AZIENDA AGRICOLA ALLEVI S.r.l.

WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANT FOR BIOLOGICAL SEWAGE SLUDGE

The project—the first of its kind in Italy—involves the construction of a waste-to-energy plant for biological sewage sludge with a total capacity of 40,000 metric tons per year and the simultaneous recovery of phosphorus from combustion ash.

The initiative combines various technologies: low-temperature thermal drying, high-temperature thermal oxidation using fluidized-bed technology, and phosphorus recovery from primary ash.

The energy derived from the combustion of the sludge is used to produce thermal energy (reused in the thermal drying section) and electricity, the latter used partly for on-site consumption and partly fed into the grid.

Particular attention has been paid to the management of gaseous emissions through the use of the best technologies currently available. Equivalent care has been devoted to controlling odorous emissions through the use of combined treatment systems designed to ensure maximum abatement efficiency.

The initiative thus introduces a new—effective and sustainable—approach to the management of biological sludge, one that is substantially different from previous practices.