Full-scale municipal sludge pyrolysis in China: Design fundamentals, environmental and economic assessments, and future perspectives

The increasing amount of municipal sludge in China requires safe and effective management to protect human health ensure environmental sustainability. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process that decomposes organic matter at elevated temperature under anaerobic conditions, it has attracted an attention treatment the recent years. However, comprehensive economic assessment pyrolysis China's context rare, due small quantities full-scale plant. In this paper, we applied our design operation parameters plants generate material energy consumptions system various including content moisture content, size, distribution, whether or not heat substitution applied. Life cycle techno-economic were then investigate performance system. Our results demonstrate significant impacts associated with properties size. Generally, higher lower less natural gas consumption, which leads simultaneous improvement performance. more sensitive centralized handling using larger favorable. most ideal case, average global warming potential minimum price could be as low −32.5 kg CO2-Eq/t DS 188.8 $/t DS, respectively. Based on these results, discussed pathways taken further optimize performances