In Washington, Maxwest Environmental Systems reported that the EPA recently ruled that its patented sewage sludge gasification technology is not an incinerator. MaxWest noted that this is “a major victory not only for clean air and water but also for taxpayers in municipalities looking for a sustainable alternative to costly incineration.”
In its findings, the EPA held that MaxWest’s pioneering technology that breaks down sewage sludge through heating in an oxygen-starved environment prevents combustion, and thus will not be regulated as an incinerator. The agency further exempted from incinerator regulations the second energy-saving step in the process – a “thermal oxidizer process heater” in which gases released from thermochemical reactions are scrubbed and then burned to create heat needed to dry incoming sludge.
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