Utilization of sewage sludge in EU application of old and new methods—A review
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.
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01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The wet pyrolysis process, also known as hydrothermal carbonization, opens up the field of potential feedstocks for char production to a range of nontraditional renewable and plentiful wet agricultural residues and municipal wastes as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The carbonization of biomass residuals to char has strong potential to become an environmentally sound conversion process for the production of a wide variety of products. In addition to its traditional use for the production of charcoal and other energy vectors, pyrolysis can produce products for environmental, catalytic, electronic and agricultural applications. As an alternative to dry pyrolysis, the wet pyrolysis process, also known as hydrothermal carbonization, opens up the field of potential feedstocks for char production to a range of nontraditional renewable and plentiful wet agricultural residues and municipal wastes. Its chemistry offers huge potential to influence product characteristics on demand, and produce designer carbon materials. Future uses of these hydrochars may range from innovative materials to soil amelioration, nutrient conservation via intelligent waste stream management and the increase of carbon stock in degraded soils.
1,360 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, three strategies of CO2 reduction including energy saving, carbon separation and storage as well as utilizing alternative materials in detail have been reviewed and the barriers against worldwide deployment of such strategies are identified and comprehensively described.
903 citations
TL;DR: The main objective of the current study was to outline the current situation and discuss future perspectives for sludge treatment and disposal in EU countries, where sludge reuse in land and sludge incineration seem to be the main practices further adopted in EU-27 (all Member States up to 2020.
853 citations
TL;DR: The high microplastic enrichment in marine sediments compared to most literature data for seawater at the surface supports the hypothesis of a seabed sink for these materials.
710 citations
TL;DR: An updated review on two subjects: the available alternatives to produce biochar from a biomass feedstock and the effect of biochar addition to agricultural soils on soil properties and fertility is provided.
Abstract: According to the International Biochar Initiative (IBI), biochar is a charcoal which can be applied to soil for both agricultural and environmental gains. Biochar technology seems to have a very promising future. Nevertheless, the further development of this technology requires continuing research. The present paper provides an updated review on two subjects: the available alternatives to produce biochar from a biomass feedstock and the effect of biochar addition to agricultural soils on soil properties and fertility. A high number of previous studies have highlighted the benefit of using biochar in terms of mitigating global warning (through carbon sequestration) and as a strategy to manage soil processes and functions. Nevertheless, the relationship between biochar properties (mainly physical properties and chemical functionalities on surface) and its applicability as a soil amendment is still unclear and does not allow the establishment of the appropriate process conditions to produce a biochar with de...
631 citations
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TL;DR: The influence of sewage sludge ash (SSA) on workability of cement mortars has been studied and only significant differences in workability for mortars prepared with high water volumes or with the presence of superplasticizer were observed.
151 citations
123 citations
"Utilization of sewage sludge in EU ..." refers methods in this paper
...[39] has reported the flash pyrolysis of sewage sludge using a bench scale fluidized bed reactor....
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TL;DR: In this article, non-isothermal thermogravimetric data were used to assess the kinetics of the combustion of these carbonaceous materials and the activation energy related to AM combustion was similar to that corresponding to sewage sludge (SS), animal manure (AM) and organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW).
116 citations
TL;DR: The design and operation experiences with stabilization/disinfection methods in Norway where such treatment has been compulsory since 1995 are discussed.
116 citations