Vegetable oil powers up sludge-burning incinerator

Tests at Sheffield University, UK, show that vegetable oil used to fuel a furnace demonstrates two benefits - it could save thousands of pounds a year in fuel charges for Yorkshire Water, and its CO2 neutrality is far cleaner than fossil fuels. Yorkshire Water scientists, together with counterparts at Sheffield University, tested the product in a furnace on the South Yorkshire campus and are now preparing to test it at the Calder Valley incinerator, near Huddersfield.

The vegetable oil fuel is a waste product from two processing plants in the region, which historically was turned into animal feed or disposed of at landfill sites. The Yorkshire Water project would modify this oil slightly for use as an incinerator fuel.

Last year Yorkshire Water teamed up with the supermarket chain ASDA to create a methane-rich gas capable of powering electrical lighting and heating systems from a combination of sewage sludge and unwanted greens, fruit and bakery products.