Provided are a bacterium for degrading sludge having a 16S rRNA gene comprising a nucleotide sequence having 97% or more identity to the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1, a bacterium having a 16S rRNA gene comprising the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 with mutations of two bases or less, and having an ability to degrade a target microorganism, and a microbial preparation for degrading a target microorganism comprising a bacterium (a1) below. Bacterium (a1) is a bacterium having a 16S rRNA gene comprising a nucleotide sequence having 90% or more identity to the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1.

Disclosed is a method for reducing methane emission from slurry (2) produced in a livestock farm (1). The method comprises the steps of guiding the slurry (2) from the livestock farm (1) to a dewatering unit (12) in which the slurry (2) is at least partially dewatered by extracting a watery fraction of said slurry (13), guiding the slurry from the dewatering unit (12) to a steam dryer (3), drying the slurry in the steam dryer (3), guiding the dried slurry (4) into a pyrolysis reactor (5) to produce pyrolysis gas (6) and biochar (7) through a pyrolysis process in the pyrolysis reactor (5), guiding at least a portion of the pyrolysis gas (6) to a combustion unit (8) in which the pyrolysis gas portion is combusted to raise the temperature of the combusted pyrolysis gas (9), guiding the combusted pyrolysis gas (9) to the pyrolysis reactor (5) to drive the pyrolysis process, guiding the combusted pyrolysis gas (9) from the pyrolysis reactor (5) to the steam dryer (3) to increase the temperature of steam (10) in the steam dryer (3), and heating the watery fraction of the slurry 13 to a temperature at least above 75° Celsius by means of the steam (10) from said steam dryer (3). Furthermore, a slurry treatment plant (20) for reducing methane emission from slurry (2) is disclosed.

A process for treating waste fluid generated during a petrochemical process. The process comprises: subjecting at least one first water-based wastewater stream to at least one freeze concentration stage so as to produce a third clean water stream and a fourth concentrated water-based wastewater stream, subjecting at least one second organic fluid-based waste fluid stream to at least one separation stage so as to produce a fifth purified product stream and a sixth concentrated organic fluid-based waste fluid stream, forwarding the fourth concentrated water-based wastewater stream and the sixth concentrated organic fluid-based waste fluid stream to an incinerator, and incinerating the streams in the incinerator. The process is controlled such that incineration of the sixth concentrated organic fluid-based waste fluid stream generates at least 70% of an energy necessary to incinerate the fourth concentrated water-based wastewater stream.

Methods are provided for treating intimately dispersed mixtures of water, bitumen, and fine clay particles, such as oil sands mature fine tailings (MFT). Select methods use dissolved silicate ions and a base (alkali), optionally in combination with a biopolymer, to flocculate a slurry. A mixing regime is disclosed involving the addition to MFT of silicate ions in solution and alkali, to initiate aggregation/destabilization of clay particles. Methods are exemplified that provide distinct sediment layers in conjunction with the release of residual bitumen (for example 40-50% of the initial bitumen content). In these exemplified embodiments, a densely packed bottom layer containing ˜75 wt. % solids showed high yield stress values (3.5-5.5 kPa) and entrapped little residual bitumen (0.2-0.3 wt. %). The methods accordingly segregate a material suitable for reclamation.

A waste treatment, pyrolysis and gasification and concerns an apparatus for syngas bio-methanation include a unit for pyrolysis/gasification receiving organic material, the unit for pyrolysis/gasification generating syngas, comprising at least one membrane reactor inside a liquid bath comprising at least one bacteria population, the membrane reactor comprising at least one hollow fiber in contact with the liquid bath, around which a biofilm is formed and into which the syngas from the unit for pyrolysis/gasification flows, so as to convert the syngas into methane. A method for bio-methanation of syngas comprising a step of providing syngas from a unit for pyrolysis/gasification to a membrane reactor inside a liquid bath comprising at least one suitable bacteria population, the membrane reactor comprising at least one hollow fiber in contact with the liquid bath, around which a biofilm is formed and into which the output syngas of the unit for pyrolysis flows, so as to convert the syngas into methane.

