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Municipal Retrofit
Wastewater treatment plants in the US consume an estimated 21 billion kilowatt hours per year and produce approximately eight million dry tons of sludge each year, which could generate $2 billion worth of electricity, plus heat recovery potential. NSU uses our technical expertise in water and wastewater treatment to partner with wastewater treatment plant owners to capture valuable energy, nutrients and other resources from sludge.Many wastewater treatment plants already employ anaerobic digesters to produce biogas (methane) and to stabilize the sludge prior to disposal. This process normally converts about 50% of the organic matter to biogas. But only about 20% of U.S. plants utilizing anaerobic digestion recover energy from the biogas. A USEPA Combined Heat and Power Partnership primer estimates that if all 544 wastewater treatment plants in the U.S. operating anaerobic digesters with influent flow rates greater than 5 MGD were to install CHP, approximately 340 MW of clean energy could be generated, offsetting 2.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. (Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) Biogas Factsheet, 2010).
The US EPA is strongly urging wastewater treatment plant owners to consider implementing Combined Heat & Power (CHP) projects commonly referred to as cogeneration, (referring to the production of heat and power). Electricity generators and heat recovery systems are very efficient, up to 90% efficiency including heat recovery. With anaerobic digestion optimization, biogas recovery and power and heat generation, a substantial cost savings can be achieved.
- New revenue stream
- A lower price for electricity
- Reduced residuals for disposal
- A combination of these savings at the discretion of the client