Application of the Principles of Circular Economy to Justify an Economically Efficient, Energy-Efficient and Resource-Saving Way of Handling Municipal Sewage Sludge

Abstract

The actual problem of searching for effective ways of handling municipal sewage sludge has been studied on the basis of the principles of circular economy. In this context, the shortcomings and advantages of the following methods for handling sewage sludge are analyzed: placement on mud maps and MSW landfills, gasification, pyrolysis and incineration; a conclusion was made about the prospects of incinerating sewage sludge. The methods of additional sewage sludge pretreatment or post-processing of incineration products are considered, which allow to minimize the main disadvantages of this method of sewage sludge utilization - the loss of basic nutrients, a large volume of toxic secondary waste, and a high consumption of primary energy resources. An improved method for handling sewage sludge based on the incineration method is proposed with the introduction of additional stages of preparation for incineration, including complex dehydration, detoxification of sewage sludge and the formation of a fuel mixture.