Wastewater agencies face increasing economic challenges, as well as pressure to improve biosolids quality to satisfy users and the public. Bioenergy and other thermal biosolids technologies can provide an additional revenue source for wastewater agencies and can help them reduce energy and transportation cost and increase biosolids quality.

Wastewater agencies can choose among several such technologies to help meet their biosolids processing goals. Three of them-thermal oxidation, biogasification, and anaerobic digestion-can enable agencies to produce some or all of the energy they need to operate. A fourth, thermal drying, can create a valuable product that they can sell to help offset operating costs. Thermal drying is often used in conjunction with the other three processes to reduce operating costs or improve processing operations.

Reprinted with Permission from Water Environment Federation: Alexandria, Virginia; www.wef.org

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