WASTE MAN – Water and Sludge integrated Management in biomass power plants

This solution is expected to minimise the emission of pollutants through gas, water and sludge simultaneously, and reduce the discharge of polluted water, disposal of sludge and the withdrawal of fresh water.

Summary

For biomass/waste fuelled power plants, stricter regulations require further reduction of the negative impacts on the environment caused by the released pollutants – such as organic compounds, acids and heavy metals – through FG, polluted water and solids. Meanwhile, stricter rules for sludge disposal and use also require new routes for management of the sludge from municipal wastewater treatment.

There is a strong need from the power and wastewater industries to find new solutions in order to reduce pollutant emissions, save operation costs and improve energy and nutrient recovery. It has been recognized that integrated processes can be more cost-effective and energy-efficient; however, current FG cleaning, polluted water treatment and sludge handling are still running in a separated way without considering the benefit from the cross-media effects.

There is lack of knowledge about the integration and optimization of FG cleaning, polluted water treatment and sludge handling as a whole. Meanwhile, process integration will change the distribution of contaminants, and sludge can bring in more pollutants. Whereas, the ability of the integrated system to reduce the pollutant emission and the potential benefits of process integration remain unclear.

Three tasks are planned concerning the research questions:

1. Developing simulation models and characterizing the distribution of contaminants and nutrients
2. System integration and optimization
3. Assessment of potential environmental and economic benefits.