Municipal wastewater treatment and associated sludge handling is an essential process for modern society and contributes to both human and environmental health. However, it is energy intensive. There has been a focus on cleaning efficiency in the subprocesses, e.g. activated sludge treatment; however, a holistic approach that reviews different system setups in detail is lacking. The aim of this project is to analyze the mass and energy flows through core municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) subprocesses and propose holistic measures to improve the total efficiency. Two configurations for sludge-handling are proposed: incineration and gasification; additionally, detailed models of the mass and energy flows in/out of each subprocess are created. Unit processes such as a heat pump, heat exchangers, and combined heat and power plants are incorporated into each model configuration to maximize the energy efficiency. The result is that the gasification option is self-sufficient in heat and saves over half of the electricity needs. The incineration option is also self-sufficient in heat but still requires significant electricity. Both options contain inspiring characteristics for the future generation of WWTPs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-151038 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Taylor, Shannon |
| Publisher | KTH, Industriell ekologi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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