title: Net positive energy wastewater treatment plant via thermal pre-treatment of sludge: A theoretical case study.
abstract: In a wastewater treatment process, energy is mainly used in sludge handling and heating, while energy is recovered by biogas production in anaerobic digestion process. Thermal pre-treatment of sludge can change the energy balance in a wastewater treatment process since it reduces the viscosity and yield stress of sludge and increases the biogas production. In this study, a calculation based on a hypothetical wastewater treatment plant is provided to show the possibility of creating a net positive energy wastewater treatment plant as a result of implementing thermal pre-treatment process before the anaerobic digester. The calculations showed a great energy saving in pumping and mixing of the sludge by thermal pre-treatment of sludge before anaerobic digestion process.
authors.affiliation: a Civil Environmental and Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farno
authors.affiliation: b Irstea, UR TSCF, Domaine des Palaquins , Montoldre , France.
authors.forename: Jean Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Baudez
authors.affiliation: a Civil Environmental and Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Rajarathinam
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parthasarathy
authors.affiliation: a Civil Environmental and Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Nicky
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eshtiaghi
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Mixing; net positive energy; pumping; thermal pre-treatment