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Journal ArticleDOI

Utilization of sewage sludge in EU application of old and new methods—A review

01 Jan 2008-Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (Pergamon)-Vol. 12, Iss: 1, pp 116-140
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review past and future trends in sludge handling, focusing mainly at thermal processes (e.g. pyrolysis, wet oxidation, gasification) and the utilization of sewage sludge in cement manufacture as a co-fuel.
Abstract: The European Union has made progress in dealing with municipal wastewater in individual countries and as a corporate entity. However, it intends to make still further and substantial progress over the next 15 years. Currently, the most widely available options in the EU are the agriculture utilization, the waste disposal sites, the land reclamation and restoration, the incineration and other novel uses. The selection of an option on a local basis reflects local or national, cultural, historical, geographical, legal, political and economic circumstances. The degree of flexibility varies from country to country. In any case sludge treatment and disposal should always be considered as an integral part of treatment of wastewater. There is a wide range of other uses for sludge, which exploit its energy or chemical content, namely the thermal processes. The present paper sought to review past and future trends in sludge handling, focusing mainly at thermal processes (e.g. pyrolysis, wet oxidation, gasification) and the utilization of sewage sludge in cement manufacture as a co-fuel.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a co-processing of sewage sludge with biomass improves the fuel's characteristics and enhances the processes efficiency, while diluting the inorganic and toxic compounds, which is a sustainable solution to algae production using wastewater resources and then to be used for bio-energy production.
Abstract: Wastewater treatment leads to an increase in sewage sludge production. Sewage sludge consists, in general, of non-toxic organic matter and therefore can be utilized as a biomass resource for energy production. Energy recovery from sewage sludge via thermochemical valorization processes seems of great potential. Processes’ products can be used as bio-fuels, while minimization of the environmental impacts can be also achieved. In particular, wet sewage sludge pyrolysis-partial gasification at high temperatures and especially gasification give a new perspective for hydrogen-rich fuel gas production. Co-processing of sewage sludge with biomass improves the fuel's characteristics and enhances the processes efficiency. In addition, blends of sewage sludge with biomass contribute in diluting the inorganic and toxic compounds. Towards that direction, algae production using wastewater resources and then to be used for biofuels production seems a sustainable solution that is the reason why exploitation of such a material through thermochemical processes is under intensive discussion.

445 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper seeks to review the means of production, the characteristics and the potential applications of sewage sludge-based adsorbents (SBAs), and suggests that chemical activation utilising alkali metal hydroxides is the most effective technique for producing high surface area SBAs.

429 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was found that most of the heavy metals existed in the oxizable and residual forms after pyrolysis, resulting in a significant reduction in their bioavailability, leading to a very low environmental risk of the biochar.

417 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The current status of both European and Greek Legislation on waste management, with a special insight in municipal sewage sludge, is presented and pyrolysis seems to be the optimal thermochemical treatment option compared to incineration and gasification.

402 citations


Cites background from "Utilization of sewage sludge in EU ..."

  • ...MSS can be extensively used in cement manufacturing as a cheap alternative energy resource (Fytili and Zabaniotou, 2008) with substantial energy and environmental savings due to reduced CO2 emissions....

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  • ...Extensive research was focused on MSS pyrolysis in fixed – fluid bed and rotary kiln reactors (Shen and Zhang, 2002; Fytili and Zabaniotou, 2008; Manara and Zabaniotou, 2012; Shinogi and Kanri, 2003)....

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  • ...%) content, thus consuming most of the thermal process energy (Aggelakis et al., 2005; Dennis et al., 2005; Fytili and Zabaniotou, 2008; Werle and Wilk, 2010; Manara and Zabaniotou, 2012)....

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  • ...Recent extensive reviews (Fytili and Zabaniotou, 2008; Manara and Zabaniotou, 2012) of the current literature on the effective sludge valorisation considered various available technologies including: anaerobic digestion, incineration, pyrolysis, gasification and wet oxidation....

