Thermal hydrolysis

Thermal hydrolysis is a process used for treating industrial waste, municipal solid waste and sewage sludge.

Thermal Hydrolysis Plant in Cardiff, Wales, UK

Description

Thermal hydrolysis is a two-stage process combining high-pressure boiling of waste or sludge followed by a rapid decompression. This combined action sterilizes the sludge and makes it more biodegradable, which improves digestion performance. Sterilization destroys pathogens in the sludge resulting in it exceeding the stringent requirements for land application (agriculture).[1]

In addition, the treatment adjusts the rheology to such an extent that loading rates to sludge anaerobic digesters can be doubled, and also dewaterability of the sludge is significantly improved.[2][3] The first full-scale application of this process for sewage sludge was installed in Hamar, Norway in 1996. Since then, there have been over 30 additional installations globally.[1]

Thermal hydrolysis reactors at Blue Plains in 2016.

Commercial application at a sewage treatment plant

Sewage treatment plants, such as Blue Plains in Washington, D.C., USA, have adopted thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge in order to produce commercially valuable products (such as electricity and "class A" biosolid fertilizers) out of the wastewater.[4] The full-scale commercial application of thermal hydrolysis enables the plant to utilize the solids portion of the wastewater to make power and fine fertilizer directly from sewage waste.[5]

Municipal waste-to-fuel application

The city of Oslo, Norway installed a system for converting domestic food waste to fuel in 2012. A thermal hydrolysis system produces biogas from the food waste, which provides fuel for the city bus system and is also used for agricultural fertilizer.[6]

30 largest thermal hydrolysis plants
Plant Capacity
(TDS/A)*		 Commission
Year		 Thermal Hydrolysis
Supplier
Blue Plains, Washington DC, USA135,0002014Cambi
Gaoantun, Beijing, China134,0002017Cambi
Gaobeidian, Beijing, China99,1002016Cambi
Davyhulme, Manchester, UK91,0002013Cambi
Huaifang, Beijing, China89,1002017Cambi
Xiaohongmen, Beijing, China65,7002016Cambi
Qinghe II, Beijing, China59,5002017Cambi
Crossness, UK58,5002018Cambi
Ringsend, Dublin, Ireland56,0002002Cambi
Howdon, UK40,0002010Cambi
Riverside, UK40,0002009Cambi
Tees Valley, UK37,0002008Cambi
Seafield, UK36,5002015Cambi[7]
Beckton, UK36,5002013Cambi
Cardiff, UK30,0002009Cambi
Tilburg, Holland29,0002014Cambi
Esholt, UK26,4002013Veolia
Santiago, Chile25,0002010Cambi
Oxford, UK24,4002010Veolia
Vilnius, Lithuania23,0002010Cambi
Whitlingham, UK23,0002008Cambi
Vigo, Spain22,0002014Cambi
Afan, UK20,0002009Cambi
Bruxelles Nord, Belgium20,0002007Cambi
Cotton Valley, Milton Keynes, UK20,0002007Cambi
NOSES, Aberdeen, UK16,5002001Cambi
Lille, France16,4002013Veolia
EGE Waste Treatment, Oslo, Norway15,0002012Cambi
Turku, Finland14,0002009Cambi
Apeldoorn, Netherlands 13,000 2015 Sustec
Oxley Creek, Brisbane, Australia12,9002006Cambi

* Tons of Dry Solids/Year

See also
  • List of waste-water treatment technologies

References
  1. Barber, Bill; Lancaster, Rick; Kleiven, Harald (2012-09-01). "Thermal Hydrolysis: The Missing Ingredient for Better Biosolids?". Water World. 27 (4). Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  2. Neyens, Elisabeth; Baeyens, Jan (2003). "A review of thermal sludge pre-treatment processes to improve dewaterability". Journal of Hazardous Materials. B98 (1–3): 51–57. doi:10.1016/S0304-3894(02)00320-5.
  3. Skinner, Samuel; Studer, Lindsay; Dixon, David; Hillis, Peter; Rees, Catherine; Wall, Rachael; Cavalida, Raul; Usher, Shane; Stickland, Anthony; Scales, Peter (2015). "Quantification of wastewater sludge dewatering". Water Research. 82: 2–13. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2015.04.045. PMID 26003332. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  4. Halsey, Ashley (2014-04-05). "DC Water adopts Norway's Cambi system for making power and fine fertilizer from sewage". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  5. Berkowitz, Bonnie; Lindeman, Todd (2014-04-05). "From Toilet to Turbine". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  6. "Food Waste to Fuel Oslo's City Buses". Environment News Service. Lincoln City, OR. 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  7. https://www.cambi.com/references/plants/europe/united-kingdom/edinburgh-seafield/

Further reading
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