An Economic, Technical and Environmental Feasibility Study for Slurry Injection for Biosolids Management in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex

Panchal, Y.; Mohamed, I.M.; Pierce, Dale; Mounir, N.; Abou-Sayed, O.; Loloi; Abou-Sayed
The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management, Volume 46, Number 1, February 2020, pp. 24-35(12)
https://doi.org/10.5276/JSWTM/2020.24

Abstract

In Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), sewage is treated with a combination of anaerobic digestion, effluent filtration and lime stabilization to create biosolids which are then composted, landfilled, or land applied. The current treatment procedure has certain concerns including emissions or accumulation of odors, pathogens, nutrients, metals, and pharmaceutical products.

An alternative method, the Slurry Injection technique, enables the digestion of biosolids in the deep earth and can replace the current practice of wastewater treatment or disposal in a much more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient manner. By completely sequestering methane and CO2 into deep geologic formations which are produced as biosolids breakdown, reduces the greenhouse gas emissions and enables the operator to create greenhouse gas emission offset credits which can be marketed to offset the operating costs.

The economic, environmental, and technical aspects of building a new biosolids slurry injection facility in DFW, includes both the surface construction requirements as well as the subsurface strata evaluation for containment assurance. For the subsurface aspects, a geomechanical and stress analysis is performed on the Atoka formation (near the city of Fort Worth) and it confirms a confining layer above and below the injection zone to keep the waste contained for permanent storage.