Thermal Treatment of Sludge Could Boost Phosphorous Resources, Solve Waste Problem
Bio4Energy researchers are developing a new efficient method for phosphorous recovery using thermal treatment of sludge from municipal waste treatment facilities or pulp and paper operations. Once implemented, the scheme is expected to provide for a reduction of the risk of contamination of food and feed crops by heavy metals—as well as reduce the problem of how to dispose of toxic waste sludge—and produce an economic benefit for industry. Research leader Marcus Öhman said that the technology could be ready for industrial uptake within a decade.
'We could be at the stage of industrial demonstration of the technology in five years. Then a certain amount of time would be needed for classification of the product. We know that it would be economically beneficial for some [existing] bioenergy operations which use fluid-bed technology to start co-fire dried sludge with [fuel wood]”, according to Öhman, who is a professor in Energy Engineering at the Luleå University of Technology (LTU).
The research and development project, which is the fruit of collaboration between Bio4Energy researchers at LTU and Umeå University, has been several years in the making. Now it can go ahead thanks to a recently announced multiannual grant from the Swedish Research Council Formas.
Phosphorous is an essential nutrient for plant growth and thus for food production. It is extracted by mining in a handful of countries worldwide and its maximum production is expected to peak in the year of 2030. After that predictions range from 50 to a several hundred years before it runs out. Research is ongoing on a handful of methods for recycling the mineral from sludge, but which either perform inadequately (when it comes to removal of toxic heavy metals present in sludge or low phosphorous recovery rates) or are inhibitively expensive, to believe Öhman.
'With our method we could recovery 80 per cent of the phosphorous that we put in our mouths [in the form of food]. The solutions which are presently out there retain too much of the toxic content of the sludge. Direct re-use of sludge is not a solution either', he said.
It is clear that the Bio4Energy team composed of experts on ash chemistry and waste treatment technologies have been mulling over this project for some time.
'One part is about building adequate or bioavailable phosphates. We have been doing that for ten years. Then there are the heavy metals. We know we can remove half of them by evaporation… and capture them in emission filters. We will optimise the method further. We will also evaluate the impact of adding silicon to the system via co-combustion with straw. The rest is engineering and for that we need to cooperate with manufacturers of biomass boilers.
'We are in discussions with one of the world's largest boiler manufacturers… and with a site in Sweden where the technology could be demonstrated', Öhman said.
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