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CONVERSION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE TO OIL BY HYDROLIQUEFACTION
Citation:
Kranich, W. CONVERSION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE TO OIL BY HYDROLIQUEFACTION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-84/010.
Description:
A study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of converting municipal wastewater sludges into oil under hydrogen pressure. In a laboratory autoclave, raw and digested sludges were subjected to 14 MPa total pressure for 20 to 90 minutes. Aqueous suspensions were treated at about 300 C while predried sludge suspended in an oil carrier was reacted at about 425 C. When the predried sludge solids were suspended in an oil carrier, 50 percent of the organic content of sludge was converted into pentane-soluble oil; but significant amounts of oil were not produced under the conditions studied when the sludge solids were slurried in water. A commercial plant using the oil carrier process scheme would be complex with high capital and operating costs. Consequently, further development work on hydroliquefaction of sewage sludge is not recommended.