The agricultural application of biosolids is likely to remain a major beneficial use option. The major risk is the presence of odour, heavy metals, micro-plastics, emerging contaminants, drugs and pesticides that pose a risk to adoption. Also, biosolids are bulky in nature, have very high moisture content and are difficult to dewater.

Research is needed to reduce the (currently) high transportation costs, high diesel consumption, and related carbon dioxide emissions. Industries are actively looking for alternative technologies that can reduce biosolid volume as well minimise/eliminate undesirable characteristics.

The project will focus on:

1. Developing low cost, innovative biological and additive drying, hydrolysis and pyrolysis technologies with/without blending with other organic food or meat industry waste streams, and
2. Characterising and determining transformations that occur during biological and additive drying, hydrolysis and pyrolysis in the inert fractions contributed from both primary and activated sludges, with an aim to produce high quality next generation products for agriculture applications.

The ICPD working on this project will perform experimental investigations and detailed techno-economic comparison of biological and additive drying, hydrolysis and pyrolysis technologies.