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  • ...However, the consequence of dewatering/drying prior to thermal processing is on energy balances and increasing the costs although, thermal valorisation processes are generally considered to be as energy self-sufficient (Khiari et al., 2004; Fytili and Zabaniotou, 2008; Manara and Zabaniotou, 2012)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: SSBC can be beneficial in rice paddy soil but the actual associated benefits will depend on site-specific conditions and source of SS; long-term effects remain a further unknown.
Abstract: Biochar addition to soil has been proposed to improve plant growth by increasing soil fertility, minimizing bioaccumulation of toxic metal(liod)s and mitigating climate change. Sewage sludge (SS) is an attractive, though potentially problematic, feedstock of biochar. It is attractive because of its large abundance; however, it contains elevated concentrations of metal(loid)s and other contaminants. The pyrolysis of SS to biochar (SSBC) may be a way to reduce the availability of these contaminants to the soil and plants. Using rice plant pot experiments, we investigated the influence of SSBC upon biomass yield, bioaccumulation of nutrients, and metal(loid)s, and green housegas (GHG) emissions. SSBC amendments increased soil pH, total nitrogen, soil organic carbon and available nutrients and decreased bioavailable As, Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb (but not Cd, Cu, and Zn). Regarding rice plant properties, SSBC amendments significantly (P ≤ 0.01) increased shoot biomass (71.3-92.2%), grain yield (148.8-175.1%), and the bioaccumulation of phosphorus and sodium, though decreased the bioaccumulation of nitrogen (except in grain) and potassium. Amendments of SSBC significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced the bioaccumulation of As, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, and Pb, but increased that of Cd and Zn, though not above limits set by Chinese regulations. Finally regarding GHG emissions, SSBC significantly (P < 0.01) reduced N2O emissions and stimulated the uptake/oxidation of CH4 enough to make both the cultivated and uncultivated paddy soil a CH4 sink. SSBC can be beneficial in rice paddy soil but the actual associated benefits will depend on site-specific conditions and source of SS; long-term effects remain a further unknown.

396 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an analytical procedure involving sequential chemicai extractions was developed for the partitioning of particulate trace metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe, and Mn) into five fractions: exchangeable, bound to carbonates, binding to Fe-Mn oxides and bound to organic matter.
Abstract: An analytical procedure involving sequential chemicai extractions has been developed for the partitioning of particulate trace metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe, and Mn) into five fractions: exchangeable, bound to carbonates, bound to Fe-Mn oxides, bound to organic matter, and residual. Experimental results obtained on replicate samples of fluvial bottom sediments demonstrate that the relative standard deviation of the sequential extraction procedure Is generally better than =10%. The accuracy, evaluated by comparing total trace metal concentrations with the sum of the five Individual fractions, proved to be satisfactory. Complementary measurements were performed on the Individual leachates, and on the residual sediments following each extraction, to evaluate the selectivity of the various reagents toward specific geochemical phases. An application of the proposed method to river sediments is described, and the resulting trace metal speciation is discussed.

10,518 citations


"Utilization of sewage sludge in EU ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Over the last decades, a great variety of extraction schemes, both simple and sequential have been developed and, although some methods have been widely used [12,13] none has been unreservedly accepted by the scientific community....

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Book
01 Jan 1972
TL;DR: Wastewater Engineering: An Overview of Wastewater Engineering, Methods and Implementation Considerations as mentioned in this paper is a good starting point for a discussion of the issues of wastewater engineering. But, it is not a complete survey of the entire literature.
Abstract: Wastewater Engineering: An Overview. Wastewater Flowrates. Wastewater Characteristics. Wastewater Treatment Objective, Methods, and Implementation Considerations. Introduction to Wastewater Treatment Plant Design. Physical Unit Operations. Chemical Unit Processes. Biological Unit Processes. Design of Facilities for Physical and Chemical Treatment of Wastewater. Design of Facilities for the Biological Treatment of Wastewater. Advanced Wastewater Treatment. Design of Facilities for the Treatment and Disposal of Sludge. Natural-Treatment Systems. Small Wastewater Treatment Systems. Management of Wastewater from Combined Sewers. Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse.

3,826 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the current and future issues related to the combustion of sewage sludge is presented, and a number of technologies for thermal processing of sludge are discussed in three groups, i.e., mono-combustion, cocombustions and alternative processes.

1,026 citations


"Utilization of sewage sludge in EU ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Multiple hearth and fluidized bed furnaces are the most popular and the latter is becoming widely applied [24]....

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  • ...Analysis has shown that about 78–98% of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn present in the sewage sludge are retained in the ash, whereas up to 98% of the Hg may be released into the atmosphere with the flue gas [24]....

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  • ...The whole process is occurring in two distinctive regimes [24]:...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a standardization with respect to grain size effects, commonly achieved by analyzing the sieve fraction <63μm, which is used to pin point major sources of metal pollution and to estimate the toxicity potential of dredged materials.
Abstract: Sediment analyses are used to pin‐point major sources of metal pollution and to estimate the toxicity potential of dredged materials on agricultural land. For source assessments (Part I of the present review) standardization is needed with respect to grain size effects, commonly achieved by analyzing the sieve fraction <63μm. Further aspects include sampling methods, evaluation of background data and extent of anthropogenic metal enrichment.

530 citations