Composting
|
√ Significant reduction in the volume of sludge, therefore its transportation costs.
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ Elimination of pathogens.
√ Reduction of odors.
√ It leads to a slow release of nutrients.
√ Biosolids as a product for potential use in agribusiness.
√ Low cost.
|
Established
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Other with biosludge generation
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Fytili & Zabaniotou, 2008; Tran et al., 2021)
|
x High land area requirement.
x High operating times.
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
x Limited by the presence of heavy metals or other persistent contaminants.
|
• Research on optimizing operational parameters.
• Control strategies (odorous and toxic gases).
• Understanding the biodegradation mechanisms.
• Understanding microbial diversity and structure changes along with the composting processes.
• Reduction in composting time.
• A better understanding of fundamentals.
• Temperature control.
• Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving solids/sludge from different IWW and a variety of pollutants.
|
Vermicomposting
|
√ Significant reduction in the volume of sludge, therefore its transportation costs.
√ Reduction of odors.
√ Improves water holding capacity.
√ It leads to a slow release of nutrients.
√ Biosolids as a product for potential use in agribusiness.
|
Innovative
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Other with biosludge generation
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Varjani et al., 2021)
|
x High land area requirement.
x There is no elimination of pathogens.
x High operating times.
x Not applicable in sludge with low content of organic matter.
x Limited by the presence of heavy metals or other persistent contaminants.
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
x Suitable growth conditions for worms should be maintained
|
• Research on optimizing operational parameters.
• Understanding the biodegradation mechanisms.
• Understanding microbial diversity and structure changes along with the vermicomposting processes.
• Reduction of process time.
• A better understanding of fundamentals.
• Temperature control.
• Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving solids/sludge from different IWW and a variety of pollutants.
|
Anaerobic digester
|
√ High process efficiency.
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ Significant reduction in the volume of sludge.
√ Obtaining biogas with potential use in energy generation.
√ Obtaining fertilizers.
√ Possibility of plant shutdown without affecting the microorganisms.
√ Generally, low OPEX.
|
Established
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Other with biosludge generation
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Varjani et al., 2021)
|
x Low effectiveness in eliminating pathogens and nutrients.
x Generation of odors.
x High residence times.
x Generally, high CAPEX.
x Generally, post-treatment is required.
x Additional costs for the treatment of the sludge.
x Slight in range of temperature control.
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
|
• Reduce startup times.
• Reduce sensibility.
• Control of odor production.
• Reduce hydraulic residence time.
• A better understanding of fundamentals
• Improve the control of the system.
• Improve Biogas quality.
• Temperature control.
Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving solids/sludge from different IWW and a variety of pollutants.
|
Acidic or alkaline hydrolysis
|
√ High recovery.
√ Reduction of waste volume.
√ Destruction of pathogens.
|
Established
|
Batteries
Chemicals
|
(Guerra-Rodríguez et al., 2020)
|
x High consumption of chemicals.
x High energy requirement.
x Limited capacity.
x Hydrolysis Agent is required.
|
• A better understanding of the process and enhanced physical property database.
• Reduce the cost of processes.
• Reduce reagent consumption.
• In sludge treatment processes, the long-term reliability has not completely been proven.
Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving solids/sludge from different industries.
|
Dark fermentation
|
√ Low energy requirement.
√ Successful experience on a large scale, but of limited application.
√ Simple reactor configuration.
√ Significant reduction in the volume of sludge.
√ Obtaining biohydrogen.
|
Emerging
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Other with biosludge generation
|
(Bastidas-Oyanedel et al., 2019; Elalami et al., 2019)
|
x Low effectiveness in eliminating pathogens and nutrients.
x High generation of by-products that reduce the quality of the products.
x Low performance in hydrogen production.
x Generally, high CAPEX.
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
|
• Integration of dark fermentation with other bioprocesses.
• Liquid Fuel Production.
• Fine Chemical Production.
• Syngas Dark Fermentation.
• Large-scale development.
|
Hydrothermal treatment
|
√ High energy and efficiency.
√ It can use different raw materials at the same time.
√ Unnecessary deployment of microorganisms and enzymes.
