# Thermal hydrolysis

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Thermal Hydrolysis Plant in Cardiff, Wales, UK

**Thermal hydrolysis** is a process used for treating [industrial waste](/source/Industrial_waste), [municipal solid waste](/source/Municipal_solid_waste) and [sewage sludge](/source/Sewage_sludge) by applying heat and rapid lowering of pressure. It is used to sterilize the waste stream and produce fertilizer, [biogas](/source/Biogas), and other useful products. It was first deployed in 1996.

## Description

Thermal hydrolysis is a two-stage process combining high-pressure boiling of [waste](/source/Waste) or [sludge](/source/Sludge) followed by a rapid decompression. This combined action sterilizes the sludge and makes it more [biodegradable](/source/Biodegradable), which improves digestion performance. Sterilization destroys pathogens in the sludge resulting in it exceeding the stringent requirements for land application (agriculture).[1]

In addition, the treatment adjusts the [rheology](/source/Rheology) to such an extent that loading rates to sludge [anaerobic digesters](/source/Anaerobic_digesters) can be doubled, and also dewaterability of the sludge is significantly improved.[2][3] The first full-scale application of this process for sewage sludge was installed in [Hamar](/source/Hamar), Norway in 1996. Since then, there have been over 30 additional installations globally.[1]

Thermal hydrolysis reactors at Blue Plains in 2016.

## Commercial application at a sewage treatment plant

[Sewage treatment plants](/source/Sewage_treatment_plant), such as [Blue Plains](/source/Blue_Plains_Advanced_Wastewater_Treatment_Plant) in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), USA, have adopted thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge in order to produce commercially valuable products (such as electricity and high quality biosolid fertilizers) out of the [wastewater](/source/Wastewater).[4] The full-scale commercial application of thermal hydrolysis enables the plant to utilize the solids portion of the wastewater to make power and fine fertilizer directly from sewage waste.[5]

## Municipal waste-to-fuel application

The city of [Oslo](/source/Oslo), Norway installed a system for converting domestic [food waste](/source/Food_waste) to fuel in 2012. A thermal hydrolysis system produces [biogas](/source/Biogas) from the food waste, which provides fuel for the city bus system and is also used for agricultural fertilizer.[6]

## 30 largest thermal hydrolysis plants

Plant Capacity (TDS/A)* Commission Year Thermal Hydrolysis Supplier Blue Plains, Washington DC, USA 135,000 2014 Cambi Gaoantun, Beijing, China 134,000 2017 Cambi Gaobeidian, Beijing, China 99,100 2016 Cambi Minworth, Birmingham, UK 91,250 2018 Cambi Davyhulme, Manchester, UK 91,000 2013 Cambi Huaifang, Beijing, China 89,100 2017 Cambi Xiaohongmen, Beijing, China 65,700 2016 Cambi Qinghe II, Beijing, China 59,500 2017 Cambi Crossness, London, UK 58,500 2018 Cambi Ringsend, Dublin, Ireland 56,000 2002 Cambi Howdon, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK 40,000 2010 Cambi Riverside, London, UK 40,000 2009 Cambi Tees Valley, UK 37,000 2008 Cambi Seafield, Edinburgh UK 36,500 2015 Cambi[7] Beckton, London, UK 36,500 2013 Cambi Cardiff, UK 30,000 2009 Cambi Tilburg, Netherlands 29,000 2014 Cambi Esholt, Yorkshire, UK 26,400 2013 Veolia Santiago, Chile 25,000 2010 Cambi Oxford, UK 24,400 2010 Veolia Vilnius, Lithuania 23,000 2010 Cambi Whitlingham, Norwich, UK 23,000 2008 Cambi Vigo, Spain 22,000 2014 Cambi Afan, UK 20,000 2009 Cambi Bruxelles Nord, Belgium 20,000 2007 Cambi Cotton Valley, Milton Keynes, UK 20,000 2007 Cambi NOSES, Aberdeen, UK 16,500 2001 Cambi Lille, France 16,400 2013 Veolia EGE Waste Treatment, Oslo, Norway 15,000 2012 Cambi Turku, Finland 14,000 2009 Cambi Apeldoorn, Netherlands 13,000 2015 Sustec Oxley Creek, Brisbane, Australia 12,900 2006 Cambi

