Thermal hydrolysis is a process used for treating industrial waste, municipal solid waste and sewage sludge by applying heat and rapid lowering of pressure. It is used to sterilize the waste stream and produce fertilizer, biogas, and other useful products. It was first deployed in 1996.
Description Thermal hydrolysis is a two-stage process combining high-pressure boiling of waste or sludge followed by a rapid decompression. This combined action sterilizes the sludge and makes it more biodegradable, which improves digestion performance. Sterilization destroys pathogens in the sludge resulting in it exceeding the stringent requirements for land application (agriculture).
In addition, the treatment adjusts the rheology to such an extent that loading rates to sludge anaerobic digesters can be doubled, and also dewaterability of the sludge is significantly improved. The first full-scale application of this process for sewage sludge was installed in Hamar, Norway in 1996. Since then, there have been over 30 additional installations globally.
Commercial application at a sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment plants, such as Blue Plains in Washington, D.C., USA, have adopted thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge in order to produce commercially valuable products (such as electricity and high quality biosolid fertilizers) out of the wastewater. The full-scale commercial application of thermal hydrolysis enables the plant to utilize the solids portion of the wastewater to make power and fine fertilizer directly from sewage waste.
Municipal waste-to-fuel application The city of Oslo, Norway installed a system for converting domestic food waste to fuel in 2012. A thermal hydrolysis system produces biogas from the food waste, which provides fuel for the city bus system and is also used for agricultural fertilizer.
30 largest thermal hydrolysis plants Plant Capacity CommissionYear Thermal HydrolysisSupplier Blue Plains, Washington DC, USA 135,000 2014 CambiGaoantun, Beijing, China 134,000 2017 Cambi Gaobeidian, Beijing, China 99,100 2016 Cambi Minworth, Birmingham, UK 91,250 2018 Cambi Davyhulme, Manchester, UK 91,000 2013 Cambi Huaifang, Beijing, China 89,100 2017 Cambi Xiaohongmen, Beijing, China 65,700 2016 Cambi Qinghe II, Beijing, China 59,500 2017 Cambi Crossness, London, UK 58,500 2018 Cambi Ringsend, Dublin, Ireland 56,000 2002 Cambi Howdon, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK 40,000 2010 Cambi Riverside, London, UK 40,000 2009 Cambi Tees Valley, UK 37,000 2008 Cambi Seafield, Edinburgh UK 36,500 2015 Cambihttps://www.cambi.com/references/plants/europe/united-kingdom/edinburgh-seafield/ Beckton, London, UK 36,500 2013 Cambi Cardiff, UK 30,000 2009 Cambi Tilburg, Netherlands 29,000 2014 Cambi Esholt, Yorkshire, UK 26,400 2013 Veolia Santiago, Chile 25,000 2010 Cambi Oxford, UK 24,400 2010 Veolia Vilnius, Lithuania 23,000 2010 Cambi Whitlingham, Norwich, UK 23,000 2008 Cambi Vigo, Spain 22,000 2014 Cambi Afan, UK 20,000 2009 Cambi Bruxelles Nord, Belgium 20,000 2007 Cambi Cotton Valley, Milton Keynes, UK 20,000 2007 Cambi NOSES, Aberdeen, UK 16,500 2001 Cambi Lille, France 16,400 2013 Veolia EGE Waste Treatment, Oslo, Norway 15,000 2012 Cambi Turku, Finland 14,000 2009 CambiApeldoorn, Netherlands13,0002015Sustec Oxley Creek, Brisbane, Australia 12,900 2006 Cambi
See also List of waste-water treatment technologies
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