In quest of environmental hotspots of sewage sludge treatment combining anaerobic digestion and mechanical dewatering: A life cycle assessment approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 143 ◽  
pp. 1123-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Gourdet ◽  
Romain Girault ◽  
Sarah Berthault ◽  
Marion Richard ◽  
Julian Tosoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment

scholarly journals An environmental LCA of alternative scenarios of urban sewage sludge treatment and disposal

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Tarantini ◽  
Patrizia Buttol ◽  
Lorenzo Maiorino
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Sludge Management ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Urban Sewage ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment ◽  
Urban Sewage Sludge ◽  
Treatment And Disposal

The majority of pollutants that affect wastewater are concentrated by treatment processes in sludge; it is therefore critical to have a suitable evaluation methodology of sludge management options to analyze if pollution is redirected from water to other media, such as air and soil. Life cycle assessment is one of the most widely known and internationally accepted methodologies to compare environmental impacts of processes and systems and to evaluate their sustainability in the entire life cycle. In this study the methodology was applied to assess and compare three scenarios of urban sewage sludge treatment and disposal: sludge anaerobic digestion followed by dedicated incineration, sludge incineration without previous digestion, and sludge anaerobic digestion followed by composting. The potential benefits of spreading the compost to soil were not included in the system boundaries even if, due to its nutrients contents and soil improving features, compost could partially replace the use of commercial products. The study was aimed at finding out the environmental critical points of the treatment alternatives selected and at providing a technical and scientific contribution for further debates with national and local authorities on the environmental optimization of sewage sludge management. Life cycle assessment results confirmed the major contribution of electricity and methane consumption on several environmental impact categories. Incineration contributes more than sludge composting to almost all categories, although the heavy metals content of urban wastewater sludge raises substantial concerns when composted sludge is spread to soil. In this paper the models adopted, the hypotheses assumed and the main findings of the study are presented and discussed. .

scholarly journals Life cycle assessment indicators of urban wastewater and sewage sludge treatment

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvira Buonocore ◽  
Salvatore Mellino ◽  
Giuseppe De Angelis ◽  
Gengyuan Liu ◽  
Sergio Ulgiati
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Urban Wastewater ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment

scholarly journals Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Analysis of Sewage Sludge Recycling Systems in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawen Zhang ◽  
Toru Matsumoto
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Heat Utilization ◽  
Sludge Recycling ◽  
Recycling Systems

With the acceleration of economic development and urbanization in China, sewage sludge generation has sharply increased. To maximize energy regeneration and resource recovery, it is crucial to analyze the environmental impact and sustainability of different sewage sludge recycling systems based on life cycle assessment. This study analyzed four sewage sludge recycling systems in China through life cycle assessment using the ReCipe method, namely aerobic composting, anaerobic digestion and biomass utilization, incineration, and heat utilization and using for building materials. In particular, the key pollution processes and pollutants in sewage sludge recycling systems were analyzed. The results demonstrated that aerobic composting is the most environmentally optimal scenario for reducing emissions and energy consumption. The lowest environmental impact and operating costs were achieved by making bricks and using them as building materials; this was the optimal scenario for sludge treatment and recycling. In contrast, incineration and heat utilization had the highest impact on health and marine toxicity. Anaerobic digestion and biomass utilization had the highest impact on climate change, terrestrial acidification, photochemical oxidant formation, and particulate matter formation. In the future, policy designers should prioritize building material creation for sludge treatment and recycling.

The generation of CO2 in sewage sludge treatment systems: life cycle assessment

2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Hwang ◽  
K. Hanaki
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Co2 Production ◽  
Unit Weight ◽  
Individual Treatment ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Treatment Processes ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) on total sewage sludge treatment systems including thickening, anaerobic digestion, dewatering, and incineration/melting was performed to estimate a global warming impact as carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. As representative processes for the assessment, the most typical and widely used processes were selected. Generally, the life cycle of actual treatment facilities consists of three stages: construction, operation and dismantlement. In this study, the amount of CO2 produced from the life cycle steps of existing unit sludge treatment processes, was calculated by inventory analysis of input materials. In addition, for all processes investigated, individual CO2 emission units (CEUs), i.e. the amount of emitted CO2 for treating a unit weight of sludge, were also calculated. Byusing the obtained CEU matrix, it was possible to simulate the CO2 production from various types of complex treatment systems as well as to trace the dominant cause of CO2 production in individual treatment processes.

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