Logan Water has pioneered Australia's first biosolids gasification facility at the Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). This facility handles over 90 percent of Logan City’s wastewater and turns human waste into heat energy, reducing the amount of biosolids by 90 percent.
Biosolids gasification involves dewatering, drying, and heating biosolids (treated human waste) at very high temperatures with limited oxygen. The facility captures and reuses its own heat energy to dry the biosolids, while a 1.1MW solar farm with 3,000 panels offsets the facility's electrical energy needs. This process turns biosolids into renewable energy and a sustainable product called biochar. Biochar is a pelletised, sterile, and odourless charcoal product containing nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It can be used for:
soil improvement
chemical filtering from liquids or gases
adding to building materials to sequester carbon and improve strength.
The facility is regulated by an Environmental Authority from the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) and the End of Waste (EoW) Code for Biosolids. Logan Water is also helping develop a new EoW Code for Biochar.
Acknowledgement: The AU$17.28m biosolids gasification trial facility was funded by Council and an AU$6.2m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Tours of the facility are available to industry professionals by appointment only - book a tour online. If you have a general question about this project or would like to arrange a tour please email gasification@logan.qld.gov.au.