To provide more context, I'm an environmental engineer with a passion for resource recovery from wastes. I designed and built small-scale UASB-septic tank digesters in Panama, and I now focus on container-based household toilet service for areas with no piped water, sewer, or roads. That project is funded by a GCE grant from the Gates foundation, and we post our progress on our website, re.source . We aren't currently working on energy production from our collected waste, this is just to provide some background on who I am and who I work with.

As part of my PhD studies, I'm always on the lookout for promising ways to recover value from waste. The link I posted is for Waste Enterprisers, a start-up that makes a business out of resource recovery. Their initial efforts focused on aquaculture, but now they focus on fecal-sludge-to-fuel. I find their "news" page most interesting, as it provides greater insight into the process and struggles they face with this concept.

Dear Atul,

I don't know if you already looked at the materials from the recent FSM-2 conference in Durban. On the last day in Session A8 and B8 there were some presentations that might answer some of your questions about drying and treatment with other wastes, e.g. use in cement plants (if you have more specific questions please come back and we could contact the presenters for answers).

See here:
www.susana.org/lang-en/conference-and-tr...conferences/781-fsm2

Namely:
Market demand for FS treatment endproducts in Kampala, Accra, and Dakar
Makerere University / SANDEC
Uganda
Semiyaga, Swaib

Fuel Potential of Faecal Sludge - Calorific Value Results from Uganda, Ghana, and Senegal
Makerere University / SANDEC
Kampala
Nakato, Teddy

From Waste to Resource - Research on FS Drying Beds in Dakar, Senegal (DAR - De Dechets à Resources)
University of Dakar / SANDEC
Senegal
Niang, Seydou

(all presentations are available on the link above; and this link leads you to the conference papers:
susana.org/lang-en/library?view=ccbktypeitem&type=2&id=1624)

Does this help in any way?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Hey Atul,

Burning as biomass shows interesting promise. Look at Waste Enterprisers' work in developing systems to dry the waste and sell it as fuel for cement kilns.

Hello,
did you see this topic?
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/53-fae...i-durban?limit=12&st

They aim to agricultural reuse, but could be used for your purpose as well I guess.

Christoph

Dear All,
The major issue with FS treatment as we see is its handling and transportation besides the technological appropriateness. FS if could be made easier to handle then several options might be available technologically too.

There is another opportunity of treating it is with other industry wastes or processes. For example, burning FS in rotary kilns of cement plants or incienrating it with other hazardous wastes.

Would be interested to hear from the group on its experiences in any of these areas or similar effort carried out elsewhere.

Regards,

---

Atul Sanghal
Head, Carbon Advisory Business

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