* Tons of Dry Solids/Year

## See also

- [List of waste-water treatment technologies](/source/List_of_waste-water_treatment_technologies)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-WaterWorld_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-WaterWorld_1-1) Barber, Bill; Lancaster, Rick; Kleiven, Harald (2012-09-01). ["Thermal Hydrolysis: The Missing Ingredient for Better Biosolids?"](http://www.waterworld.com/articles/wwi/print/volume-27/issue-4/editorial-focus/slidge-processing-biosolids/thermal-hydrolysis-the-missing-ingredient.html). *Water World*. **27** (4). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20161014020522/http://www.waterworld.com/articles/wwi/print/volume-27/issue-4/editorial-focus/slidge-processing-biosolids/thermal-hydrolysis-the-missing-ingredient.html) from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-JHazMat_2-0)** Neyens, Elisabeth; Baeyens, Jan (2003). "A review of thermal sludge pre-treatment processes to improve dewaterability". *Journal of Hazardous Materials*. **B98** (1–3): 51–57. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2003JHzM...98...51N](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003JHzM...98...51N). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/S0304-3894(02)00320-5](https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0304-3894%2802%2900320-5). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [12628777](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12628777).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-WaterResearch_3-0)** Skinner, Samuel; Studer, Lindsay; Dixon, David; Hillis, Peter; Rees, Catherine; Wall, Rachael; Cavalida, Raul; Usher, Shane; Stickland, Anthony; Scales, Peter (2015). ["Quantification of wastewater sludge dewatering"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277133349). *Water Research*. **82**: 2–13. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2015WatRe..82....2S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015WatRe..82....2S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.watres.2015.04.045](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.watres.2015.04.045). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [26003332](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26003332). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211009203511/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277133349_Quantification_of_wastewater_sludge_dewatering) from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2017-02-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-DC_Water_4-0)** Halsey, Ashley (2014-04-05). ["DC Water adopts Norway's Cambi system for making power and fine fertilizer from sewage"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/dc-water-adopts-norways-cambi-system-for-turning-sewage-into-electricity-and-fertilizer/2014/04/05/3d456d7e-a642-11e3-9cff-b1406de784f0_story.html). *The Washington Post*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140412231537/http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/dc-water-adopts-norways-cambi-system-for-turning-sewage-into-electricity-and-fertilizer/2014/04/05/3d456d7e-a642-11e3-9cff-b1406de784f0_story.html) from the original on 2014-04-12. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-From_toilet_to_turbine_5-0)** Berkowitz, Bonnie; Lindeman, Todd (2014-04-05). ["From Toilet to Turbine"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/from-toilet-to-turbine/2014/04/05/9dc0e49e-bd26-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_graphic.html). *The Washington Post*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160313071007/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/from-toilet-to-turbine/2014/04/05/9dc0e49e-bd26-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_graphic.html) from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Oslo_Biogas_6-0)** ["Food Waste to Fuel Oslo's City Buses"](http://ens-newswire.com/2012/03/23/food-waste-to-fuel-oslos-city-buses/). *Environment News Service* (Press release). Lincoln City, OR. 2012-03-23. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140709002913/http://ens-newswire.com/2012/03/23/food-waste-to-fuel-oslos-city-buses/) from the original on 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [https://www.cambi.com/references/plants/europe/united-kingdom/edinburgh-seafield/](https://www.cambi.com/references/plants/europe/united-kingdom/edinburgh-seafield/) [*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

## Further reading

- Kline, Michele; Gurieff, Nicholas; Bruus, Jacob (2011-04-01). ["Thermal Hydrolysis System Helps Increase Biogas Production"](http://www.waterworld.com/articles/2011/04/thermal-hydrolysis-system-helps-increase-biogas-production.html). *Water World*. PennWell Publishing. Retrieved 24 May 2014.

## External links

- Media related to [Thermal hydrolysis](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Thermal_hydrolysis) at Wikimedia Commons

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thermal hydrolysis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_hydrolysis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_hydrolysis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.