IntenKS – Improving sewage sludge treatment in China for energetic and material utilisation
Sewage sludge accumulates during wastewater treatment, and its hygienic and safe disposal poses serious challenges. This is particularly true for fast-growing urban regions. In the research project “IntenKS”, ISOE is investigating prevailing barriers to an improved utilisation of sewage sludge in China. In the most populated country on Earth, the bulk of sewage sludge has so far gone to landfill in a virtually untreated state. For an optimal effectiveness of the existing regulations for sewage sludge treatment and utilisation, the implementation barriers are being worked out. The aim of the research project is to develop an ecologically and economically sustainable concept for optimised material and energetic utilisation of sewage sludge in China.
Research approach
The ISOE research team is coordinating the socio-economic evaluation of sewage sludge treatment and utilisation in China, based on a pilot site in Shanghai. Of special interest are existing practices for dealing with sewage sludge, and prevailing barriers to the implementation of innovations, along with the reasons for such barriers. The project adopts a transdisciplinary research approach. Expert interviews and workshops with Chinese and German stakeholders (e.g. operators, authorities, companies, science and development cooperation) will help identifying obstacles to innovation and developing options for action to overcome potential conflicts. Conclusions can then be drawn regarding a sustainable concept for improving sewage sludge treatment and utilisation.
Background
Improper disposal of sewage sludge can release toxins and trigger infections, thus creating human health risks. An optimal treatment and utilisation of sewage sludge is particularly important in densely populated regions of China and with regard to sustainability. The aim is to improve the handling of sewage sludge whilst enabling its material and energetic utilisation.
Research and project partners
- Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute IWAR, Department of Wastewater Engineering
- Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering
- Tongji University, Shanghai
Field-based partners
- Aqseptence Group GmbH
- HST Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG
- Haarslev Industries GmbH & Co. KG Environmental Division
- Oswald Schulze Umwelttechnik GmbH
Funding
The project “IntenKS – Intensivierung der Klärschlammbehandlung zur energetischen und stofflichen Nutzung in China unter Einsatz thermaler Verfahren” (“Improving sewage sludge treatment in China for energetic and material utilisation with the help of thermal procedures”) is funded within the “CLIENT II” funding directive “International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovations” as part of the framework programme “Research for Sustainable Development (FONA)” run by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Duration
Contact person
Project team
Research unit
Water Infrastructure and Risk AnalysesRelated projects
- Assessment of the potential for the use of service water in Frankfurt am Main
- BioFAVOR II – Low-tech recycling of faeces from decentralised sources
- Classification of consumption points in the supply area of HAMBURG WASSER
- Competence Atlas Water – Water Technologies and Water Management in Hesse
- CuveWaters – Sustainable Water Management in Namibia
- Daily drinking water demand – forecast model for Hamburg
- Efficient Use of the Hessian Groundwater Fee
- Eliminating micropollutants in sewage plants
- Environmental Risks and Pharmaceuticals: The Key Role of Pharmacies
- EPoNa – Water Reuse in Northern Namibia
- Evaluation of the International Water Stewardship Program (IWaSP)
- Guiding principle IWRM – Water resources management for the metropolitan region of Rhine-Main
- HypoWave – New Pathways Towards Wastewater Re-Use in Agriculture
- INTAFERE – Integrated Analysis of Organic Impurities in Rivers
- INTERESS-I – Integrated strategies to strengthen urban blue-green infrastructures
- IWRM in Isfahan – Sustainable Water Management in Iran
- Material flows of environmentally relevant chemical substances: product line controlling
- MULTI-ReUse – Modular treatment system for water reuse
- NaCoSi – Sustainability controlling of the domestic water management
- netWORKS – Transformations in Network Related Infrastructure Sectors
- netWORKS 2 – Transformation Management for a Sustainable Water Infrastructure
- netWORKS 3 – Sustainable concepts for the municipal water sector
- netWORKS 4 – Resilient networks: Contributions of urban supply systems to climate justice (follow-up project)
- netWORKS 4 – Resilient networks: how urban supply systems contribute to climate justice
- New perspectives for the ecological restoration of streams and rivers
- NiddaMan – Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Nidda Catchment Area
- P-Net – Regional network for resource-efficient phosphorus recycling and management
- PLASTRAT – Reduction of plastic discharges in lakes and running waters
- PlastX – Microplastics in bodies of running water
- PlastX – Plastic waste in seas and oceans
- Privatisation and Competition in Drinking Water Supply in Germany
- Privatisation in the Water Sector
- Proxies and Scenarios for the Development of Water Demand
- Regional Sustainability in Water and Land Use
- regulate – Sustainable Groundwater Management in Europe
- SASSCAL – Research Infrastructure in Africa
- SASSCAL – Water-related vulnerabilities and risk in Southern Africa
- SAUBER+ Innovative concepts for wastewater from public health sector facilities
- Semizentral – Infrastructure systems for cities of the future experiencing rapid growth
- Smart Water Future India: Intelligent Water Management for India’s Cities
- start – Management Strategies for Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water
- start2 – Management Strategies for Hormonally Active Agrochemicals
- Stormwater Infiltration in Wiesbaden
- Structural concept for Trinkwasserversorgung Magdeburg
- Sustainability Performance in the Water Supply
- TransRisk – Pollutants as a risk to the water cycle
- TRAPA India – Transition pathways for solving urban wastewater problems in Indian cities
- Water 2050 – Sustainable Innovations for Water Management
- Water Cycle an Urban-Ecological Development
- Water demand forecast 2030 for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2045 for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2045 for the WBV Harburg
- Water demand forecast 2050 for Hamburg
- Weschnitz Dialog: Communication and participation in the management of restoration measures along the river Weschnitz