√ Potential combination with other techniques.
|
Established
|
Mining
Chemical
Metal
|
(Costa et al., 2020; Wikberg & Jermakka, 2015; Yoshimura & Byrappa, 2008)
|
x High temperatures and pressure steam are required.
x Coke and tar formation.
x Obstruction of the reactor.
x Difficulty in recycling and regenerating the catalysts.
x High CAPEX.
|
• Reduce temperatures, pressure steam, or vacuum requirement.
• Processing of nanoparticles.
• Multi-energy-hydrothermal technology
• Supercritical hydrothermal.
• Reduce reagent consumption.
• Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving solids/sludge from different industries.
|
Bioelectric systems (BES)
|
√ Generation of biohydrogen.
√ Power generation.
√ Effective COD removal.
√ Greenhouse gas emissions control.
√ Polishing wastewaters.
|
Emerging
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
|
(Cecconet et al., 2020; Elalami et al., 2019; Zhang & Tremblay, 2016)
|
x Energy to stimulate microbial activity is required.
x Low production rate and limited efficiency.
x Long residence times are required.
x Low or no large-scale experience.
|
• Water desalination.
• IWW treatment.
• Hydrogen production.
• Large-scale development.
• A better understanding of electroactive microbial catalyst, electrochemical reactor components, and design.
• Development of models for proper design and approach.
• Robust and proper BES design.
|
Incineration
|
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ For biological sludge, its calorific value is relatively high, offering the opportunity for energy recovery.
√ Minimization of odors.
√ Thermal destruction of toxic organic compounds.
√ Ability to deal with a vast diversity of wastes.
|
Established
|
Agrochemical
Batteries
Chemical
Electronics
Medical
Petroleum
Pharmaceutical
Plastics
Tannery
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Fytili & Zabaniotou, 2008; Goli et al., 2021; Ma & Rosen, 2021)
|
x It does not constitute a method of total disposal of the waste since 30% of this remains as ash.
x High energy requirement.
x Requirement of a post-treatment for the resulting ashes.
x Requirement of a sophisticated air quality control system.
x High CAPEX and OPEX.
x Dehydration requirement.
|
• Reuse for the slag/ ash produced during incineration.
• Heavy metal recovery.
• Nutrient recovery.
• Waste to energy development.
• Reduce energy requirement.
• Reduce costs.
• Analysis on a case-by-case basis (based on industry waste).
• Novel heating approaches
• Control of toxic gas emissions.
|
Pyrolysis
|
√ For biological sludge, its calorific value is relatively high, offering the opportunity for energy recovery.
√ Minimization of odors.
√ Thermal destruction of toxic organic compounds.
√ Low emission.
√ Extensive large-scale experience, but of limited application.
√ Usually, the process is self-sustaining.
√ Production of biofuels and other materials of interest.
√ Relatively lower operating temperatures than other thermal processes.
√ Some elements can be recovered from the resulting ash.
√ Minimal amounts of generated waste.
|
innovative
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Other with biosludge generation
|
(Bhatt et al., 2021; Colón et al., 2017; Kamali et al., 2022; Naqvi et al., 2021; Ponsa et al., 2017; Shyam et al., 2022; G. Wang et al., 2020; Zaharioiu et al., 2021)
|
x Since a reduced atmosphere is required, the products can be highly corrosive, thus leading to higher maintenance costs.
x High energy requirement.
x High CAPEX and OPEX.
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
x Dehydration requirement.
|
• Large-scale development.
• Improved understanding of co-pyrolysis mechanism.
• Reduce energy requirement.
• Integration with renewable energy sources.
• Biochar and other by-product applications.
• Reduce costs.
• Waste to energy development.
• Development of efficient adsorbents.
• Control of Nitrogen emissions and air pollution.
• Novel heating approaches
• More kinetic evaluation studies.
|
Gasification
|
√ Extensive large-scale experience, but of limited application.
√ Production of biofuels.
√ Low emission.
√ Minimal amounts of generated waste.
√ Energy efficiency technology.
√ Usually, the process is self-sustaining, so under certain operating conditions and waste to be treated, no energy is required.
|
Emerging
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Other with biosludge generation
|
(Janajreh et al., 2021; Ponsa et al., 2017; Zaharioiu et al., 2021)
|
x High temperatures requirement
x It does not constitute a method for the total disposal of waste.
x The formation of other compounds such as NH3, HCl, H2S, and some aromatic compounds, implies bad quality of the biofuel.
x Requirement of a fuel post-treatment.
