Abstract
Sewage sludges produced from wastewater treatment plants continue to create environmental problems in terms of volume and method of valorization. Thermal treatment of sewage sludge is considered as an attractive method in reducing sludge volume which at the same time produces reusable by-products. This paper deals with the first step of activated carbon production from sewage sludge, the carbonization step. Experiments are carried out on viscous liquid sludge and limed sludge by varying carbonization temperature and heating rate. The results show that carbonized residue properties are interesting for activated carbon production.
Highlights
Wastewater treatment plants produce considerable amounts of liquid waste material called sewage sludge
This study focuses on the first step of activated carbon production from raw sewage sludge, the carbonization step
Limed sludge contains a higher amount of dried matter than viscous liquid sludge, the values are equal to 29.6% and 19.2% respectively
Summary
Wastewater treatment plants produce considerable amounts of liquid waste material called sewage sludge. In France, the production of sewage sludge is about 850,000 tons of dried matter. The traditional ways of sludge valorisation include farmland application, landfill and incineration. In France landfill disposal is going to be forbidden from 2002 and farmland applications are more and more questioned by farm-producer industries and even by local elected members and farmers. Stringent standards set for preservation of the environment limit the use of sewage sludge on farmland. Incineration has been a popular disposal technology in recent years but concerns about its rising energy cost, ash disposal and gaseous emissions prevent this method being widely used. With some traditional disposal ways coming under pressure and others being phased out, it is necessary to seek cost-effective and innovative solutions to the sewage sludge disposal problem
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