Energy Recovery From Sludge Digestion And Potential Uses In Emerging Intensive Agricultural Systems
Abstract
Sludge from municipal waste-water treatment have valuable potentials for reuse of the nutrient and energy embedded in it. However, the sludge is highly contaminated with pathogens, which have led to very stringent regulation for it disposal and reuse. An utmost treatment should reduce the pathogens to achieve a class A product which does not have restrictions for its final disposal and reuse. Anaerobic digestion has a unique ability to produce biogas that offsets its energy requirement. At mesophilic temperatures, it produces Class B biosolids and becomes very sensitive to thermophilic temperature that enhances pathogen destruction to achieve a class A biosolids. Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion (ATAD), an exothermic biological sludge treatment achieves Class A biosolids. The recoverable waste heat from the ATAD process for a small community with a sludge flow rate of 50 m3/day is sufficient to warm a 250m3 vertical green house for a planting season in a cold climate.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Uyouko, N. A. (2014). Energy Recovery From Sludge Digestion And Potential Uses In Emerging Intensive Agricultural Systems (Unpublished report). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.