Thermochemical conversion technologies present an opportunity to flip the paradigm of wastewater biosolids management operations from energy-intense and expensive waste management processes into energy-positive and economical resource extraction centers. Herein, we present a uniform “grading framework” to consistently evaluate the environmental and commercial benefits of established and emerging wastewater biosolids management processes from a life cycle and techno-economic perspective. Application of this approach reveals that established wastewater biosolids management practices such as landfilling, land application, incineration, and anaerobic digestion, while commercially viable, offer little environmental benefit. On the other hand, emerging thermochemical bioresource recovery technologies such as hydrothermal liquefaction, gasification, pyrolysis, and torrefaction show potential to provide substantial economic and environmental benefit through the recovery of carbon and nutrients from wastewater biosolids in the form of biofuels, fertilizers, and other high-value products. Some emerging thermochemical technologies have developed beyond pilot scale although their commercial viability remains to be seen.

热化学转化技术提供了一个机会，将废水生物固体管理操作的模式从能源密集型和昂贵的废物管理流程转变为能源积极和经济的资源提取中心。在此，我们提出了一个统一的“分级框架”，从生命周期和技术经济的角度一致评估已建立和新兴的废水生物固体管理流程的环境和商业效益。这种方法的应用表明，现有的废水生物固体管理实践，如填埋、土地利用、焚烧和厌氧消化，虽然在商业上可行，但几乎没有带来环境效益。另一方面，新兴的热化学生物资源回收技术，如水热液化、气化、热解和烘焙，显示出通过从废水生物固体中以生物燃料、肥料和其他形式回收碳和营养物来提供巨大的经济和环境效益的潜力。高价值产品。一些新兴热化学技术的发展已经超出了中试规模，但其商业可行性仍有待观察。