Life cycle assessment of sludge management with phosphorus utilisation and improved hygienisation in Sweden

Water Science and Technology : a Journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research
M SvanströmJ Olsson

Abstract

To provide input to sewage sludge management strategies that address expected new regulations in terms of hygienisation and phosphorus recovery in Sweden, an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) was made. The LCA identified environmental hot spots for methods that may permit sludge or phosphorus from sludge to be applied on agricultural land. In particular, thermophilic digestion, pasteurisation, thermal hydrolysis, urea treatment and mono-incineration with phosphorus recovery were compared. In addition, a sludge management system involving drying of sludge before use in forestry was investigated. The results showed that some major impacts are related to large uncertainties, such as those related to emissions from sludge storage. It also showed that large gains can be achieved when products from the systems replace other products, in particular when biogas is used to replace natural gas in vehicles, but also when sludge is used in agriculture and forestry. In general, there are small differences between the sludge management methods. Retaining the sludge matrix to allow for its utilisation in agriculture may conflict with keeping emissions to air and water from the sludge matrix low. It is recommended that any sludge manag...Continue Reading

References

May 30, 2009·Environmental Science & Technology·Gregory M Peters, Hazel V Rowley
Jul 14, 2011·Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management·Matthias SchulzGregory M Peters
Oct 5, 2011·Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture·Tina-Simone S Neset, Dana Cordell
Aug 24, 2013·Water Research·Ll CorominasA Shaw
Sep 26, 2013·Waste Management & Research : the Journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA·Hiroko YoshidaCharlotte Scheutz

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Citations

Feb 2, 2020·Water Research·Ka Leung LamJan Peter van der Hoek

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