LYSOTHERM® is a patented system for the thermal disintegration of organic sludge, especially sewage sludge. It is specially designed to enable the efficient, cost-effective and safe disintegration of sludge.

LYSOTHERM® is a thermal process, without the use of steam, to enhance anaerobic digestion of organic sludge which has added advantages over many of the alternative solutions available in the UK. The system offers the capability of increase gas yield and the dry matter content in the digested, dewatered sludge which leads to increased digestion capacity, also to an increased potential to recover phosphorus as a magnesium-phosphate from the sludge.

Combine this with the LYSOTHERM® process’ ability to decrease organic residues in digested sludge, reduce polymer consumption used in the dewatering process, reduce digestion time and the amount of sludge to be disposed of whilst reducing foaming and viscosity within the digester, all helping to lead to the elimination of pathogenic bacteria.

• Sludge is fed via the sludge pump (feeding pump,1) into a multistage heat exchanger system. The feed is a continuous process.

• Pre-heating takes place in the first stage of the heat exchanger system (2), then the sludge is heated up to reaction temperature within the tube reactor (3)

• The proper disintegration process takes place at the pre-determined reaction temperature in the disintegration reactor (4) where the sludge usually remains for 30 - 60 minutes. After the disintegration is completed, the sludge is cooled down in the cooling stage (5) to the temperature required for entering the digestion tower; alternatively, it can be mixed with cold primary sludge in order to be cooled down to digestion temperature.

• The system is heated via two heating circuits: the thermal oil circuit (6) to create the necessary process heat in the pipe reactor. The process heat is typically recovered from the exhaust gases of the CHPs. The regenerative circuit (7), using water as heat transfer medium makes the heat recovered from the disintegrated sludge in the cooling stage available for pre-heating.

The LYSOTHERM® system is flexible and versatile. In addition to the thermal disintegration of excess sludge (primary disintegration), it can also be used for the conditioning of digested sludge (secondary disintegration).

The Eliquo Water Group have successfully installed the LYSOTHERM® system in several European locations and now the system is available in the UK through ELIQUO HYDROK.

Discussions with several UK Water Companies about the LYSOTHERM® system, with test sites planned for the near future, have begun.

To discuss LYSOTHERM® contact
Lewis O’Brien, Technical Director,
01726 861900,
send email