THERMOFUEL RENEWABLE ENERGY PROCESS

Description:

Our patented ThemoFuel Process can help you lower operating costs and improve treated water quality. The ThermoFuel Process is an innovative renewable energy process that provides a permanent solution for wastewater treatment plant sludge reduction and biosolids disposal. This technology (US patent 6,893,566) was designed as a low-cost, environmentally effective method of upgrading existing wastewater treatment plants to EQ Class A biosolids production without requiring the use of storage ponds or lagoons.

In a wastewater treatment plant, sludge reduction occurs when ThermoFuel produces a sterile, stable product that exceeds the requirements of Class A Exceptional Quality Biosolids and meets the pathogen and vector attraction reduction requirements of 40 CFR Part 503 Regulations. Plant operators can opt to use the ThermoFuel high-energy product on-site to generate heat and power, or export it for use as a fuel substitute or blending agent for power plants, municipal solid waste incinerators, cement kilns and similar applications.

The ThermoFuel Process represents a significant advancement of the sludge-to-oil reactor system (STORS) process licensed from Battelle Memorial Institute. ThermoFuel is designed (Figure 1) to react the thickened waste activated sludge (WAS) at an elevated temperature (530˚F) and pressure (1,200 psi) to convert the sludge into a high-energy solid fuel, with an average range between 9,000 – 10,000 Btu per pound. In addition, it will remove the nitrogen (ammonia) and convert it to an ammonium sulfate solution, and produce a low-nitrogen stream of soluble organics and fatty acids. This stream will be returned to the plant for use as a carbon source for biological nitrogen removal (BNR) and biological phosphorous removal (BPR).

The wastewater treatment plant sludge reduction starts when the heat used in the ThermoFuel Process is recovered and used to pre-heat primary sludge to the temperature needed for thermophilic anaerobic digestion. Because thermal recovery uses temperature differentials to drive heat transfer and the extended thickening of the WAS, the ThermoFuel Process requires less energy to achieve thermophilic digestion than conventional heating of the combined WAS and primary sludge.