28. April 2022
Koblenz
Pioneer in energy self-sufficiency and sustainable phosphorus use
KOPF SynGas plant at Koblenz large sewage treatment plant handed over to municipal waterworks
On 28 April 2022, the KOPF SynGas plant with CHP module was officially handed over at the second-largest municipal sewage treatment plant in Rhineland-Palatinate. The power plant, which generates electrical energy from dried sewage sludge, is maintained by Kopf SynGas GmbH & Co. KG and operated for the municipal sewage treatment plant.
The handover is a significant milestone for the ‘SusTreat’ pilot project of Stadtentwässerung Koblenz, which is funded by the EU’s ‘LIFE+’ programme. When it was presented in 2012, Margit Conrad, former Minister for the Environment in the Rhineland-Palatinate state government, identified this project as a Europe-wide ‘lighthouse’ project in terms of energy efficiency. ‘The aim was to achieve sustainability at all levels and to generate energy independently,’ explains Bernhard Mohrs, plant manager at Koblenz Municipal Wastewater Treatment.
In order to supply the large wastewater treatment plant as self-sufficiently as possible, the operator relies on the high energy content of the dried sewage sludge and the innovative KOPF SynGas process. Koblenz Municipal Wastewater Treatment and the other project participants are playing a pioneering role in this regard. They are demonstrating that sustainability and resource conservation can be achieved at all levels. At the same time, they are meeting the legal requirements and specifications in the areas of energy saving, CO2 minimisation and phosphorus recovery.
As a fundamental component of the ‘SusTreat’ pilot project funded by the EU’s ‘LIFE+’ programme, SÜLZLE KOPF SynGas’s thermal sewage sludge utilisation has been making a significant contribution since 2020 towards achieving complete energy self-sufficiency for the entire large-scale sewage treatment plant in Koblenz.
‘We are very satisfied with the performance and emission values of the KOPF SynGas plant,’ says Joachim Hölle, authorised signatory at Sweco GmbH in Stuttgart, which has been supporting the innovation project from the outset as a planning partner for the city of Koblenz. Björn van Deest, managing director of SÜLZLE KOPF SynGas, sums up on the day of the official handover: ‘The energy potential of the sewage sludge is fully exploited, enabling the resource to be used in a modern way. In this way, we are making a local contribution to the decarbonisation of municipal energy consumers – without environmentally harmful transport and at a calculable price.’
The innovative technology from SÜLZLE KOPF SynGas has proven to be particularly advantageous in this regard: thanks to the compact design of the plant, the module for thermal sludge utilisation could be installed directly on the sewage treatment plant site in Koblenz and integrated into the existing network. “In addition, the process allows the energy bound in the sewage sludge to be converted particularly efficiently. To do this, we convert the synthetic gas produced into electrical energy in a highly efficient CHP plant,” emphasises Dr Alexander Neagos, also managing director of SÜLZLE KOPF SynGas, a joint venture between the two medium-sized groups SÜLZLE from Rosenfeld and AVAT Automation from Tübingen.
State-of-the-art process control technology makes it easier for the operator to monitor and control the plant. This has also minimised the amount of time plant personnel need to be present. The phosphorus contained in the sewage sludge is removed via the SynGas ash produced during thermal recycling. This can then be used, for example, as an additive in the fertiliser industry. In this way, the vital raw material phosphorus is returned to the environment without polluting it, closing the material cycle.
The flexible, future-proof process of sewage sludge recycling will also be in focus at this year’s IFAT, the world’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management in Munich. Climate-friendly sludge treatment from a single source: SÜLZLE KOPF SynGas and SÜLZLE KLEIN cover the entire process of thickening, dewatering, drying, sewage sludge recycling and energy recovery, as well as pollutant elimination. In addition, visitors to the SÜLZLE stand 221/320 in Hall A2 will be able to immerse themselves virtually in the world of drying and thermal sewage sludge recycling with VR glasses for the first time.
