Sludge incineration is a
sewage sludge treatment
Sewage sludge treatment describes the processes used to manage and dispose of sewage sludge produced during sewage treatment. Sludge treatment is focused on reducing sludge weight and volume to reduce transportation and disposal costs, and on red ...
process using
incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...
. It generates
thermal energy
The term "thermal energy" is used loosely in various contexts in physics and engineering. It can refer to several different well-defined physical concepts. These include the internal energy or enthalpy of a body of matter and radiation; heat, de ...
from
sewage sludge
Sewage sludge is the residual, semi-solid material that is produced as a by-product during sewage treatment of industrial or municipal wastewater. The term " septage" also refers to sludge from simple wastewater treatment but is connected to s ...
produced in
sewage treatment
Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...
plants. The process is in operation in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
where Klärschlammverbrennung GmbH in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
incinerates 1.3m tonnes of
sludge
Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. For example, it can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventional ...
annually. The process has also been trialed in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, where it has been qualified as an environmental investment project. However the
energy balance Energy balance may refer to:
* Earth's energy balance, the relationship between incoming solar radiation, outgoing radiation of all types, and global temperature change.
* Energy accounting, a system used within industry, where measuring and anal ...
of the process is not high, as sludge needs drying before
incinerating.
[Christian Streffer, Carl Friedrich Gethmann, Klaus Heinloth ''Ethische Probleme einer langfristigen globalen Energieversorgung'' 2005 p246 "Allein die Klärschlammverbrennung GmbH in Hamburg etwa erzeugt durch die Verbrennung von 1,3 Millionen Tonnen Klärschlamm jährlich 66 ... kWh Wärme.540 Die energetische Bilanz der Klärschlammverbrennung ist allerdings nicht allzu hoch, ..."]
Sewage sludge can be incinerated in mono-incineration or co-incineration plants. In co-incineration, sewage sludge is not the only fuel and it can be processed at coal fired power plants, cement plants and in some waste incineration facility.
Examples
Germany currently has around 27 mono-incineration facilities, where only sewage sludge is processed.
References
External links
Sewer Cleaning
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sludge Incineration
Renewable energy
Sewerage