TURNING UP THE HEAT ON SLUDGE RECYCLING.

The article presents the emerging technology for treating wastewater residuals using vitrification. It states that the thermal process is commonly used for glass manufacturing and slagging furnaces used in coal-fired power generation. It reveals that paper mill sludge and municipal biosolids, both used in glass manufacturing and power generation, provides the thermal energy required to accomplish vitrification and that mineral fraction melts into glass aggregate products that serve multiple beneficial construction and industrial application. Commercial vitrification of high-volume industrial wastewater treatment residuals emerged with Minergy's Fox Valley Glass Aggregate Plant and to date had processed more than 2.2 million tons of paper mill sludge.