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Methodology for technical and economic assessment of advanced routes for sludge processing and disposal

  • Effective management of sewage sludge
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Abstract

In order to meet the environmental legislative framework in force in Europe and reduce sludge processing and disposal costs, several sludge treatment technologies and management strategies have been proposed in the last two decades. The evaluation of their technical and economic suitability, case by case, may be a challenge, since many aspects are involved, so that a robust decision support system should be used. Within the ROUTES project (founded within the EU Seventh Framework Programme), the authors have developed an assessment procedure which allows rating several technical factors (such as system reliability, complexity, safety aspects, modularity, etc.) and estimating capital and operating costs, in case a plant is being upgraded. The comparison between the original (reference) plant and the modified configuration informs about technical hot spots (which are expressed by a traffic light-type colour code) and cost gaps resulting from the implementation of the new solution.

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Acknowledgments

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 265156.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Giorgio Bertanza & Matteo Canato

  2. CNR - Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque, viale De Blasio 5, 70132, Bari, Italy

    Giuseppe Laera

  3. CNR - Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque, via Salaria km 29.300 C.P. 10, Monterotondo Stazione, 00015, Rome, Italy

    Maria Concetta Tomei

Authors
  1. Giorgio Bertanza
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  2. Matteo Canato
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  3. Giuseppe Laera
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  4. Maria Concetta Tomei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giorgio Bertanza.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Bertanza, G., Canato, M., Laera, G. et al. Methodology for technical and economic assessment of advanced routes for sludge processing and disposal. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 7190–7202 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3088-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3088-0

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