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
x High CAPEX and OPEX.
x Requirement of a post-treatment for the resulting ashes
x Heavy metals end up in the ashes, complicating their treatment.
x Dehydration requirement.
|
• Waste to energy development.
• Control of air pollution.
• Novel heating approaches.
• Hybrid processes and process intensification that result in enhanced efficiency and efficacy.
• Development of plasma gasification, supercritical water gasification, co-gasification.
• Reduce energy requirement.
• Reduce costs.
• Improved understanding of gasification reactions.
• Tar valorization.
• Feedstock versus gasifier type studies.
• Gasifier sizing, and the different zonal influence (drying, combustion, and reduction) studies.
|
Wet oxidation (WO)
|
√ Extensive large-scale experience, but of limited application.
√ An alternative solution to combustion.
√ The gaseous product does not contain dangerous compounds.
√ The resulting wastewater is constituted of biodegradable compounds and ammonia.
|
Emerging
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
|
(Fytili & Zabaniotou, 2008; Genc et al., 2002; S. Pérez-Elvira et al., 2006; Sara Pérez-Elvira et al., 2017)
|
x High energy requirement.
x High OPEX.
x Post-treatment is required for the final product.
|
• Hybrid processes.
• Reduce costs.
• Reduce energy requirement.
• Database of successful WO cases at lab, pilot, and plant-level should be prepared.
• Database of successful WO cases at lab, pilot, and plant-level should be prepared.
• Hybrid processes and process intensification that result in enhanced efficiency and efficacy.
• Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving different IWW sludges and a variety of pollutants.
|
Solidification Stabilization (S/S)
|
√ Reduction of pathogens.
√ Reduction of the availability of metals.
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ Simple operation.
√ Recovery of nutrients.
√ Relatively low CAPEX and OPEX.
|
Established
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
Mining
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Ponsa et al., 2017; Wong & Selvam, 2006)
|
x High requirement of stabilizing agents.
x Not applicable in sludge with low content of organic matter.
x Drying requirement.
x Limited by the presence of heavy metals or other persistent contaminants.
|
• Recovery of heavy metals and other pollutants.
• Reduce the reagents requirement.
• Improve nutrient recovery.
• Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving different IWW sludges and a variety of pollutants.
|
Conventional leaching
|
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ Relatively low CAPEX and OPEX.
√ Low energy requirement.
√ Simple and easy-to-operate equipment.
√ Lower water requirement compared to other technologies such as flotation.
|
Established
|
Agrochemical
Batteries
Chemical
Electronics
Metals
Mining
|
(Ghorbani et al., 2016; Veit & Bernardes, 2015)
|
x High environmental impact.
x High solvent requirement.
x Requirement of a post-treatment for the solvent.
|
• New biodegradable solvents, suitable for selective recovery of pollutants.
• New equipment and process design for extraction and recovery.
• Reduce costs.
• Efficient ways to regenerate and reuse absorbents.
• Performance guarantees for commercial operations involving different IWW sludge and solid wastes.
• A better understanding of the process and enhanced physical property database.
|
Bioleaching
|
√ Lower environmental impact compared to conventional absorption technologies.
√ There is a large-scale experience for the recovery of metals but of limited application.
|
Emerging
|
Batteries
Electronics
Metals
Mining
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Johnson, 2018; Mohanty et al., 2018; Veit & Bernardes, 2015)
|
x Despite having large-scale experience, it is not a very widespread technology.
x Removal rate lower than traditional methods.
x High CAPEX and OPEX.
x Slow process compared to traditional methods.
|
• Increase in removal rate.
• Reduce cost.
• Reduce residence times.
• New equipment and process design for extraction and recovery.
• Sulfur-Enhanced Bioleaching.
• Deep In Situ Biomining.
|
Supercritical fluid leaching
|
√ The greater absorption capacity of the solvents since a higher mass transfer rate is achieved.
√ Relatively low operating times.
√ Solvents are easy to recover.
√ There is mitigation in environmental impacts compared to conventional methods.
√ Selective removal/recovery can be achieved.
|
Emerging
|
Batteries
Electronics
Metals
Mining
|
(Knez et al., 2019; Veit & Bernardes, 2015)
|
x Relatively high CAPEX.
x A high level of expertise is required for its design and operation.
x Requirement of high operating pressures, which implies high OPEX.
|
• Research on the use of sub or super-critical water and other unconventional solvents.
• Reduce the temperature in separation processes.
