Name
Eliminating reactor feed and pulper mixing pumps in thermal hydrolysis: design and operational experience from the B8 platform
Description
Thermal Hydrolysis Process (THP) plants have traditionally relied on positive displacement pumps for reactor feeding and pulper mixing, creating limitations related to flow capacity, sludge viscosity, maintenance requirements, and steam demand fluctuations. Cambi's new B8 platform introduces a simplified THP architecture that eliminates dedicated reactor feed pumps and pulper mixing pumps through pressure-driven sludge transfer and flash-steam-based mixing. In the B8 design, reactor filling is achieved by controlled pressure differentials between the pulper and reactors, while flash steam generated during reactor blowdown is recovered through strategically oriented lances that provide both heat recovery and pulper mixing. The plant architecture is deliberately designed around a pulper-centered bottleneck, resulting in stable reactor sequencing and a near-constant average steam demand at maximum throughput. The first B8 installation, commissioned near Antwerp, Belgium, in a SolidStream configuration, has operated successfully since February 2026. The plant routinely processes pulper feed at 20–22% dry solids, significantly higher than typical THP feed concentrations. Reactor filling rates exceeding 100 m³/h have been demonstrated, enabling treatment of more viscous sludges while removing a common throughput constraint associated with conventional feed pumps. The B8 product line is applicable across Full THP, WAS-Only, SolidStream post-AD THP, and Intermediate THP (I-THP) configurations.
Authors
Andreas Lilleboe and Hans Rasmus Holte, Cambi AS, Norway