Lara Abrams Communications

Solar Drying - From Thermo-System.com

Wednesday, April 26th, 2006

Well, this is interesting. Thanks Treehugger for the tip. I did a note about a year ago on the Pulverizing Air Dryer, another company’s attempt to help clean up sludge of all kinds - and here is another interesting technology. 

THERMO-SYSTEM INDUSTRIE- & TROCKNUNGSTECHNIK GMBH (THS) was founded in 1997 at the University of Hohenheim.  Focused on solar low temperature drying, THS has earned international recognition in the field of solar drying of sewage sludge and timber. 

The patented THERMO-SYSTEM process for drying of sewage sludge cites favorable investment costs and low operating costs, and, depending on the type of plant, it is possible to process liquid and dewatered sludge. The technology of the company notes, is suitable for small municipalities (~ 500 PE) as well as for cities with over 300,000 PE.

And it’s really pretty fascinating…the company has developed an "Electric Mole" - made of stainless steel, that takes on the task of turning the sludge to help it airate, enabling it to dry more quickly and keeping odor to a minimum.  The turning intervals have to be adapted to the drying progress and climatic conditions, but with the electric mole, a community could effectively leverage solar low temperature drying to dispose of sludge.

 

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