A Review of Sludge-to-Energy Recovery Methods

Jumoke Oladejo, Kaiqi Shi, Xiang Luo, Gang Yang and Tao Wu
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Jumoke Oladejo: New Materials Institute, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo 315100, China
Kaiqi Shi: New Materials Institute, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo 315100, China
Xiang Luo: New Materials Institute, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo 315100, China
Gang Yang: New Materials Institute, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo 315100, China
Tao Wu: New Materials Institute, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo 315100, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-38

Abstract: The increasing volume of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment facilities is becoming a prominent concern globally. The disposal of this sludge is particularly challenging and poses severe environmental hazards due to the high content of organic, toxic and heavy metal pollutants among its constituents. This study presents a simple review of four sewage to energy recovery routes (anaerobic digestion, combustion, pyrolysis and gasification) with emphasis on recent developments in research, as well as benefits and limitations of the technology for ensuring cost and environmentally viable sewage to energy pathway. This study focusses on the review of various commercially viable sludge conversion processes and technologies used for energy recovery from sewage sludge. This was done via in-depth process descriptions gathered from literatures and simplified schematic depiction of such energy recovery processes when utilised for sludge. Specifically, the impact of fuel properties and its effect on the recovery process were discussed to indicate the current challenges and recent scientific research undertaken to resolve these challenges and improve the operational, environmental and cost competitiveness of these technologies.

Keywords: sewage; anaerobic digestion; combustion; pyrolysis; gasification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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