• Reduce pressure requirement.
• New types of reactors.
|
Others synthesis of materials or chemicals
|
√ There are multiple success stories for different types of industrial waste, even on an industrial scale.
√ Mitigation of environmental impacts compared with the final disposal of inorganic sludge.
√ Decrease in the requirements of raw materials from primary sources.
√ Reduction in footprint (In comparison with primary sources).
|
Adaptive Use
|
Agrochemicals
Batteries
Chemicals
Electronics
Plastics
|
(Burlakovs et al., 2018; Elalami et al., 2019)
|
x Implementation is limited by impurity content in the substances recovered from wastewater.
x Limited in terms of treatment and disposal costs compared with raw materials from primary sources.
x Limited depending on the available treatment technology.
x High consumption of chemicals.
x Release of gases.
|
• Improve selectivity in separation processes.
• Reduce costs to make waste valorization feasible.
• From waste to resource development.
|
Thermal drying
|
√ Simple operation.
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ Low operating times.
|
Established
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Chemical
Food
|
(Colón et al., 2017; Ponsa et al., 2017)
|
x High energy requirement.
x High OPEX.
|
• Novel heating approaches
• Residual-heat integration in the industry.
• Reduce energy requirement.
|
Bio drying
|
√ Low or no energy requirement.
√ Low OPEX.
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
|
Emerging
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
|
(Tambone et al., 2011; L. Zhao et al., 2010)
|
x Limited to residues with a high content of organic matter.
x Limited to residues with high moisture content.
x Limited to highly porous residues.
x Residence times greater than thermal drying.
x High land area requirements.
|
• Reduce residence times.
• Reduce land area requirement.
• Study feasibility for different IWW sludges.
|
Solar drying
|
√ Low or No power requirement.
√ Low OPEX.
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
|
Emerging
|
Agriculture
Beverage
Food
|
(Bennamoun, 2012; Kamarulzaman et al., 2021; Mohsin et al., 2011)
|
x Residence times longer than thermal drying.
x High land area requirements.
x Operational limitations.
|
• Reduce residence times.
• Reduce land area requirement.
• Increase efficiency on designs, especially with the enhancement of the solar absorber designs, configurations and material, integration of thermal storage, and applications of different thermos fluids.
|
Cement and construction aggregates production base
|
√ It may imply a significant decrease in energy requirements for cement production.
√ It reduces the requirement of raw materials from primary sources.
√ Reduction in the Carbon footprint (In comparison with other alternatives).
√ It is considered a green construction material.
√ It reduces the need for new landfills.
|
Innovative
|
Construction
Metal
Mining
|
(Bernal et al., 2016; Martínez-Martínez et al., 2020; Papatzani, 2019)
|
x In general, only residues with a high content of lime, silica, alumina, and iron oxide come to be considered viable.
x It could downgrade the quality in terms of mechanical resistance and water adsorption.
x The content of some species may limit the application of waste as a base material in the production of cement or as a construction aggregate.
x The content of metals and other pollutants can be released from the element, implying an environmental impact on the environment.
x It may require pretreatment systems for the removal of contaminants in the waste.
x It is not considered as such a system of use for valuable components since the technology consists of stabilizing and encapsulating the waste.
|
• Recycling industry.
• Specifications and guidelines for industry sludge/wastes.
• Improve the quality of industry sludge/wastes to minimize o even improve the final quality in terms of mechanical resistance and water adsorption.
• Improved the understanding of the performance of waste to aggregates or cement production.
|
Disposal in landfills
|
√ Extensive large-scale experience.
√ Low OPEX.
√ Easy to operate.
√ Easy to deal with sludge/waste.
|
Established
|
Agrochemical
Beverages
Chemical
Food
Medical
Pharmaceutical
Pulp/paper
Tannery
Textile
|
(Blair & Mataraarachchi, 2021; Varjani et al., 2021; Woodard & Curran, 2006c)
|
x It goes against the principles of sustainable development.
x Loss of resources.
x The residue may still require pre-treatment.
x Requirement of specialized landfills.
x Drying requirement.
x Leachates are difficult and expensive to treat.
x Pollutes the soil.
x It could contribute to groundwater pollution and deforestation.
|
• GHG estimation and reduction.
• Leachate treatment.
• Material recovery after closure.
• Control of infiltration.
• Restoration of soil.
|