Sewage bio-pellets pioneered to fuel cement production
04/05/2004
Pellets processed from sewage treatment sludge are to be used as part of a fuel mix to heat a 2,000°C cement kiln in a pioneering environmental first for the UK.
The ground-breaking deal has been sealed between Lafarge Cement UK’s Cauldon Works in Staffordshire and Northumbrian Water’s Bran Sands treatment plant in the Tees Valley.
Permanent permission to use the new fuel has been given by the Environment Agency after Lafarge completed a six-month trial using processed sewage bio pellets (PSP) as part of the fuel mix for heating raw materials in the kiln at Cauldon.
Benefits of the pellet fuel partnership – involving the use of up to 30,000 tonnes of pellets a year - are substantial for both companies.
The pellets are used to replace some of the coal and petroleum coke traditionally used to created the 2,000°C kiln flame which heats raw materials to over 1,450°C. Using the new fuel will help Lafarge meet new emission targets proposed by the government. Processed sewage pellets are categorized as ‘carbon neutral’ under latest environmental legislation aimed at limiting industries’ emissions of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.
The arrangement guarantees a secure outlet for about half of the total sludge produced from sewage treatment by Northumbrian Water in the North East. It is anticipated that the vast majority of sludge processed at its Bran Sands works will go to Cauldon.
An environmentally sound solution has been found, recovering waste as a useful product with no increase in cost to the water and sewerage company.
It also reduces Northumbrian Water’s reliance on the current outlets – utilisation as an agricultural fertilizer or disposal in landfill.
Northumbrian Water’s Bran Sands Manager David Charlton said: “Through this long-term relationship with a trusted partner Northumbrian Water has found a secure, safe and sustainable reuse for sewage sludge which avoids potentially adverse environmental impacts and enables the company to support the renewable energy market.”
Northumbrian Water produces the pellets at its regional sludge treatment centre, part of its giant 52-acre treatment plant at Teesport.
Sludge is produced from waste treatment on the site and also transported by ship and tanker from Teesside, Wearside and Tyneside. It is then processed into pellets as safe as garden soil by being dried in huge tumble drums at temperatures in excess of 400°C.
Notes to Editors:
Northumbrian Water’s Bran Sands waste water treatment works serves a population equivalent (including domestic and industrial customers) of three million in the Tees Valley. Its regional sludge treatment centre, which produces the pellets, treats sludge from a population equivalent (including domestic and industrial customers) of about four and a half million in the Tees Valley and on Wearside and Tyneside.
Enquiries:
Alistair Baker - Communications Manger - Northumbrian Water - Tel: 0191 3016 851 - Mob: 07711 793 493
Alistair Gale - PR & Communications Manger - Lafarge Cement - Tel: 01235 448 657 - Mob: 07711 440 736