Modelling and techno-economic assessment of possible pathways from sewage sludge to green energy in India

Praveen Kumar Vidyarthi, Nadège Blond (), Pratham Arora and Jean-Luc Ponche
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Praveen Kumar Vidyarthi: LIVE - Laboratoire Image, Ville, Environnement - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IIT Roorkee - Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Nadège Blond: ENGEES - École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg, LIVE - Laboratoire Image, Ville, Environnement - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Pratham Arora: IIT Roorkee - Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Jean-Luc Ponche: LIVE - Laboratoire Image, Ville, Environnement - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Efficient domestic wastewater management is essential for mitigating the impact of wastewater on human health and the environment. Wastewater management with conventional technologies generates sewage sludge. The present study considered a modelling approach to evaluate various processing pathways to produce energy from the sewage sludge. Anaerobic digestion, gasification, pyrolysis, and hydrothermal liquefaction are analysed in terms of their energy generation potentials with the Aspen Plus software. A techno-economic assessment is performed to assess the economic viability of each pathway. It reveals that gasification appears as the most promising method to produce electricity, with 0.76 kWh/kgdrysludge, followed by anaerobic digestion (0.53 kWh/kgdrysludge), pyrolysis (0.34 kWh/kgdrysludge), and hydrothermal liquefaction (0.13 kWh/kgdrysludge). In contrast, the techno-economic analysis underscores the viability of anaerobic digestion with levelized cost of electricity as 0.02 $/kWh followed by gasification (0.11 $/kWh), pyrolysis (0.14 $/kWh), and hydrothermal liquefaction (2.21 $/kWh). At the same time, if the products or electricity from the processing unit is sold, equivalent results prevail. The present study is a comprehensive assessment of sludge management for researchers and policymakers. The result of the study can also assist policymakers and industry stakeholders in deciding on alternative options for energy recovery and revenue generation from sewage sludge.

Keywords: Aspen Plus; bioenergy; gasification; pyrolysis; anaerobic digestion; hydrothermal liquefaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-env
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Published in Journal of Environmental Management, 2024, 366, pp.121856. ⟨10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121856⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04796594

DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121856

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