nitrogen recovery biogas production and valorization
• Water reuse and the wastewater treatment of the future
• Microbial protein production
• Modular architecture of the design for an effective pilot development

The workshop concluded with an animated roundtable and a reception, sustaining inter- sector communication and intensifying cooperation outside the sphere of the project per se.

From Theory to Practice: Farm Visit with On-Site Technologies

In conclusion to the meeting, Detricon organized for the participants a tour to a local animal farm practicing some of the technologies that were highlighted in the sessions.

Situated only 25 mins from Ghent, the site includes: An ammonia stripper, an anaerobic digester for generating electricity and heat, a manure separator and a hygienisation unit. This hands-on field visit provided a good view of how the modular biorefinery systems can be applied in practice thereby complementing the practical nature of ManuREfinery in rural areas. As a project built on the innovation ideology, ManuREfinery is not only creating usable tools for sustainable manure management but also building connections between disciplines, sectors, and regions. 🔗 To find more, please visit https://www.manurefinery.eu/