Forest industry sludge as a resource for energy recovery

Abstract: Forest industries produce large amounts of carbon rich sludges as by-products in their processes. Presently sludge is treated as a poor quality biofuel for co-incineration, some mills treat it solely as a disposal problem. This thesis provides an introduction to production, composition and disposal issues of sludge. It also includes a presentation of strategies for sludge handling.The main concern with energy recovery from sludge is connected to high content of water (50-80%). Mechanical dewatering is an energy efficient method of decreasing the water content. However, there are limitations to how far sludge can be dewatered mechanically. Thermal dewatering is sometimes required to dewater the sludge beyond these limits, in order to obtain a high quality biofuel for incineration and/or thermal gasification. It is often inefficient, from an energy point of view, to incorporate thermal dewatering in the sludge handling strategy.An interesting alternative to thermal processes is anaerobic digestion, which is a biological process used for energy recovery. Advantages with anaerobic digestion include biogas production, efficient treatment of sludge with high content of water and potential for nutrients recovery. The process and the kinetics of anaerobic digestion are presented.The aim of this thesis is to present a method for evaluating different sludge handling strategies from an energy perspective, and to further develop anaerobic digestion as a process for energy recovery from sludge. The thesis is based on two papers. Paper I presents an inclusive approach with focus on energy use and energy recovery in wastewater management, including wastewater treatment and sludge handling. Paper II explores the possibility to enhance biogas production by anaerobic co-digestion of pulp mill sludge with municipal sewage sludge.