Publication:
Life cycle assessment of biosolids processing options

dc.contributor.author Peters, G en_US
dc.contributor.author Lundie, S en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2021-11-25T13:33:14Z
dc.date.available 2021-11-25T13:33:14Z
dc.date.issued 2001 en_US
dc.description.abstract Biosolids are the reusable organic materials removed from sewage during treatment. Different options for biosolids handling in Sydney, Australia, are compared using life-cycle assessment. Two key comparisons are made: of system scenarios (scenario one - local dewatering and lime-amendment; scenario two - a centralized drying system) and of technologies (thermal drying versus lime-amendment). The environmental issues addressed are energy consumption, global warming potential (GWP) and human toxicity potential (HTP). Scenario two would consume 24% more energy than scenario one. This is due to the additional electricity for pumping and particularly the petrochemical methane that supplements biogas in the dryer. A centralized system using the same technologies as scenario one has approximately the same impacts. The GWP and HTP of the different scenarios do not differ significantly. The assessment of technology choices showed significant differences. The ample supply of endogenous biogas at North Head Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) for the drying option for allows reductions, relative to the lime amendment option, of 68% in energy consumption, 45% in GWP and 23% in HTP. Technology choices have more significant influence on the environmental profile of biosolids processing than the choice of system configurations. Controlling variables for environmental improvement are the selection of biogas fuel, avoidance of coal-sourced electrical energy, minimization of trucking distances and raising the solids content of biosolids products. en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1088-1980 en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/39939
dc.language English
dc.language.iso EN en_US
dc.rights CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 en_US
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ en_US
dc.source Legacy MARC en_US
dc.subject.other Biosolids en_US
dc.subject.other global warming potential (GWP en_US
dc.subject.other human toxicity potential (HTP en_US
dc.subject.other lime amendment en_US
dc.subject.other sewage sludge en_US
dc.subject.other wastewater treatment en_US
dc.title Life cycle assessment of biosolids processing options en_US
dc.type Journal Article en
dcterms.accessRights open access
dspace.entity.type Publication en_US
unsw.accessRights.uri https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
unsw.description.publisherStatement Copyright Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press en_US
unsw.identifier.doiPublisher http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/10881980152830169 en_US
unsw.relation.faculty Engineering
unsw.relation.ispartofissue 2 en_US
unsw.relation.ispartofjournal Journal of Industrial Ecology en_US
unsw.relation.ispartofpagefrompageto 103-121 en_US
unsw.relation.ispartofvolume 5 en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Peters, G, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Lundie, S, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.school School of Civil and Environmental Engineering *
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
peters and lundie JIE doc version 2003.pdf
Size:
724.24 KB
Format:
application/pdf
Description:
Resource type