Parameter-sensitive life cycle assessment of sludge incineration technologies integrating energy balance model

IF 7.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Waste management Pub Date : 2025-04-08 DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2025.114783

Mengyue Liu , Xueliang Yuan , Leping Chen , Xuerou Sheng , Qingsong Wang , Qiao Ma , Jian Zuo

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Abstract

Incineration is vital for safe sewage sludge treatment and resource recovery in China, using methods like mono-incineration (INC), and co-incineration in coal plant (CINP), cement kiln (CINC), and municipal solid waste incineration plant (CINM). Existing studies suffer from poor inventory quality and inaccurate quantification. To overcome these challenges, this study integrates the energy balance model with life cycle assessment to evaluate key system parameters, quantify co-incineration disturbances, and assess environmental impacts. Findings indicate critical moisture content for combustion as 70 %, 60 %, 50 %, and 80 % for the four methods, respectively, with INC exhibiting the highest environmental impact, followed by CINM. CINP and CINC yield environmental benefits by replacing coal or raw materials, achieving negative carbon effects of 34.8 % and 78.8 %, and avoiding 66.4 % and 76.1 % of environmental impacts, respectively. When sludge moisture surpasses 75 %, co-incineration results in higher carbon emissions than INC, with lower dry calorific values potentially increasing emissions up to fourfold. The study positions CINP and CINC as transitional solutions, with CINM as the future trend, while INC suits cities with high sludge output and strong economies. This research offers a basis for developing inventories for solid waste co-incineration in industrial kilns and optimizing the selection of sludge incineration technologies.

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基于能量平衡模型的污泥焚烧技术参数敏感生命周期评价

在中国，焚烧对于污水污泥的安全处理和资源回收至关重要，使用的方法包括单一焚烧（INC）、燃煤厂（CINP）、水泥窑（CINC）和城市固体废物焚烧厂（CINM）共焚烧。现有的研究存在库存质量差和量化不准确的问题。为了克服这些挑战，本研究将能量平衡模型与生命周期评估相结合，评估系统关键参数，量化共焚烧干扰，评估环境影响。研究结果表明，这四种方法的燃烧临界水分含量分别为70%、60%、50%和80%，其中INC对环境的影响最大，其次是CINM。CINP和CINC通过替代煤炭或原材料产生环境效益，分别实现34.8%和78.8%的负碳效应，避免66.4%和76.1%的环境影响。当污泥含水量超过75%时，共焚烧导致的碳排放量高于INC，较低的干热值可能使排放量增加四倍。该研究将CINP和CINC定位为过渡性解决方案，CINM是未来的趋势，而INC则适合污泥产量高、经济强劲的城市。本研究为制定工业窑固废共焚烧清单和优化污泥焚烧技术选择提供了依据。

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来源期刊

Waste management 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

15.60

自引率

6.20%

发文量

492

审稿时长

39 days

期刊介绍： Waste Management is devoted to the presentation and discussion of information on solid wastes,it covers the entire lifecycle of solid. wastes. Scope: Addresses solid wastes in both industrialized and economically developing countries Covers various types of solid wastes, including: Municipal (e.g., residential, institutional, commercial, light industrial) Agricultural Special (e.g., C and D, healthcare, household hazardous wastes, sewage sludge)