Steam systems from Spirax Sarco are
playing a key role in a green energy
project that is set to cut Northumbrian
Water’s annual energy bill by 10%.

Spirax Sarco provided boiler
ancillaries and steam plant, including
a hotwell, blowdown vessel, controls,
valves and sparging equipment. It also
provided on- and off-site training,
and visits the site regularly as part of
an ongoing water treatment and
chemical dosing contract.

The £33m advanced anaerobic
digestion scheme at Bran Sands
converts sewage sludge into energy. It
uses thermal hydrolysis, which relies
on injections of live steam to kill the
pathogens in the sludge. Sludge is
cooled and fed to three 7600m3
concrete tanks.Methane-generating
microbes digest it anaerobically. The
resulting methane is collected and
used to fuel gas engines.