A Method for WWTP Sludge Valorization through Hygienization by Electron Beam Treatment

This work reports on municipal sludge hygienization using electron beams. Three types of sewage sludge from two municipal wastewater treatment plants were tested: preliminary sludge with 4% TS, postflotation sludge with 2.5% TS and thickened preliminary sludge with 10% TS. The analysis of reference samples demonstrated the presence of bacteria and helminths ova in all examined samples. For the study of hygienization, electron beams from two types of accelerators, linear (Elektronika 10/10) and single cavity (ILU-6), were applied. For each type of accelerator, different irradiation methods were used: irradiation in sealed polyethylene bags using conveyor and flow irradiation installation. Experiments showed that the doses necessary for the elimination of mentioned pathogens were 4 kGy for preliminary sludge, 4 kGy for postflotation sludge and 5.5 kGy for preliminary sludge. The differences between the amounts of initial pathogens in preliminary and thickened preliminary sludge were marginal. It is possible that the higher irradiation dose required to hygienize thickened sludge resulted from higher TS concentration

‘Zero energy’ electron beam technology for sludge hygienization

Large quantity of sewage sludge originating from wastewater treatment plants is becoming a growing problem from environmental and human health points of view. One of the ways to use sewage sludge is agricultural purpose due to its nutrients and organic matter content, but the condition is that it should be deprived of pathogenic bacteria and parasite egg contamination. Application of ionizing radiation to hygienize sewage sludge can make it appropriate for agricultural use. The process does not require addition of chemicals to sludge; it is environmentally friendly and effective in removal of biological threats. In the past, successful attempts of sewage sludge treatment using ionizing radiation were made. Pilot plants and commercial ones proved that pathogens can be easily removed from sewage sludge by ionizing radiation. The concept of ‘zero energy’ biogas plant is based on the construction of a complex system consisting of biogas plant and electron accelerator in the biofertilizer manufacturing line. Digestate originating from the methane fermentation of sewage sludge is irradiated to remove all pathogens using electron beam from an accelerator powered by electric energy obtained from burning biogas in a cogenerator. The product is a high-quality, biologically safe fertilizer

Organic pollutant removal from marine diesel engine off-gases under electron beam and hybrid electron beam and wet scrubbing process

The removal of organic pollutants from ship emission was studied using two processes namely electron beam (EB) and hybrid EB with wet scrubbing process. A mobile accelerator unit was used to treat 4915 Nm3 /h of flue gas emitted from a tugboat in Riga Shipyard. A volume of 3 m3 seawater containing 36.8 mM of NaClO2 oxidant was used as a wet scrubber solution. Organic pollutants, mainly volatile organic pollutants (VOCs), were collected at three different sampling points, before and after irradiation vessels, and after wet-scrubber unit, respectively. They were collected with glass sampling bottles, tedlar bags, Coconut Shell Charcoal (CSC) sorbents and XAD-2 sorbents. CH3OH and CH3OH/CH2Cl2 (1:1) were used to extract VOCs from CSC and XAD-2 sorbents, respectively. Syringe filters were used to obtain the solid-free extraction solutions. They were concentrated using a micro-extractor under continuously blowing high-purity Ar. A gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for analysis. The identified organic compounds were: aliphatic hydrocarbons (dodecane C12H26 to eicosane C20H42), aromatic hydrocarbon (toluene), esters (C3H7COOCH3, (C4H9OCO)2C6H4), nitro compounds (C3H5NO3, C4H7NO2) and acid (C7H15COOH). After 4.2 kGy EB irradiation, around 50–100% aliphatic hydrocarbons, 83% toluene and 7.5% (C4H9OCO)2C6H4 were removed from the off-gases, and after EB hybrid wet-scrubber process, most organic compounds including nitro compounds were removed. Only trace amount of toluene, hexadecane, octadecane and dibutyl phthalate were found to be present in the gas phase

Electron beam technology for biogas and biofertilizer generation at municipal resource recovery facilities

In the era of circular economies, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are viewed as resource recovery facilities. At the very minimum, the targeted resources are water, biogas, and phosphorus. However, municipal wastewater streams (sludge and effluent) need to be adequately treated to eliminate the potential for the transmission of microbial pathogens including protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. This paper presents the results from a study demonstrating the use of electron beam technology for sludge hygenization and enhanced methane (biogas) production using municipal wastewater samples. Cogeneration of heat for fertilizer drying and granulation and electricity for powering the electron beam system are also demonstrated

The State of Critical and Strategic Metals Recovery and the Role of Nuclear Techniques in the Separation Technologies Development: Review

The extraction of useful minerals or geological materials from the Earth’s crust, most typically from various sources, is crucial to a country’s development and progress. Mineral-rich countries use these resources to transform their economies and propel them toward long-term prosperity. There is an urgent need for the world to increase mineral exploration efforts, improve the recycling of important metal-containing resources, and extract them using upgraded hydrometallurgical procedures with high recovery efficiency. This review paper highlights the importance of strategic and critical metals in the economy and the role of nuclear techniques in the analysis, process optimization, and remediation of metals using solvent extraction, adsorption, and chromatographic resins. Radiotracer analysis, X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) are appropriate for improving laboratory-based hydrometallurgical processes, with future technical and economic benefits. The development and installation of novel instruments to provide the real-time control of mining and mineral processing plants for improved control have the potential to aid in the recovery of a broad range of metals

Synthesis of LiFePO4/Ni,Cu, and Ag Nanocomposites for Electrochemical applications by complex Sol-Gel process

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