competitive advantages
STERM™ flash dries dewatered sludge to
a
sterile fuel within its unique proprietary
dryer.
The fuel is used to provide energy
for the
system, leaving an inert sand/ash
as the end product, only 7% of the wet
volume received. All this with minimal
carbon fuel usage and providing
substantial environmental benefits |
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With dumping into the sea and incineration almost totally banned, and dumping to landfills, land application and now composting coming under increasing political, environmental and health scrutiny, the STERM™ technology presents a true paradigm shift in the field of sludge disposal from environmental, social/cultural and economic perspectives.
Environmental
- The STERM™ process is a net energy user, i.e. surplus “renewable energy” is generated from the processing of primary sludge.
- The process is environmentally acceptable and sustainable.
- The STERM™ dramatically reduces the production of greenhouse gases.
- Greater volume handling capacity requiring significantly less land use and reduced footprint for the host sewage treatment plant.
- The end product is an inert sand/ash (no more bio-solids).
- The STERM™ is a thermal drying process (not incineration). The toxic bio-solids only come into contact with heated air.
- The STERM™ means no bio-solids to sea or land and no methane to atmosphere.
- Reduced truck traffic.
- No leaching from landfill facilities.
- Significantly reduced carbon fuel use.
Social and cultural
- The STERM™ process allows better use of coastal foreshore by recreational and commercial users.
- Eliminates the need for landfill of treated bio-solids.
- Eliminates the potential risk of landfill or land-applied sludge drying and pathogens being carried on airborne dust into nearby communities.
- Eliminates the potential threat to the community of pathogens, residue of prescription drugs (endocrine disrupters), etc, leaching into underground water supplies from land application.
- The STERM™ process is odorless.
Economic
- Capital cost for the STERM™ plant is significantly lower than conventional bio-solid treatment/disposal facilities.
- Opportunity to manage/control the ever-increasing cost to ratepayers for wastewater treatment facility upgrades and bio-solid disposal.
- The STERM™ achieves considerable saving in carbon fuel use.
- Lower operating and maintenance costs.
- The process produces an end product of inert sand/ash which has commercial uses.
- The STERM™ process eliminates bio-solids largely using the energy derived from the bio-solid itself (digested bio-solid).
- The process eliminates bio-solids using the energy derived from the bio-solids and produces excess fuel for on-site or off-site uses if processing primary undigested bio-solids.
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