Proposed EU legislation to force changes in sewage sludge disposal: A case study

doi:10.1007/s11705-018-1773-0

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2018, Vol. 12

Issue (4) : 660-669 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-018-1773-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Proposed EU legislation to force changes in sewage sludge disposal: A case study

Vojtěch Turek(

), Bohuslav Kilkovský, Zdeněk Jegla, Petr Stehlík

Institute of Process Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic

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Abstract

The consequences of changes planned in the European Union legislation relevant to the disposal of sewage sludges are discussed. A specific municipal waste water treatment plant is analyzed in terms of drying and subsequent combustion or pyrolysis of the produced stabilized sludge, and the respective net energy balances are carried out. A simplified economic analysis of the two disposal options is presented, which suggest that combustion of the sludge would be economically infeasible while pyrolysis of the sludge in a modular, self-sufficient container unit can bring a small financial benefit due to the selling of the produced phosphorus-rich biochar.

Keywords sewage sludge drying combustion pyrolysis

Corresponding Author(s): Vojtěch Turek

Online First Date: 17 December 2018 Issue Date: 03 January 2019

Cite this article:

Vojtěch Turek,Bohuslav Kilkovský,Zdeněk Jegla, et al. Proposed EU legislation to force changes in sewage sludge disposal: A case study[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2018, 12(4): 660-669.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-018-1773-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2018/V12/I4/660

Fig.1 General layout of a waste water treatment plant

Fig.2 Modular low-temperature conveyor belt dryer

Tab.1 Daily sludge productions averaged over the last three years and sludge properties provided by the WWTP operator

Tab.2 Daily biogas production averaged over the last three years and the corresponding maximum possible heat and power productions; biogas properties and CHP efficiencies have been provided by the WWTP operator

Fig.3 Comparison of maximum average daily energy production and consumption within the WWTP

Tab.3 Data related to the dewatered and dried sludges

Tab.4 Data related to combustion of the dried stabilized sludge

Fig.4 Daily net energy gain graph for the dried stabilized sludge containing 51.70 wt-% of organic matter (dry basis, lower heating value: 19.1 MJ·kg^–1). The dashed theoretical curve assumes 100% combustion efficiency and stoichiometric amount of?combustion air, while the actual solid curve is for 80% combustion efficiency and 40% excess air

Fig.5 Comparison of maximum average daily energy production and consumption within the WWTP for scenario 2 (combustion of the dried digestate)

Fig.6 Comparison of maximum average daily energy production and consumption within the WWTP for scenario 3 (pyrolysis of the dried digestate using the PYREG unit)

Tab.5 Comparison of investment and operating & maintenance costs for scenarios 2 and 3

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