Manure directly from the fireplace
Sludge from drains and wells is seen by many researchers as an environmental threat as it contains high levels of heavy metals and microplastics. At the same time, sludge contains a large proportion of phosphorus, which is an important building block for artificial fertilizers. Through incineration, phosphorus can be separated from the heavy metals while some energy recovery takes place during the incineration.
This project demonstrated that by using different proportions of sludge and biomaterials in the energy recovery, the ash contained a higher amount of plant-available, potassium-containing phosphates.
In the project, SEM and EDS under low vacuum together with XRD were used to define the phases through morphology and substance content.
The project was financed by VR, Formas, the Swedish Energy Agency, Interreg and Bio4Energy.

Backscattered SEM images of carbon residues from burning poplar and bark.
Articles
Read more in the following publications:
- Studies of ash transformation processes in thermochemical co-conversion of phosphorus-rich manure and sludge with biomass residues
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- Ash transformation in thermochemical conversion of different biomass resources with special focus on phosphorus
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