Thermal treatment as sustainable sewage sludge management

Recent changes to the sewage sludge management can be attributed to the restrictive deadlines of implementing EU regulations concerning wastewater treatment and sewage sludge utilization. Drying and thermal treatment of sewage sludge is becoming increasingly popular. From nearly zero share of thermal treatment methods in the sewage sludge management currently the share exceeds 35%. Implementation of numerous investments is facilitated by respective structure programs in the scope of environmental protection supported with EU funds. The analysis of chosen aspects of new operational experience constitutes the main part of the present paper. Analysed were domestic operational practices concerning the applied technologies of sewage sludge drying, their effectiveness and reliability. The aspect of effectiveness of flue gas cleaning with the use of sodium bicarbonate, method characteristic for many Polish sewage sludge incineration facilities, is discussed in detail. The analysis is based on the current operational data and own research.