Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R21547/01
Title:	The Fluidised Bed Gasification of Sewage Sludge; Factors Affecting Synthesis Gas Quality & Scale-Up
Principal Investigator:	Dennis, Professor J
Other Investigators:	Hayhurst, Professor A Davidson, Professor J
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Anglian Water C R E Group Ltd
Department:	Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Organisation:	University of Cambridge
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 July 2001	Ends:	31 July 2004	Value (£):	242,701
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Combustion Water Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Environment Energy Water
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The disposal of waste sewage sludge is a major problem being faced by the principal UK water treatment companies as the cost of disposal to landfill increases and the capacity to dispose of it on agricultural land is limited by concerns about biological safety and heavy metals and phosphates accumulation. Incineration is problematic because of concerns about pollutant levels (e.g. dioxins and heavy metals) which, in turn, requires substantial flue gas treatment. This proposal concerns the fiuidised bed gasification of sludge -an attractive option being examined by a number of companies because gas cleaning is easier and combined power cycles are more efficient, particularly where it is decided to co-gasify with coal or other municipal waste. We have noted that there are pressing problems with sludge gasification which have not been addressed before, primarily arising from (a) compared with coal, its very high water and volatiles content and (b) its low char content on devolatilisation. By achieving the objectives 1 to 7, shown above. It is expected that the research will have a major impact on the efficient design of both fluidised and fixed bed gasifiers. It is applicable to the latter because we shall be studying, in part, the underlying kinetic mechanisms as a sludge particle undergoes dewatering, devolatilisation and gasification of the resulting volatiles and char and this information will be independent of the reactor configuration. We expect to disseminate the information widely by publications and also by regular meetings with collaborators.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.cam.ac.uk