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 redu ...
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 often used ambiguously in physics and engineering. It can denote several different physical concepts, including:
* Internal energy: The energy contained within a body of matter or radiation, excluding the potential en ...
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 si ...
produced in
sewage treatment
Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...
plants. The process is in operation in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
where Klärschlammverbrennung GmbH in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
incinerates 1.3m tonnes of
sludge
Sludge (possibly , or some dialect related to slush) 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. It can be produced as a settled sus ...
annually. The process has also been trialed in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, where it has been qualified as an environmental investment project. However the
energy balance 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