Sludge Watch ==> Greek PM visits sludge dryer plant - biomass energy installation

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

THose of you who have been reading Sludge Watch for a while will remember 
the scandalous stink in the Greek sludge landfill. Then they decided to send 
the sludge to the Sudan for land application and caused an international 
stink.

Now the sludge landfill is being equiped with a sludge dryer biomass energy 
plant.
Austrian company is taking credit ... see below.

Stay tuned

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PM and environment minister visit Psyttalia sewage works

06/07/2007

   Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Thursday paid a visit to a new 
sludge-drying plant that recently went into operation at the sewage works on 
Psyttalia, an islet in the Saronic Gulf, accompanied by Environment, Town 
Planning and Public Works Minister George Souflias.



    The prime minister stressed that, with the Psyttalia drying plant, the 
sewage sludge management problem was being solved in the most appropriate, 
scientific way. Sewage sludge produced from waste collected all over the 
Attika basin had been accumulating on the islet of Psyttalia because the 
sewage works did not include a drying plant, creating fears that the 
partly-treated sludge would destabilize and contaminate the surrounding sea.



    Karamanlis stressed that the government had now met its commitment to 
solve the problem within just three years.



    Referring to environmental protection issues, the prime minister 
stressed that the environment is a major challenge that the present 
generation is being called on to tackle with a sense of responsibility, 
realizing the gravity of the situation.



    The efforts aimed at protecting the environment should be a year-round 
effort and not be limited to empty words and statements on each World 
Environment Day, stressed Karamanlis. Environmental planning and government 
action was aimed at protecting biodiversity, rational management of water 
resources, promotion of renewable energy sources and 
environmentally-friendly management of waste, he added.



    On his part, Souflias stressed that the new plant solved a 15-year-long 
problem for the people of Attika and the neighboring municipalities. Back in 
2004, the government inherited an unacceptable and dead-end situation with a 
daily production of 500 tons of sewage sludge, 150 thousand tons of 
accumulated sewage sludge, no chance of transporting it elsewhere and no 
drying plant, he stressed.



    An ecological disaster in the Saronic Gulf has been averted, underlined 
Souflias, adding that the permanent solution to the problem became a 
priority for the ministry of environment. He also referred to projects 
materialized in the past three years aimed at harmonizing Greece with the 
relevant EU legislation.



    The trial operation of the plant was launched on June 1. Initially, only 
two of the four drying lines will be in operation and by the end of June 
they will be processing 500 tons of sewage sludge daily, equal to the daily 
production of sewage sludge in the region of Attika.

    The other two drying lines will be put in operation in early July, 
raising the plant’s sewage sludge drying capacity to over 750 tons daily, 
while the goal set for the next 6 months is to permanently solve the problem 
of the 150 thousand tons of accumulated sewage sludge.


    Antonaros on PM’s visit, Psyttalia plant


    Questioned about the prime minister’s visit during the regular press 
briefing, alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros cited a 
statement by Souflias that an environmental crime had been committed at 
Psyttalia.

    The minister had stressed that the drying plant should have been 
constructed in 1995, when the sewage treatment plant first went into 
operation and began producing 250 tons of sewage sludge each day.



    Souflias had also related how the project had been included in EU 
funding programmes in 2000 but had failed to materialize - in spite of six 
supplementary contracts that pushed the total cost up to 202 million euros 
instead of the original 128 million euros - so that Greece was penalized by 
the European Commission in 2003 with the loss of 30 million euros in EU 
funding.

    Questioned about the fact that reporters had only been notified about 
the visit at 6:00 on Thursday, Antonaros said only that the Prime Minister 
makes public appearances and all journalists are welcome.


...........................

03.05.2006

Andritz to supply sewage sludge drying system for Athens, Greece

International Technology Group Andritz received an order from the general 
contractor J/V Actor Athena (joint venture of of the companies Actor S.A. 
and Athena S.A.) for supply of a drum drying system (DDS) for the sewage 
treatment plant of the city of Athens, located on the island of Psyttalia.  
Total order value is approx. 10 MEUR.


After its start-up, which is scheduled for in the middle of 2007, the plant 
will provide the largest sewage-sludge drying capacity in all of Europe.


The sludge from the sewage treatment system is dewatered and then fed to 
four drum drying lines with an evaporation capacity of 10,000 kg of water 
per hour and line.  The plant is designed for the treatment of approximately 
350,000 tons of sewage sludge per year.  The final product, granulate of 90% 
dryness, is to be used as high-energy fuel.  In the final stage, heating of 
the plant is almost exclusively done with off-heat from a gas-turbine and 
the biogas produced in the sewage system.


The offgas from the drying system is treated in a thermal post-treatment 
station, where odours and harmful substances are removed.  This solves the 
current odour problem of the sewage system, which is caused by the sewage 
sludge being deposited in landfills.


-End-


Contact:
Dr. Michael Buchbauer
T: +43 316 6902-2979
michael.buchbauer at andritz.com
http://www.andritz.com/ANONIDZ0ADA85AC053D26D9/ep-news?count=3&id=37144