Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Self-Sustaining Smouldering Combustion As A Novel Disposal Destruction Method For Waste Water Biosolids, Tarek L. Rashwan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Managing biosolids, the major by-product from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), persists as a major global challenge that often constitutes the majority of WWTP operating costs. Self-sustained smouldering is a new approach for organic waste treatment, in which the waste (i.e., the fuel) is destroyed in an energy efficient manner after mixing it with sand. Smouldering has never been applied to biosolids. Column experiments, using biosolids obtained from a WWTP, were employed to identify if - and under what conditions - smouldering could be used for treating biosolids. The parameter space in which smouldering was self-sustaining was mapped as a function …