Optimisation of Energy Recovery from Sludge

Generated by a Waste Water Treatment Plant

1. Aim

The aim of the project is to optimise the recovery of energy in sludge generated by a
wastewater treatment plant by converting it into electric power. Wastewater treatment plants
are big consumers of electric power, especially when nitrification is involved in the biological
process. Thus it is an attractive option for such plants to recover and optimise the energy that
is contained in the sludge they generate. Being aware of this possibility, the Consorcio de
Aguas Bilbao-Bizkaia has developed and set up a cogeneration plant in Galindo (Sestao,
Bizkaia).



Photo 1: General view of the sludge incinerator plant

2. Introduction

When operating, a wastewater treatment plant generates waste that has been separated from
the water during the sedimentation process as well as other waste produced during the
biological treatment process. When combined, both kinds of waste form sludge that has to be
treated and removed. Sludge should basically be considered as a fuel. To achieve a maximum
level of dry matter content, sludge has to be dewatered mechanically by filter presses with
polyelectrolyte, in order to recover the organic matter as a source of energy for
thermochemical conversion. This option is to be considered more efficient than anaerobic
digestion since more energy is generated and the remaining residues after incineration (ash) is
minimal.

The Galindo plant receives at this moment wastewater from a population of about 760,000
inhabitants. Taking into account the progress of the master plan for sewage disposal in the
Greater Bilbao area, some 930,000 residents will discharge in the near future waste effluent
into the mains. Moreover, the sewerage system is also collecting -mostly pretreated-
wastewater from industrial plants.
Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao-Bizkaia has always aimed to recover energy from the sludge and
convert it in electric power to be used at the Galindo plant. It was decided to build a fluidised
bed kiln which would burn the sludge to produce steam at 40 bar and 400 C for power
generation.

3. Technical Description

Sludge Dewatering
In order to optimise the process, sludge must be dewatered applying anionic polyelectrolyte
(chemical agents assisting the separation of solid matter) to the sludge and using filter presses
for dewatering. It should be remarked that it is not advisable to use lime and ferric chloride
with the filter press if the sludge is to be burnt, because these chemicals can cause corrosion
and other problems to the scrubbers, the kiln and the boiler.

The dewatering process result in an increase in the heating value of the sludge as the water
content decreases. For 58 wt% of organic matter, the lower heating capacity is about 21.77
MJ/ kg.

At the Galindo wastewater treatment plant after the pretreatment stage, the primary sludge
has a dry matter content of 40 wt%. The sludge can be burned autothermally, i.e. no external
energy is consumed during the incineration process, provided that there is at least 60 wt% of
organic matter with regard to the dry matter content. The rest 40 % of the dry matter
corresponds to the ash or inert content of the sludge.

It is planned to install a new biological treatment step aiming at 35 wt% dry matter with 65
wt% organic matter. With this sludge quality there will be more water in the sludge to be
evaporated during the incineration process but the sludge will have higher value of heat
capacity.

Cogeneration system
The cost of producing energy is determined by the cost of sludge dewatering, settling and
thickening. All operations previous to the injection of the sludge into the kiln are carried out
so as to maximise the organic matter content of the sludge to about 38- 40 wt%, i.e. enough
for autothermal incineration. It must be pointed out that the primary role of the kiln is to
reduce the amount of sludge generated by the wastewater treatment plant as much as possible,
burning it to ashes, which represents approximately 12 wt% of the injected sludge.

The cogeneration plant consists primarily of a steam turbine and a piston-powered engine that
runs on natural gas (see photo 2). The operating principle is as follows: steam produced in the
recovery boiler is led to the condensing turbine, having a max. output of 1,2 MWe. The steam
is automatically controlled before entering into the turbine and is condensed after its
expansion within the turbine to a temperature of 35C since there is vacuum of 50 milibar in
the condenser. The condensed water is fed again into the boiler's feed circuit.

A 1 MWe natural gas motor has been installed together with the turbine. The waste heat of the
flue gases is recovered in order to use it in the process. The exhaust gases from the motor pass
through a recovery boiler to produce steam at 15 bar. By means of a heat exchanger (see
photo 3) the kiln's combustion air is preheated up to 180 C in order to increase the efficiency
of the kiln. The water from the engine cooling circuit is used at 95C to raise the temperature
of the condensed water from the turbine, from 35C to 85C before entering into the return
tank that belongs to the main steam production system.



Photo 2: The steam turbine

Finally, there is a cooling tower so that the gas motor can run independently.

The electric power that is produced is connected to the mains of the wastewater treatment
plant at 30.000 V and is used entirely for the plant operational requirements.

The power generated by the turbine depends directly on the steam flow produced in the
boiler, which depends at the same time on the incineration rate of the kiln. In case of a general
voltage shutdown, it has been foreseen that the steam turbine will not stop and that the main
equipment continues to operate.

4. Performance of the Plant

The quality of the sludge is of primary importance. The organic content of the dry matter
achieved after the dewatering process is a determining parameter of the system. At the initial
stages of operation of the plant, when the polyelectrolyte system was not used yet, lime and
ferric chloride were used to dewater the sludge to 45 wt% dry matter, however, natural gas
was needed for the combustion process and moreover, more than 3.30 hours were necessary
for the pressing process. With polyelectrolyte, the time necessary for the pressing process has
been reduced to only 70 minutes.

The sludge quality depends on the weather conditions: sludge is better when the weather is
sunny and dry, and it is worse when it rains because of the dilution of the waste waters with
rain water. Average quality sludge can generate about 3 t/h steam at feeding flowrate of about
3.3 t/h sludge and preheated air at 180C. The average operational steam flowrate is 3.0 4.0
t/h at 40 bar and 400C - 410C which results in a power generation in the range of 700 - 840
KWh by the turbine.

At present the kiln operates below its nominal capacity as the sludge produced by the
wastewater plant is not sufficient to meet the kiln's nominal capacity. Nevertheless, when all



Photo 3: The natural gas fired piston engine and the waste heat recovery boiler

wastewaters from the greater area of Bilbao will be collected and sent to the wastewater
treatment plant the there will be sufficient sludge produced to meet the kiln's nominal
capacity. In full operation of the kiln the steam production will be increased in the range of 4 -
4,5 t/h steam which will result in electric power production in the range of 840 - 1000 kW.

5. Economic Performance

There is a yearly saving of 100.300.800 pts thanks to the incineration of 10.750 t/year dry
matter (sludge), which means that 1000 gr dry matter allows to save 9,33 ptas. In other words,
solids generated by 13-14 inhabitants produce 1 kWh at a cost of 12 pts. The Galindo project
is 38% cheaper than the classic system of anaerobic digestion followed by drying, mechanical
dewatering and incineration.

The simple payback calculation results to 3.92 years

4. Project Identifiers














Project: BM/509/94-SP
Owner: Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao-Bizkaia
San Vicente 8, 4a Planta
E-48001 Bilbao
Spain
Tel: + 34-94-4873100
Fax: + 34-94-4873110
Contractors: CABAS, IBERESE & PREMATECNICA SA
Technology: IBERESE & PREMATECNICA SA
Total Cost: 4,535,647 ECU
EC Support: 557,248 ECU