Short Summary
Process for
Converting Sewage Sludge and Municipal Solid Wastes to Clean Fuels
Radon Tolman
99-04
EISG Project
Title: Process for
Converting Sewage Sludge and Municipal Solid Wastes to Clean Fuels
EISG Grant Number: 99-04
PIER Area: Renewable Generation
Principal Investigator: Radon Tolman
Contact Information: (505) 982-9912 wweesi@pacbell.net
Organization: Environmental Energy Systems Inc.
Grant Amount: $75,000
Grant Term: 10 Months
Project Description:
The purpose of this project is to research the feasibility of producing hydrogen and other clean fuels from wet biomass, sewage sludge and municipal solid wastes. The system would use the output of an aerobic (oxygen present) digester in combination with a innovative heat recovery steam generator that uses a water gasification process capable of accepting solutions of minerals and metals in slurries and emulsions without corrosion and deposition on heat transfer surfaces.
Proposed Outcomes:
· Quantification and analysis of the liquids, gases and solid residues produced from a bench-scale prototype using the output of an aerobic digester as the feedstock.
· Quantification of the fuel values and requirements for additional cleaning / treatment of the resulting fuels for use in gas turbines for electric generation.
· Assessment of the mass and energy balance, system optimization and economic feasibility.
Anticipated Benefits:
· Achieve 40% thermal efficiency in processing wet biomass sludge into electric power.
· Reduce quantity of secondary waste requiring landfill disposal. A typical sewage treatment plant, such as the plant in Encina, California, produces 90-100 metric tons per day of secondary waste and pays $24 per wet ton for landfill disposal.
· Reduce need for landfill leachate collection and treatment and landfill gas recovery.