Thermal Hydrolysis of Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of a WWTP in Burgos, Spain

García-Cascallana, José; Gómez, Xiomar; Martínez, Elia Judith

doi:10.3390/app11030964

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The different technologies available for increasing biogas yields include pre-treatments to facilitate the hydrolysis of particulate material to allow easy access to anaerobic microflora. However, some technologies may increase the facility's energy demand and negatively affect installation costs [156]. The thermal hydrolysis process is fully developed at the industrial level and allows the enhancement in biogas production along with a significant decrease in the volume of sludge [157].…”

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confidence: 99%

Biogas Production from Organic Wastes: Integrating Concepts of Circular Economy

Ellacuriaga

García-Cascallana

Gómez

2021

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Anaerobic digestion is traditionally used for treating organic materials. This allows the valorization of biogas and recycling of nutrients thanks to the land application of digestates. However, although this technology offers a multitude of advantages, it is still far from playing a relevant role in the energy market and from having significant participation in decarbonizing the economy. Biogas can be submitted to upgrading processes to reach methane content close to that of natural gas and therefore be compatible with many of its industrial applications. However, the high installation and operating costs of these treatment plants are the main constraints for the application of this technology in many countries. There is an urgent need of increasing reactor productivity, biogas yields, and operating at greater throughput without compromising digestion stability. Working at organic solid contents greater than 20% and enhancing hydrolysis and biogas yields to allow retention times to be around 15 days would lead to a significant decrease in reactor volume and therefore in initial capital investments. Anaerobic digestion should be considered as one of the key components in a new economy model characterized by an increase in the degree of circularity. The present manuscript reviews the digestion process analyzing the main parameters associated with digestion performance. The novelty of this manuscript is based on the link established between operating reactor conditions, optimizing treatment capacity, and reducing operating costs that would lead to unlocking the potential of biogas to promote bioenergy production, sustainable agronomic practices, and the integration of this technology into the energy grid.

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confidence: 99%

Biogas Production from Organic Wastes: Integrating Concepts of Circular Economy

Ellacuriaga

García-Cascallana

Gómez

2021

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“…Different thermal hydrolysis technologies were analyzed using data from the wastewater treatment plant of Burgos (Spain) as the base scenario when operating with conventional mesophilic anaerobic digestion [13]. García-Cascallana et al [13] showed that when hydrolysis was applied to digested sludge and sludge from the Solidstream ® process, this resulted in a 35% increase in biogas available for engines and a 23% increase in electricity production. In this case, the main advantage of the hydrolysis process is the decrease in the volume of digesters and the amount of dewatered sludge needing final disposal [13].…”

Section: Strategies To Improve Anaerobic Digestion Of Organic Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

“…García-Cascallana et al [13] showed that when hydrolysis was applied to digested sludge and sludge from the Solidstream ® process, this resulted in a 35% increase in biogas available for engines and a 23% increase in electricity production. In this case, the main advantage of the hydrolysis process is the decrease in the volume of digesters and the amount of dewatered sludge needing final disposal [13].…”

Section: Strategies To Improve Anaerobic Digestion Of Organic Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Special Issue on the Intensified Conversion of Organic Waste into Biogas

Martins

2022

Applied Sciences

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“…Two thermal hydrolysis reactors with a working volume of 5.1 m 3 operating under batch conditions (3 cycles each) would be needed. Based on technical data reported by García-Cascallana et al [27], a steam injection time of 15 min was assumed with a 20 min duration for the hydrolysis process. Using these assumptions, the steam flow needed would account for 3750 kg/h for a total period of 1.5 h (derived from the summation of the six operating cycles).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Other benefits should also be added regarding the safety of the product and improvements in the rheological properties of digestate (lower viscosity and improved dewaterability) [19,25]. Other studies focus on energy evaluations dealing with global process performance, indicating that the energy demand of the additional equipment associated with the thermal hydrolysis unit may be higher than the energy derived from digestion enhancement [26,27]. This disadvantage may be offset by a much lower amount of sludge needing final disposal [28], along with a lower volume of reactor required to treat the pre-treated sludge.…”

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confidence: 99%

Feasibility of Coupling Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization: Analyzing Thermal Demand

et al. 2021

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Anaerobic digestion is a biological process with wide application for the treatment of high organic-containing streams. The production of biogas and the lack of oxygen requirements are the main energetic advantages of this process. However, the digested stream may not readily find a final disposal outlet under certain circumstances. The present manuscript analyzed the feasibility of valorizing digestate by the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process. A hypothetical plant treating cattle manure and cheese whey as co-substrate (25% v/w, wet weight) was studied. The global performance was evaluated using available data reported in the literature. The best configuration was digestion as a first stage with the subsequent treatment of digestate in an HTC unit. The treatment of manure as sole substrate reported a value of 752 m3/d of biogas which could be increased to 1076 m3/d (43% increase) when coupling an HTC unit for digestate post-treatment and the introduction of the co-substrate. However, the high energy demand of the combined configurations indicated, as the best alternative, the valorization of just a fraction (15%) of digestate to provide the benefits of enhancing biogas production. This configuration presented a much better energy performance than the thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment of manure. The increase in biogas production does not compensate for the high energy demand of the pre-treatment unit. However, several technical factors still need further research to make this alternative a reality, as it is the handling and pumping of high solid slurries that significantly affects the energy demand of the thermal treatment units and the possible toxicity of hydrochar when used in a biological process.

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Thermal Hydrolysis of Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of a WWTP in Burgos, Spain

Cited by 16 publications

References 36 publications

Biogas Production from Organic Wastes: Integrating Concepts of Circular Economy

Biogas Production from Organic Wastes: Integrating Concepts of Circular Economy

Special Issue on the Intensified Conversion of Organic Waste into Biogas

Feasibility of Coupling Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization: Analyzing Thermal Demand

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