Status and Development of Sludge Incineration in China

Sewage sludge disposal and utilization have become an ever-increasing challenge due to the rapid development of urbanization and strict environmental protection requirements in China. Incineration is becoming one of the most important strategies for sludge disposal due to the large volume reduction rate, destruction of contaminations, and energy recovery. A general introduction to sludge disposal status in China will be summarized, including sludge production, characteristics of sludge, and existing disposal methods. Second, current research and developments regarding the whole process of sludge incineration will be introduced, which consist of the pretreatment of sewage sludge (e.g., thickening, conditioning, dewatering, and drying), incineration (e.g., co-combustion and mono-combustion), and pollutant control (e.g., gaseous pollutant, heavy metals, and fly ash). Different kinds of incinerators performing sludge mono- or co-combustion are thoroughly introduced and analyzed. Finally, several typical commercial applications of sludge incineration, including the key operation parameters, will be discussed in detail to illustrate the development of the sludge incineration technique in China.