WASTE ACTIVATED SLUDGE AS ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR ENERGY AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION

The paper deals with the energy and resource conservation using waste as an alternative fuel. The object of the study is waste activated sludge which is formed at biological wastewater treatment plants and is stored on sludge lagoons that leads to the alienation of large land areas. For the waste activated sludge recycling, its preliminary dehydration is required because of its high water cut. Dosing the carbonate sludge formed at thermal power plants at the stage of liming and coagulation of natural additional water is suggested to increase the efficiency of dewatering of waste activated sludge by centrifugation. After mechanical dehydration by pelletizing with a binder, fuel pellets, which can be used as an alternative fuel to generate heat and electricity, are produced. According to the results of the study, lignosulfonate – a technical by-product of the woodworking industry – is chosen as the most effective binder.

The paper presents an elemental analysis of fuel pellets, as well as their heat of combustion, and proposes a technological scheme including the following components: mechanical dewatering (centrifugation), drying, pelletizing and incineration of waste (the incineration takes place in a fluidized bed furnace). The use of fuel pellets based on waste activated sludge and water treatment sludge makes it possible to efficiently utilize waste from industrial petrochemical and heat energy complexes and to switch from traditional energy resources to renewable ones. 

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