Abstract
The developing of the infrastructure for wastewater collection and treatment in Romania is leading more and more to the
production of huge quantities of activated sludge, as direct result of the application of state of wastewater treatment. The rapid
and rational development of a national policy for management of activated on short, medium and long term has emerged as a
necessity, and must be implemented urgently.
The EU 27 countries consider environmental management of activated sludge as a priority for wastewater treatment plants
operators, especially in the framework of Directives 86/278/EEC on using sludge in agriculture and 91/271/EEC concerning
urban wastewater treatment. After 2000, solutions for the optimized energy recovery technology by burning activated sludge
have been tested and developed mainly in Germany.
These solutions can be implemented also in Romania, as a necessity not only as member of the EU 27countries, but also as a
global benefit for the environmental protection and full use of the huge energy content of the sludge. The presented case study
refers to a possible solution for energy recovery by the direct combustion of the sludge from municipal wastewater treatment
plant in Timisoara, within efficiently thermodynamic cycles, by using the HUBER technology in concept “sludge and energy”.
As main conclusion one will support the idea that the supplementary financial gains generated from electricity and heat
marketing– including the energy utilization for own purposes, is an environmental solution in addition to others, such as the
possibility to use the residual sludge as fertilizer for agriculture, and generates economies by reducing transport costs, as well by
covering most cases, the costs of the treatment process of the activated sludge.