With Bavaria's Environment Minister Glauber on site – Erlangen WWTP commissions HUBER Belt Dryer BT 16

On Wednesday, 26 April 2023, the new sewage sludge drying plant was commissioned at Erlangen WWTP. The heart of the plant is a HUBER Belt Dryer BT 16, which will reduce the amount of sewage sludge to be processed by about 70 % in the future.

In their speeches, Bavarian Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber and Dr. Florian Janik, Mayor of the City of Erlangen, emphasised the “pioneering work” being done in Erlangen on one of the most modern sewage treatment plants in Europe.

70 percent less sewage sludge, 1,200 tons CO₂ savings

In the future, approx. 15,700 t/a of sewage sludge will be dried to ≥ 90 % dry residue (DR) in the HUBER Belt Dryer BT 16. The amount of sewage sludge to be processed in the sewage treatment plant will thus be reduced by about 70 %. In particular, the elimination of truck transports can save about 1,200 t of CO₂ annually. In case the dried sewage sludge is then thermally treated, almost 920,000 m³ of natural gas can also be saved per year.

Environment Minister Glauber: “showcase project, top engineering and high-tech”

”The Erlangen sewage treatment plant is one of the most modern sewage treatment plants in Europe,” said Bavarian Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber in his speech before the official commissioning: ”It is a showcase project and stands for the highest art of engineering. The modern sewage treatment plant combines water protection with the challenges of energy transition and climate protection. The new drying plant is pure high-tech. Less sewage sludge means fewer lorry transports. This means less CO₂ and less noise. The Erlangen sewage treatment plant is exemplary: only those who invest stay ahead.”

CO₂-neutral operation of the belt dryer

In addition, the dried sewage sludge can be regionally utilised as a substitute fuel because its calorific value is comparable to that of lignite. The sewage treatment plant has already been energy self-sufficient since 2019: the exclusively regenerative energy generation is significantly higher than the energy demand of the sewage treatment plant. The new belt dryer can also be operated in a CO₂-neutral manner. The thermal energy demand of the drying plant is ensured 100% by regenerative energy from the combined heat and power of the sewage treatment plant as well as from a combination of photovoltaic systems and heat recovery using high-temperature heat pumps.

Scope of delivery: HUBER belt dryer and entire “periphery”.

The scope of supply includes the HUBER Belt Dryer BT 16 and all peripherals, consisting of, among others, a HUBER Screw Conveyor Ro8 T, seven sludge conveyors and a thick sludge pump. Also included are the exhaust air treatment, two biofilters and two chimneys, the chemical handling including receiving and filling cabinets, four chemical storage tanks, six dosing cabinets and double piping, the steel and piping construction, a bucket elevator and the control system.

City of Erlangen has invested around 100 million euros in 20 years

The city of Erlangen invests a large financial amount in the future viability of its sewage treatment plant – about 100 million euros in the last 20 years. In 2012, the city had already been awarded a special prize for future-oriented concepts for the sewage treatment plant as part of the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment's Wastewater Innovation Prize.