Duluth Co-Disposal Facility

The world's first full-scale fluidized bed reactor co-disposal facility located at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District's (WLSSD) central waste-water treatment complex in Duluth, Minnesota, began its shakedown operation in the fall of 1979. The authors present herein basic design criteria, a system description, November 1979 system status, and areas of operational concern. A fuel price and availability crisis provided the impetus to search out the most technologically and economically feasible system to co-dispose of solid waste and sewage sludge. A fluidized bed reactor co-disposal system was designed and constructed within the available space and budget to fulfill this need.