The German Waterboard Linz-Unkel have selected the innovative PYREG® technology to support their ground breaking strategy for municipal sludge processing. The PYREG® system will be installed at Linz-Unkel WWTP to carbonise digested sludge. This full thermal processing of sludge’s will bring significant economic and environmental benefits with reduced costs of operation of the waste water treatment plant including sludge disposal. The carbonised and phosphorus rich sludge end product will bring substantial soil improvement benefits to agriculture.

The PYREG® concept is based on dry carbonisation. The material will not be burned, but carbonised using temperatures up to 800^oC. The heat released by the reaction, will be fully recovered and reused within the process. The PYREG® technology requires no external source of energy.

The design of the project at Linz-Unkel WWTP uses an exhaust heat exchanger to recover available heat which is then used for low temperature sludge drying. Together with the heat produced by the existing CHP system, this ensures that the sludge drying process prior to PYREG® requires no external energy resource. An environmental and economic solution in which we maximise the available heat from the WWTP CHP facilities and the PYREG® process.

The carbonised and phosphorus rich sludge will be used in Germany’s Rheinland-Pfalz agricultural region for soil improvement purposes. Due to the specific process conditions achieved during the PYREG® carbonisation process, the treated sludge’s will be completely pasteurised and free of any harmful pathogens.

The PYREG® technology concept fits perfectly into the global trend for providing energy self-sufficient treatment of wastewater. These approaches often provide an excess of low grade heat and together with recovered heat from PYREG®’s exhaust gas system, a self-sufficient way of pre-drying sludge is achievable without utilising biogas or external energy resources to complete the heat-balance of the process for thermal treatment of sludge. Potentially the amount of disposed sludge could be  reduced to that of valuable biosolids, suitable for reuse and providing a benefit to our environment.

Our sister company ELIQUO STULZ will provide all Mechanical and Electrical installation for the Linz-Unkel project, together with the delivery and installation of the low temperature belt drying equipment, which will pre-dry all sludge prior to carbonisation by the PYREG® system.

Our parent company ELIQUO WATER GROUP is a strategic shareholder of PYREG® GmbH.