Pathogenic waste treatment
AssigneeHondo Chemical, Inc.
InventorsEdwin C. Angell, Jess Karr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Solid waste such as sewage sludge containing fecal matter is processed to reduce pathogens by at least 90% and converted to a useful product such as an amendment to agricultural land by combining the waste with an acid such as concentrated sulfuric and a base such as fly ash which exothermically react and thermally pasteurize the waste and add mineral value to the product. Pozzolanic materials, such as fly ash agglomerate the product and after grinding, the particles can aerate soil. The calcium oxide in fly ash reacts with sulfuric acid to form calcium sulfate dihydrate, a soil amendment. The amount of sulfuric acid can be controlled to provide a product with acid pH which is useful to neutralize alkaline soils such as those found in the Western United States of America.
Claims29
A method of disinfecting pathogen-containing solid waste selected from the group consisting of sewage sludge, septage, manure and water treatment plant residuals comprising the steps of:
- combining the waste with a strong acid having a concentration of at least 25% by weight and with a strong base in an insulated reaction vessel to form a reaction mixture having a pH below 7;
- and
- exothermically reacting the acid with the base in said vessel in the presence of the waste to heat said reaction mixture to a temperature of at least 70 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes and reacting said waste with said acid and said base to disinfect at least 90 percent of said pathogens and form a reaction product having a pH below 7 comprising the residue of said disinfected waste and the salt of said acid and said base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.