Blackburn Meadows Sewage-Treatment Works: Sludge Incineration into the 1990s

The new sludge-dewatering and fluidized-bed incineration plant at Blackburn Meadows sewage-treatment works, Sheffield, was commissioned in March 1990, replacing the former aged and costly filter presshouse and multiple-hearth incineration plant. The plant was the second in a ‘new generation’of integrated-design sewage-sludge incinerators commissioned by Yorkshire Water to meet the Company's operational, economic and environmental needs for sludge treatment and disposal at the Blackburn Meadows works. This paper details the work undertaken on the project from historical development and contractual issues to plant commissioning, reviewing the first six months’operating experience.