The Omni-Processor and some of the Reinvented Toilets rely on thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis, combustion or gasification. Faecal matter has considerable high moisture content that can affect negatively the efficiency of the process and can even cause failure. The design of the treatment equipment needs to consider drying, critical step that requires to be mastered in order to not compromise the process performance.

The project will be used to fill in the lack of data on the thermal drying of faecal matter, by combing the overlapping expertise of three research groups in the fields of fecal sludge characterization, material science and design of thermal equipment for faecal excreta treatment. The project will be divided into two phases: firstly, the landscape of faecal sludge drying technologies will be reviewed during a desk study; secondly, a research plan will be set in order to address the gaps identified in the desk study. The research will be conducted by a post-doctorate fellowship or undergraduate student. The research will involve physical rotation between the partner institutions. Extensive analytical and modelling capacity is available between the three researches groups involved in the project.

As far as the possible, this project will concentrate on the processes used by the grantees that are using drying as a unit process in their prototypes but could also include non-grantee sanitation practitioners, in order to strengthen the impact of the research. The data and knowledge gained during the project will be disseminated in order to provide comprehensive guidelines based on scientific data for the design, improvement and innovation of drying technologies. This project is a preliminary work that could evolve into an engineering handbook of faecal sludge drying.