Sewage-Water Treatment and Sewage-Sludge Management with Power Production as Bioenergy with Carbon Capture System: A Review

Abstract

Sewage-water treatment comprehends primary, secondary, and tertiary steps to produce reusable water after removing sewage contaminants. However, a sewage-water treatment plant is typically a power and energy consumer and produces high volumes of sewage sludge mainly generated in the primary and secondary steps. The use of more efficient anaerobic digestion of sewage water with sewage sludge can produce reasonable flowrates of biogas, which is shown to be a consolidated strategy towards the energy self-sufficiency and economic feasibility of sewage-water treatment plants. Anaerobic digestion can also reduce the carbon footprint of energy sources since the biogas produced can replace fossil fuels for electricity generation. In summary, since the socio-economic importance of sewage treatment is high, this review examined works that contemplate: (i) improvements of sewage-water treatment plant bioenergy production and economic performances; (ii) the exploitation of technology alternatives for the energy self-sufficiency of sewage-water treatment plants; (iii) the implementation of new techniques for sewage-sludge management aiming at bioenergy production; and (iv) the implementation of sewage-water treatment with bioenergy production and carbon capture and storage.

A Review of Automation and Sensors: Parameter Control of Thermal Treatments for Electrical Power Generation

“…This can occur through different mechanisms, such as the use of chemical catalysts, drying, and advances in primary and secondary treatment technology in biological reactors [81]. In addition, there are techniques that promote the reduction of transport costs, which is a factor that reduces the emission of pollutants, such as by thickening, that is, becoming denser and reducing the space used in vehicles that carry out the disposal or treatment of the sludge load [82].…”

Biodegradation Kinetics of Organic Matter in Water from Sludge Dewatering after Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion

“…One of the methods of changing sewage sludge into biomass that can be used naturally is Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion (ATAD). The process ensures complete stabilisation and sanitisation of the sludge and reduces its solid content [3,4]. It is an effective method that runs in a fully automated hermetic installation, does not require the use of enrichment materials (unlike, for example, composting), and requires a small area for the construction of the installation [5].…”