Hydrothermal Processes Applied to Sludge Reduction

Conventional Activated Sludge (CAS) systems have been widely implemented to treat wastewater. CAS systems produce huge amounts of waste sludge and its subsequent treatment represents up to 65 % of the operational costs of Waste Water Treatment Plants. The final disposal of sludge is usually performed by landfilling or incineration, involving severe environmental issues. In order to reduce sludge amount, many studies have been conducted, developing new technologies. One of these technologies is HydroThermal Carbonisation (HTC), where sludge is heated up to 180-250 °C at water vapour pressure producing a solid product enriched in carbon for different possible exploitations. The aim of this work is to apply HTC to different kinds of sludge such as thickened sludge, digested sludge and dewatered sludge and compare the behaviour of the solid and liquid phases produced by the process. For the purpose, experimental tests were performed at different operating conditions in a lab batch reactor capable to withstand high pressure (140 bar) and temperature (300 °C). In order to compare the HTC products of the different kinds of sludge, the hydrochars from HTC at different operative conditions were characterized in order to explore possible application of hydrochar and HTC process water.