System Converts Wastewater Solids to Usable Products

In Kissimmee, FL, Bioset, Inc. has completed installation and start-up of a 5,000 lb/hour (dry solids) BIOSET process system at the South Bermuda Water Reclamation Facility. This is the first unit of this type to be installed in Florida.

This process converts wastewater sludge into Class A biosolids (per 40 CFR Part 503). By using the system the Kissimmee plant will reduce processing and transportation costs, while achieving complete recycling by generating two reusable products-a sterile, alkaline soil conditioner and an ammonia nitrogen fertilizer.

The South Bermuda Water Reclamation Facility is owned and operated by the City of Kissimmee. According to Brian Wheeler, director of the treatment division, the city staff evaluated several Class A biosolid stabilization processes. BIOSET was selected because the system was determined to have had the lowest life cycle (20 years) costs of all the alternatives investigated, and produced a by-product that was stable, odor-fee, and amenable to land application.

Professional Engineering Consultants, Inc. of Orlando, provided the engineering and construction observation services for the plant expansion.

Three 2-meter belt filter presses feed the BIOSET process, which incorporates a 36-in. diameter reactor vessel. This process mixes de-watered wastewater solids with lime and a solid acid. The resulting exothermic reaction generates temperatures in excess of 160ºF, destroying pathogens such as salmonella bacteria, enteric viruses and helminth ova. The unique chemistry of the system significantly reduces the biosolids volume.

Permanent and portable, trailer-mounted versions of the system are available. Bioset, Inc., with headquarters in Houston, TX, specializes in developing and marketing new environmental technologies. The firm's primary goal is to find systems that identify, reuse, recycle or reclaim those materials that pose environmental disposal problems. The company can be reached at Tel. 281-893-1474.