Next Generation Biosolids to Biochar Pyrolysis Technology
PYROCO provides the future in biosolids management.
PYROCO is a major leap forward in biosolids treatment, offering water authorities a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach that uses a unique heat recovery fluidised bed pyrolysis technology, which destroys PFAS and produces high quality biochar.
Challenging existing auger-based technology, PYROCO is anticipated to deliver lower capital and operating costs at scale. With no moving parts in the thermal zone PYROCO proposes to offer scalability, long plant life, and minimal downtime, to deliver improved outcomes for water utilities.
With a simple and elegant design, including no moving parts and higher efficiency over a smaller footprint, PYROCO is anticipated to be a lower cost option to build, operate and maintain a thermal biosolids treatment process at scale.
Pyrolysis retains maximum carbon for long term sequestration and minimal excess thermal energy is required for drying incoming biosolids due to the efficient process design. PYROCO is anticipated to provide a higher net zero benefit compared to alternative thermal processes.
PYROCO will help protect the environment through the destruction of PFAS and other contaminates such as microplastics, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. It aids in sequestering carbon through high quality biochar with potential beneficial uses including degraded land rehabilitation, compost accelerant, cement augmentation in concrete and road base and many others, therefore contributing to a circular economy.
With a simple and elegant design, including no moving parts and higher efficiency over a smaller footprint, PYROCO is anticipated to be a lower cost option to build, operate and maintain a thermal biosolids treatment process at scale.
Pyrolysis retains maximum carbon for long term sequestration and minimal excess thermal energy is required for drying incoming biosolids due to the efficient process design. PYROCO is anticipated to provide a higher net zero benefit compared to alternative thermal processes.
PYROCO will help protect the environment through the destruction of PFAS and other contaminates such as microplastics, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. It aids in sequestering carbon through high quality biochar with potential beneficial uses including degraded land rehabilitation, compost accelerant, cement augmentation in concrete and road base and many others, therefore contributing to a circular economy.
A commercial offering will be available in late 2026
Dr Kalpit Shah (RMIT) explains more about PYROCO and its benefits:
Scalable NRW solutions were discussed at a recent webinar hosted by Iota Services CEO, Daniel Sullivan together with David Maclean, VP Australia & New Zealand and South East Asia at Landis+Gyr, and Andrew Forster Knight, General Manager Digital Utility at South East Water (SEW). The three experts discussed the industry’s pain points and how innovative digital technologies are helping to manage and control NRW loss.
For Australian water utilities, non-revenue water is a continuous challenge, previously with no clear solution at scale. A 2019 Bureau of Meteorology report estimated that
For Australian water utilities, non-revenue water is a continuous challenge, with no clear solution at scale. But now, the Australian water industry is deploying digital meters to gain better visibility of water usage across the network, providing customers with more granular and immediate information about water consumption
Beyond meter reading webinar recording. Hosted by: Daniel Sullivan, CEO Iota. The conversation was candid, insightful and thought provoking, watch it above if you missed it live.
Iota was proud to sponsor the Technology stream at the 2020 VicWater Conference. Iota CEO Daniel Sullivan presented with South East Water’s Acting General Manager of Customer Service
Sotto® is a key innovation in South East Water’s (SEW) critical work to reduce non-revenue water losses due to hidden leaks on SEW’s network.
Iota proudly acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live, and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge their songlines, cultural lore and continuing connection to the land and water. We recognise and value the rich cultural heritage and ongoing contributions of Aboriginal people and communities to our society across Australia.
Sustainability
| Water Utility Challenges | Digital Utility Levers | Lentic® Enablers |
| Water scarcity from climate change and population growth | Reduce water wastage by identifying network leaks | Enable an integrated ecosystem that leverages machine intelligence |
| Meet and exceed environmental regulatory requirements | Increase digital monitoring of water value chain to improve water quality and reduce environmental impact | Enhance data quality and quantity to support regulatory reporting and transparency |
Customers
| Water Utility Challenges | Digital Utility Levers | Lentic® Enablers |
| Rising customer expectations | Provide customers with relevant on-demand insights through preferred channels, enabling better service experiences | Built-in domain knowledge delivers on-demand customisable insights to customers |
| Affordability | Reduce water services costs through innovative demand management and enhanced operational efficiency | Support automation of key business processes to enhance customer service delivery and reduce demand |
Assets
| Water Utility Challenges | Digital Utility Levers | Lentic® Enablers |
| Optimise asset life and reduce operating costs | Visualise performance and manage asset lifecycle in real time while reducing the need to fund additional infrastructure | Domain rules applied to predict unknown disruption across assets, by providing high volume of data |
| Reduce non-revenue water losses | Automate identification of network leaks to enable rapid and cost-effective fault resolution | Enable integration of field device data across enterprise systems to manage utility response to network leaks and faults |
| Protect asset security | Provide a safe and resilient operating environment reducing cyber risks to critical infrastructure | Security policy and controls are in place to support continuous monitoring efforts in line with ISO0227001 |
