Advanced Thermal Conversion – Exploring £12 million of Ofwat Innovation Projects
Earlier this year, OFWAT awarded four Advanced Thermal Conversion-themed projects a total of £10.7M in Round 4 of the Innovation Challenge. The 4 projects, involving insights into biochar, gasification, hydrothermal oxidation and pyrolysis will be presented, and the collaborative approach being taken will form the focus of the panel discussion.
Speakers/Panellists
- Richard Kershaw, Wastewater R&D Innovation Programme Manager, Yorkshire Water
- Peter Winter, Principal Research Engineer, Thames Water
- Dr Aderlanio Cardoso, Innovation Technical Expert, Severn Trent Water
- Dr David Inman, Innovation Project Manager, Anglian Water
Chair: Matthew Smyth, Director, Aqua Environment Solutions Ltd
Yorkshire Water’s ‘Sewage Sludge Gasification’ project
Yorkshire Water’s ‘Sewage Sludge Gasification’ project will establish the technical and commercial viability of gasification as a sustainable alternative to sludge-to-land. Building on previous successful demonstration projects, the optimised process will no longer require a carrier fuel and will gasify 100% sewage sludge. The project will evaluate uses of, and establish end-of-waste status for, the process outputs, including biochar and vitrified ash aggregate. Alongside this, the carbon emissions of the gasification process will be quantified in comparison to alternative sludge disposal routes, and the fate of contaminants including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, PFAS and microplastics through the gasification process will be assessed.
Anglian Water’s ‘ALL-Streams HTO (Hydrothermal Oxidation)’ project
This project aims to demonstrate Hydrothermal Oxidation’s capability to transform bioresources management in the water sector, bringing about the possibility of several novel circular economy product streams via nutrient and energy recovery, whilst enabling Net Zero, and eliminating land application of biosolids and process emissions.
Severn Trent Water’s ‘Transforming Bioresources – the Benefits of Biochar’ project
This project aims at confirming the most environmentally beneficial and cost-effective uses for biochar and establishing the optimum routes to market through engagement with regulators and off takers. Firstly, biochar from Severn Trent sludge will be produced by using an advanced pyrolysis reactor. The produced biochar will be fully characterised (e.g., textural properties, PFAS content, heavy metals, leaching test, etc) and then different routes to market will be assessed, targeting four potential applications: biochar to fertiliser, biochar as a fuel, biochar in construction industry, and biochar for carbon storage. Exhaust gas will also be characterized to assist in the fate of contaminants (e.g., PFAS) assessment. Biochar will also be upgraded to produce an organo-mineral fertiliser, and both will be tested in soil and in laboratory. It is expected in this project that Severn Trent and partners will be able to deliver a comprehensive data set characterising and testing the biochar and the biochar-based fertiliser. In addition, confirming routes to market for the biochar and delivery of life-cycle assessment report and environmental and circularity value of biochar from sewage sludge, paving the way to a ‘end-of-waste’ status for biochar and the fertiliser.
Thames Water’s ‘Proving the concept of sewage sludge pyrolysis’ project
The project aims to deliver the first continuously operating, sewage sludge-fed UK-based pyrolysis demonstration plant. Pyrolysis (a high temperature process with no oxygen present) can be used to recycle sludge to maximise the value of biosolids; ensuring a circular economy and reducing the requirement for sludge to be recycled to agricultural land.
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