Turbotec®
Water treatment and resource recovery
Thermal hydrolysis process
The thermal hydrolysis process (THP) has proven to be a valuable addition to optimize anaerobic digestion. This technology enhances the performance of the anaerobic digester and increases the capacity of the digester and the production of biogas. The process is gaining worldwide interest because of its multiple benefits.
In the the TurboTec® thermal hydrolysis process material is fed into a reactor on an elevated temperature. Sludge cells adhesion (flocs) and cell wall structures are disintegrated due to rapid temperature increase, high-temperature reacting time and (rapid) temperature decrease. All three factors have an impact on the disintegration efficiency. THP as pretreatment for the AD commonly improves the final dewaterability from about 20% dry solids (DS) to about 30% DS. Due to the disintegration, organic matter degradation is improved from around 30% to 50%. When applying THP to primary sludge, organic matter degradation can be improved from 55% to 60%.
Multiple advantages are linked to our continuous systems, of which the main two being lower in investment cost, as well as being able to operate on lower temperatures (140°C) while maintaining similar energy recovery efficiencies. This is an advantage because the higher temperature causes an increase in organic nitrogen and COD in the liquid phase. DMT has been developing resource recovery solutions since 2008 giving the company an operating experience of more than 10 years.
