Preparation of sludge derived fuels for co-incineration in waste incinerators: Industrial tests and life cycle assessment

IF 9.6 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Sustainable Production and Consumption Pub Date : 2025-08-11 DOI:10.1016/j.spc.2025.08.004

Yanfei Lin , Hanqiao Liu , Guoxia Wei , Tong Li , Qianlong Han , Zilu Liu , Xinrui Su , Yifan Chen

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Abstract

The co-incineration of sludge using the surplus processing capacity of waste incineration plants provides a viable strategy for sludge treatment in China. An innovative project of mixing sludge with straw for preparing sludge derived fuel and then sending it to waste incinerators for co-incineration was developed in this paper. Additionally, the environmental and economic performances of new sludge derived fuel co-incineration system with flue gas/solar aided drying were evaluated through life cycle assessment and life cycle costing method. The pilot-scale drying results showed that the optimum conditions for flue gas combined solar drying of sludge are a straw/sludge ratio of 15 %, a sludge layer thickness of 6 cm, and a flipping interval of 60 min. The moisture content of the sludge cake was reduced from 76.8 % to 22.0 % after 7.5 h of drying under the optimum conditions. The industrial-scale co-incineration tests found that the recommended addition rates of sludge derived fuel were 1.5 and 2.0 t/h in a 300 t/d fluidized bed incinerator and 400 t/d grate furnace incinerator, respectively. Life cycle assessment results demonstrated that, compared to sludge and waste mono-incineration, the innovative project involving co-incineration with sludge derived fuel in grate furnace incinerator after flue gas/solar drying gained environmental benefits in 8 categories, exhibiting the best environmental sustainability, while co-incineration after steam drying showed the highest economic benefit with 18.01 USD/t. These results provide references for sustainable co-treatment approach of municipal solid waste and sludge in the future.

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污泥衍生燃料在垃圾焚化炉中共焚烧的制备：工业试验和生命周期评估

利用垃圾焚烧厂的剩余处理能力进行污泥共焚烧，为污泥处理提供了一种可行的策略。提出了将污泥与秸秆混合制备污泥衍生燃料后送至垃圾焚烧炉共焚烧的创新方案。此外，通过生命周期评价和生命周期成本法对新型污泥衍生燃料烟气/太阳能辅助干燥共烧系统的环境经济性能进行了评价。中试干燥结果表明，污泥烟气联合太阳能干燥的最佳条件为秸秆/污泥比为15%，污泥层厚度为6 cm，翻转时间为60 min。在最佳干燥条件下，干燥7.5 h后，污泥饼的含水率由76.8%降至22.0%。工业规模共焚烧试验发现，在300 t/d的流化床焚烧炉和400 t/d的篦炉焚烧炉中，污泥衍生燃料的推荐添加率分别为1.5和2.0 t/h。生命周期评价结果表明，与污泥、垃圾单一焚烧相比，烟气/太阳能干燥后与污泥衍生燃料在篦炉焚烧炉内共焚烧的创新项目获得了8个类别的环境效益，表现出最佳的环境可持续性，而蒸汽干燥后共焚烧的经济效益最高，为18.01美元/吨。研究结果可为今后城市生活垃圾与污泥的可持续共处理提供参考。

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来源期刊

Sustainable Production and Consumption Environmental Science-Environmental Engineering

CiteScore

17.40

自引率

7.40%

发文量

389

审稿时长

13 days

期刊介绍： Sustainable production and consumption refers to the production and utilization of goods and services in a way that benefits society, is economically viable, and has minimal environmental impact throughout its entire lifespan. Our journal is dedicated to publishing top-notch interdisciplinary research and practical studies in this emerging field. We take a distinctive approach by examining the interplay between technology, consumption patterns, and policy to identify sustainable solutions for both production and consumption systems.