Abstract
The paper presents a case-based comparison of energy
balances, green house gas emissions and costs of
municipal wastewater sludge process chains based on
anaerobic digestion or incineration. Several utilisation
options were covered for biogas energy as well for energy
from sludge incineration. The potential of enhancing
anaerobic digestion by converting the process to
thermophilic was studied. In addition, primary
precipitation as an operation mode of a WWTP was
evaluated as a possible means of enhancing the total
energy efficiency. Based on the results, sludge
incineration was the most expensive option of the studied
scenarios, but justified if the heat generated can be
utilised in district heating. Based on costs and energy
balances as well as green house gas emissions it is most
preferable in anaerobic digestion chains to feed the
generated biogas to a gas engine to produce electricity
and heat. Moreover, thermophilic anaerobic digestion can
improve the overall economy of a WWTP provided that the
biogas yield is sufficiently higher than in a mesophilic
process.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |
| MoE publication type | Not Eligible |
| Event | IWA Water and Energy Conference 2010 - Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 10 Nov 2010 → 12 Nov 2010 |
Conference
| Conference | IWA Water and Energy Conference 2010 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Netherlands |
| City | Amsterdam |
| Period | 10/11/10 → 12/11/10 |
Keywords
- anaerobic digestion
- biogas
- sludge treatment
- sludge incineration
