ABSTRACT
Poor sanitation is one of the major hindrances to the global sustainable development goals. The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is set to develop affordable, next-generation sanitary systems that can ensure safe treatment and wide accessibility without compromise on sustainable use of natural resources and the environment. Energy recovery from human excreta is likely to be a cornerstone of future sustainable sanitary systems. Faeces combustion was investigated using a bench-scale downdraft combustor test rig, alongside with wood biomass and simulant faeces. Parameters such as air flow rate, fuel pellet size, bed height, and fuel ignition mode were varied to establish the combustion operating range of the test rig and the optimum conditions for converting the faecal biomass to energy. The experimental results show that the dry human faeces had a higher energy content (â¼25 MJ/kg) than wood biomass. At equivalence ratio between 0.86 and 1.12, the combustion temperature and fuel burn rate ranged from 431 to 558 °C and 1.53 to 2.30 g/min respectively. Preliminary results for the simulant faeces show that a minimum combustion bed temperature of 600 ± 10 °C can handle faeces up to 60 wt.% moisture at optimum air-to-fuel ratio. Further investigation is required to establish the appropriate trade-off limits for drying and energy recovery, considering different stool types, moisture content and drying characteristics. This is important for the design and further development of a self-sustained energy conversion and recovery systems for the NMT and similar sanitary solutions.
ABSTRACT
With about 2.4 billion people worldwide without access to improved sanitation facilities, there is a strong incentive for development of novel sanitation systems to improve the quality of life and reduce mortality. The Nano Membrane Toilet is expected to provide a unique household-scale system that would produce electricity and recover water from human excrement and urine. This study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the conceptual energy and water recovery system for the Nano Membrane Toilet designed for a household of ten people and to assess its self-sustainability. A process model of the entire system, including the thermochemical conversion island, a Stirling engine and a water recovery system was developed in Aspen Plus®. The energy and water recovery system for the Nano Membrane Toilet was characterised with the specific net power output of 23.1 Wh/kgsettledsolids and water recovery rate of 13.4 dm3/day in the nominal operating mode. Additionally, if no supernatant was processed, the specific net power output was increased to 69.2 Wh/kgsettledsolids. Such household-scale system would deliver the net power output (1.9-5.8 W). This was found to be enough to charge mobile phones or power clock radios, or provide light for the household using low-voltage LED bulbs.
