Aprovechamiento de lodos residuales de una planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales (PTAR) para la generación de energía eléctrica

Abstract

In recent years there has been a clear global concern about the management of sludge generated in the flocculation, coagulation and filtering process that takes place in the purification of wastewater due to the high generation of these. An average of 10.9 million tonnes per year is generated in Europe, resulting in negative impacts related to the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen dioxide (NOXs) derivatives, sulphur oxides (SOXs) and offensive odors, diminishing environmental quality and deteriorating human health affecting the respiratory system, generating skin conditions due to it containing a wide variety of pathogens and toxic substances such as: ammonia, methane, tropospheric ozone and halogenated compounds.

Based on the aforementioned context as one of the many existing scenarios, different measures for the management of this waste have been established and implemented, one of the most widely used measures relates to the processing of sludge into fertiliser and organic fertiliser, given the economic viability of the process and the total reduction of sludge, which are fed into a biodigester and finally added to the crops. All the measures, methodologies or treatments mentioned above have negative impacts, therefore this paper seeks to propose an alternative with greater environmental, economic and social benefits. By using the sludge as a source of electricity generation through the biogas produced.