Analysis of sewage sludge and biogas-energy management at the Opole wastewater treatment plant

Abstract

Increasing requirements of wastewater treatments and the development of wastewater treatment and sewage sludge systems cause a significant increase in the demand for electricity and heat. An alternative way to obtain cheap energy is to use biogas produced in the anaerobic digestion process from sewage sludge. The paper presents an analysis of sewage sludge and biogas-energy management at the wastewater treatment plant in Opole in the aspect of obtaining biogas and its use for electricity production. The biogas-energy system was functioning properly in 2017–2019. A total of 7.26 GWh of electricity was produced from biogas in two power generators, which allowed to cover nearly 35% of the demand for electricity.