January 12, 2024: A recent article by Hazen & Sawyer goes in-depth into the current state of gasification and pyrolysis technologies in municipal biosolids management. At the forefront of emerging gasification technologies is Earthcare’s Bethel, PA facility with a biosolids processing capacity of 200 wet tons per day (WPTD). The article concludes that gasification and pyrolysis technologies now appear to be at the top of the list for water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) as they tackle this challenging issue based on the following:

• PFAS Destruction Potential – current studies are showing that biochar-derived biosolids (BDB) contain no detectable PFAS
• Cost Efficiency – gasification & pyrolysis is very capital cost competitive compared to other alternatives while yielding a much lower annual O&M cost
• End Use Product – while the market for nonbiosolids biochar is both well-established and growing, the market for BDB is still developing.  However, compared to other biosolids management outputs, BDB ranks the highest among other end products including SSI ash, dried products from digested and undigested, Class A and B cake and compost
• GHG Emissions – biosolids management projects that convert feedstocks to biochar provide significant footprint reduction through fossil fuel offsets and sequestration of carbon