Provided is a novel carbonization treatment method for carbonizing a biomass material containing a large amount of water at an extremely low temperature, and a method for producing carbonized biomass. A water-containing biomass material is carbonized while maintaining the biomass material under treatment conditions including an oxygen-containing atmosphere and a temperature range of 70° C. or greater and less than 100° C., without a drying step for removing or reducing the water forcibly. At this time, preferably the water content (percentage) of the biomass material at the start of carbonization while maintained under the treatment conditions is within a range of 40 to 80% inclusive, and preferably the biomass material is thus maintained for two weeks or longer. Further, as the biomass material, one material or a mixture of two or more materials selected from waste biomass materials and plant (cultivated crop) biomass materials such as food waste, livestock excrement, agricultural waste, marine waste, and forest waste, can be applied.

The invention provides a system for pyrolysis, comprising: (i) a gas producer comprising a gasification zone and a producer gas outlet, wherein the gas producer is configured to: oxidise at least one carbon-containing feed in the presence of an oxidising gas in the gasification zone to form a producer gas; and discharge the producer gas from the gasification zone via the producer gas outlet, wherein a residual oxygen content of the producer gas is substantially depleted or maintained below a maximum predetermined amount by controlling a ratio of oxygen fed to the gasification zone to the carbon-containing feed, (ii) a pyrolyzer comprising a pyrolysis zone and one or more pyrolyzer gas outlets, wherein the pyrolyzer is configured to: feed the producer gas discharged from the gasification zone to the pyrolysis zone; pyrolyze a pyrolyzable organic feed in the pyrolysis zone in the presence of the producer gas to produce a carbonaceous pyrolysis product and a gas mixture comprising combustible components comprising pyrolysis gas; and discharge the gas mixture from the pyrolysis zone via the one or more pyrolyzer gas outlets, and (iii) a first combustor comprising a combustion zone, wherein the first combustor is configured to: receive the gas mixture discharged from the pyrolysis zone in the combustion zone; feed an oxygen-containing gas to the combustion zone; and combust at least a portion of the combustible components present in the gas mixture in the combustion zone to produce a combustion product gas.

To treat organic sludge while keeping facility costs, cement production efficiency, and a reduction in clinker production amount to a minimum. An organic sludge treatment device includes: a fractionation device 7 that fractionates a preheated raw material R2 from a preheater cyclone 4C excluding a bottommost cyclone of a cement burning device 1; a mixing device 8 that mixes an organic sludge S with the fractionated preheated raw material, and that dries the organic sludge using sensible heat of the preheated raw material; and a supply device (mixture chute 12, double-flap damper 13, shut damper 14) that supplies a mixture M from the mixing device to a calciner furnace 5 of the cement burning device or to a duct disposed between a kiln inlet portion of a cement kiln 2 and the calciner furnace. The treatment device may be provided with an introduction device for introducing an exhaust gas G2 including dust, odor and water vapor from the mixing device to a gas outlet of a bottommost cyclone 4A of the cement burning device.

Systems and methods for disposing of blackwater are disclosed. A first vessel contains a screw running through the vessel from a first end to a second end. The screw is surrounded radially by a filter. The first vessel has a blackwater inlet adjacent the first end. An extrusion plate is adjacent the second end of the first vessel. A combustor vessel is configured to receive a solids component from the extrusion plate. A blackwater stream, consisting of a liquid component and the solids component, is passed through the blackwater inlet into the first vessel, is conveyed by the screw from the first end to the second end, and is pressurized against the extrusion plate. The liquid component is thereby forced from the blackwater stream through the filter and the solids component is forced through the extrusion plate into the combustor. The combustor is configured to combust the solids component.

A method for incinerating organic matter derived from the treatment of wastewater, or of industrial or agricultural waste, such as sludge and notably treatment plant sludge, is in a fluidized-bed incineration furnace, the furnace including a chamber in the lower part of which there is a bed of particles, preferentially sand, constituting a fluidization zone, in which fluidization zone the organic matter is introduced as fuel whilst air is injected as oxidizer into the bed of sand from a wind box through a fluidization dome surmounting the box. The air passes through passages made in the fluidization dome, and the furnace is configured to treat a nominal value of volume of organic matter to be treated. The method includes a step of adjusting the volume of the fluidization zone as a function of the volume of organic matter to be treated in which, when the volume of organic matter to be treated is lower than the nominal value, the volume of the fluidization zone is reduced from an initial volume to a reduced volume, and the incoming air flow is reduced by closing air passages so only the passages opening into the thus reduced fluidization zone are left active.