Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment (한국물환경학회지)

Korean Society on Water Environment (한국물환경학회)
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Recovering the Energy Potential of Sewage as Approach to Energy Self-Sufficient Sewage Treatment

하수처리장 에너지 자립화를 위한 하수 에너지 잠재력 회수 기술

  • Bae, Hyokwan (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University)
  • 배효관 (부산대학교 사회환경시스템공학과)
  • Received : 2017.08.10
  • Accepted : 2017.10.26
  • Published : 2018.01.30
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Abstract

Domestic sewage treatment plants (STPs) consume about 0.5 % of total electric energy produced annually, which is equivalent to 207.7 billion Korean won per year. To minimize the energy consumption and as a way of mitigating the depletion of energy sources, the sewage treatment strategy should be improved to the level of "energy positive". The core processes for the energy positive sewage treatment include A-stage for energy recovery and B-stage for energy-efficient nitrogen removal. The integrated process is known as the A/B-process. In A-stage, chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) or high rate activated sludge (HRAS) processes can be utilized by modifying the primary settling in the first stage of sewage treatment. CEPT utilizes chemical coagulation and flocculation, while HRAS applies returned activated sludge for the efficient recovery of organic contents. The two processes showed organic recovery efficiencies ranging from 60 to 70 %. At a given recovery efficiency of 80 %, 17.3 % of energy potential ($1,398kJ/m^3$) is recovered through the anaerobic digestion and combustion of methane. Besides, anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) can recover 85% of organic contents and generate $1,580kJ/m^3$ from the sewage. The recovered energy is equal to the amount of energy consumption by sewage treatment equipped with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX)-based B-stage, $810{\sim}1,620kJ/m^3$. Therefore, it is possible to upgrade STPs as efficient as energy neutral. However, additional novel technologies, such as, fuel cell and co-digestion, should be applied to achieve "energy positive" sewage treatment.

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References

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