Severn Trent’s Thermal Hydrolysis Plant (THP), a £60m scheme, has become operational with a capability of processing 100t of sewage sludge daily.
The scheme generates green power and aims to advance the process efficiently, thereby increasing the production of clean energy by almost a third.
With more than half of the plant currently being operational, the company, which has eight million customers across the Midlands and mid-Wales, expects it to be completely operational by the summer end.
The Minworth location is already generating enough clean electricity to supply 11,000 homes and enough gas to heat 4,800 homes every year and is set to amplify the supply with THP coming online.
Severn Trent project leader David Nyul said: “It’s really exciting to see this cutting edge technology starting to become operational.
“This has been a huge investment for us and this innovative tech means that we’ll be generating more green power than ever before at Minworth. We have significant expertise in anaerobic digestion and THP is the next step to make the process even more efficient in the future.”
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By GlobalDataThe process heats the sludge to 170°C before putting it under pressure. This sterilises and breaks down the cell structure of the bacteria in the sludge. The sludge is fed into digesters and the volatile solid particles further get biodegraded to produce bio-gas.
This processed sludge is then dewatered where it is solidified enough to be recycled as fertiliser, which could be utilised later for agricultural purposes. This is an additional benefit of the thermal hydrolysis process.
David continued: “Minworth is our biggest sewage works and treats waste water from more than 1.6 million homes and businesses across Birmingham and the Black Country. The technology we have already generates both power for use in the works and gas for injection into the national grid.
“The bio-gas we create through this process will both be used to generate electricity and to be treated at our gas to grid plant on site to make it suitable for domestic use before being injected into the grid where it will be used by local homes and businesses.
“The new THP will increase our generation which is good for Severn Trent, for our customers and for the environment.”
Severn Trent expects to reduce costs and help its customers reduce their bills.
