DRY4GAS

It is a project with 7 partners with a budget of 3,2 million euros, coordinated by Fundación Centro de Innovación de Infraestructuras Inteligentes (CI3).

LIFE DRY4GAS proposes an innovative and highly replicable solution for the management and reuse of sewage sludge generated by wastewater treatment plants. It will develop a pilot plant in to dry the sludge for use in energy generation, the construction industry and agriculture. The plant will incorporate a solar drying system and a thermochemical gasification process to dry the sludge and recover 120 MWh/year of energy by means of an organic Rankine cycle. The project will also evaluate the reuse of gasification ashes mixed with sewage sludge to make a better quality agricultural additive and study ways of reusing the ashes in the construction industry. The pilot plant will be built at an existing wastewater treatment plant in Torrepacheco, Murcia.

Goals of the project:

•Development of a highly replicable system for adding value to sewage sludge;

•Reduction of CO2 emissions by between 880 and 1 111 tones/year, as a result of the use of renewable energy in the drying process, the generation of electricity in the gasification process without burning fossil fuels and the reduction in transportation of wet sludge;

•Production of 320 MWh/year and 640 MWh/year of electric and thermal power, respectively;

•67-83% reduction in wet sludge use in agriculture;

•53-72% reduction in noise generated by transport and odor nuisance due to the deposition of wet sludge;

•20% reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers and water consumption;

•20% increase in carbon sequestration in soil; and

•A significant reduction in the negative environmental impacts associated with using sludge in agriculture.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.dspPage&n_proj_id=6267#PD