Layman report - Currenta

Biogas from sewage sludge
Use of sewage sludge for energy production
At the industrial wastewater treatment plant (wwtp) in
Leverkusen sewage sludge is first thickened before
adding lime and iron salts for conditioning. Afterwards
the sludge is dewatered in a membrane filter press.
the calorific value is low (3,000 to 4,000 kJ/kg).
Therefore it is necessary to add substances with high
calorific value for sludge combustion.
The Sludge Redox process generates biogas with a
calorific value of 22,000 kJ/Nm 3 from. Each day 2,000
to 3,000 Nm 3 biogas can be generated at the wwtp
Leverkusen. More than 50 % of the energy in the
surplus activated sludge can be recovered in the
biogas. In the same way the amount of waste from
surplus activated sludge is reduced by 70 %. The
remaining sludge is reduced in organic substances and
therefore the calorific value is also reduced.
Karl-Heinz Stürznickel shows a component of the pilot plant for sludge reduction.
After this treatment the filter cake still has a water
content of about 60 %. Because of the water content
and high content of inorganic substances in the sludge
LIFE symposion
The results of the LIFE Project “SLUDGE REDOX”
were presented at 17 th September 2007 in the
Leverkusen Waste Management Center. Operators of
industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants
and scientists from universities and research institutes
participated the symposion.
Presentation of Hartmut Mayer (Emschergenossenschaft, Essen) at the LIFE symposium.
6 Layman´s Report