OR N A
S TY A
PRATI
WI .W
ADELI
.
A NOV
(D500
I .A.
14006
1)
ELSA
R O SD
(D500
IANA
14006
2)
SELLA
(D500
ERIAN
14006
TIKA
3)
DIDI
SULA
(D500
IMAN
14006
.A.
4)
(D500
14006
5)
THIC
KENE
R
Technische
Universitt
Dresden
Peter Krebs
Department of Hydro Science, Institute for Urban Water Management
Urban Water Systems
12 Sludge Treatment
12.1 Overview
12.2 Thickening
12.3 Biological sludge stabilisation
12.4 Volume reduction
12.5 Sludge disposal
Urban Water Systems
12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 2
12 Sludge treatment
12.1 Overview
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 3
Composition of sludge
Predominantly water
Micro-organisms
Viruses, pathogens, germs in general
Organic particles, heavily bio-degradable
Organic compounds, inert, adsorpted to sludge flocs
Heavy metals
Micro-pollutants, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupters
All non-degraded compounds extracted from wastewater
are found in the sludge
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 4
Goals of sludge treatment
Volume reduction
Thickening
Dewatering
Elimination of
pathogenic germs
If used in agriculture as fertiliser or
compost
Stabilisation of organic Gas production
substances
Reduction of dry content
Improvement of dewatering
Reduction of odour
Recycling of
substances
Urban Water Systems
Nutrients, fertiliser
Humus
Biogas
12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 5
Overview
Wastewater treatment
Process water
Primary, secondary, tertiary sludge
Thickening
Hygienisation
Stabilisation
Biogas
Thickening
Agriculture
Dewatering
Drying
Gujer (1999)
Urban Water Systems
Energy
Incineration
12 Sludge treatment
Disposal site
Construction industry
Atmosphere
PK, 2006 - page 6
Sludge Treatment Alternatives
Eckenfelder & Santhanam (1981)
Urban Water Systems
12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 7
12 Sludge treatment
12.2 Thickening
Urban Water Systems
12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 8
Thickening by Gravity
Gravitative separation, similar to settling tank
Additional mechanic stirring to enhance flocculation and
extraction of water and gas
Supernatant is introduced to primary clarifier or if floatables
and grease contents are high to grid chamber
Thickened sludge is withdrawn from hopper and introduced to
sludge treatment
For an efficient thickening process the development of gas
bubbles must be prevented
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 9
Gravity Thickener
Inflow
Scum scimmer
Sludge
liquor
Picket fence
Thickened sludge
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 10
Dimensioning of gravity thickeners surface
Solids overflow rate
qTSS ,Th
QWAS XTh,in
ATh
qTSS,Th
Specific solids overflow rate (kg TSS / (m2 d))
QWAS
Inflow to thickener (m3/d)
XTh,in
Solids concentration in thickeners inlet (kg TSS / m3)
ATh
Surface of thickener (m3)
Typical values for solids overflow rate qTSS,Th and concentration of thickened
sludge XTh
qTSS,Th
XTh
Primary sludge
80 120
80 - 150
50 - 70
25 - 30
50 - 100
20 - 35
Primary and secondary sludge
Secondary sludge
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 11
Thickening by Flotation
Pre treatment: mostly chemical flocculation
Slude is placed in contact with air-saturated water
(full flow or recycle pressurization)
Air bubbles attach to solid particles
lower specific gravity than water
Floating Sludge bubble composite is collected at the surface
Water is recovered under a scum baffle and removed
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PK, 2006 - page 12
Thickening by Flotation
Urban Water Systems
12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 13
Flotation unit
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 14
12 Sludge treatment
12.3 Biological sludge
stabilisation
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PK, 2006 - page 15
Anaerobic mesophilic sludge stabilisation
Digester
Heated to 33 37C process rates are higher
Content of digester is mixed Sludge and water obtain a
similar residence time
Storage unit
Not heated little biological activity
Not mixed separation of sludge and process water, which
is directed to WWTP
Control of loading to WWTP, app. 10% of N-loading
Further thickening
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 16
Processes in digester
Anaerobic degradation
2 C5H7NO2 8 H2O 5 CH4 3 CO2 2 NH4 2 HCO3
Degradation of organic substances of app. 50%
Biogas production: 63% CH4 (Methane)
35% CO2
2% other gases (N2, H2, H2S)
electricity and heating
Organic nitrogen is converged to NH4+
N-loading of WWTP
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 17
Characteristic values of digester
Mean residence time of sludge
Small units, badly mixed
< 30 d
Medium size units with mixing
20 d
Large plants with mixing
Biogas production related to
degradation of organic substances
Degradation of organic substances
Urban Water Systems
12 Sludge treatment
12 16 d
0.9 m3 / kg VSSdegr.
40 55%
PK, 2006 - page 18
Simultaneous aerobic sludge stabilisation
No primary clarifier no primary sludge
High sludge age SRT, app. 25 d
Activated sludge tank is larger than that combined with an
anaerobic sludge stabilisation
No biogas production
Possibly combined with storage or thickener unit
Stable and simple operation
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PK, 2006 - page 19
12 Sludge treatment
12.4 Volume reduction
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PK, 2006 - page 20
Volume reduction
Water content in stabilised sludge > 95% !
Reduction of water content and volume
Sludge volume
VS VDS VW VDS WVS
With water content
VW
VS
1
VDS
VS
1 W
non-linear
relation!
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PK, 2006 - page 21
Volume reduction
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12 Sludge treatment
PK, 2006 - page 22
Dewatering
Conditioning with flocculation agents (poly-electrolytes) for
efficient dewatering
W
DS
Centrifuge
> 0.7
< 0.3
Batch-wise
Hydraulic pressure
through plates in
water-tight chambers
> 0.6
0.4
continuous
Pressed between two
filter belts around
staggered rollers
> 0.7
0.3
Unit
Operation
Method
Decanter
Continuous
Chamber filter
press
(large plants)
Belt filter press
(small plants)
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PK, 2006 - page 23
Drying bed
Thin sludge layer (< 20 cm)
Sand layer as drainage and filter layer
Sludge is
first dewatered by drainage
then air-dried through evaporation
Applicable for small plants
Dimensioning W 0.55 (Imhoff, 1990)
Plant type
Specific surface
Only mechanical treatment
13 PE/m2
Trickling filter
6 PE/m2
Activated sludge plant
4 PE/m2
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PK, 2006 - page 24
Drying
Vaporisation of water content
Partial drying
W 0.3 0.4
Full drying
W down to < 0.1
Contact drying over heated areas
Drying by convection through hot air counter-current
inlet app. 600C, outlet app. 300C (Imhoff, 1999)
For large plants
Disposal is critical: fire, dust explosion
In granulate form as fertiliser
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PK, 2006 - page 25
12 Sludge treatment
12.5 Sludge disposal
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PK, 2006 - page 26
Use in agriculture
Recycling of nutrients, from stabilised sludge
Sludge treatment
Fertiliser*
Liquid sludge
Dewatered sludge
Dried sludge
P- and N-fertiliser
P-fertiliser, N as storage product
P-fertiliser
Limit re. over-fertilisation
Problems
Acceptance
Heavy metals
Micro-pollutants, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors
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PK, 2006 - page 27
Composting
Aerobic biological degradation of organic substances
Prerequisites
Stabilisation
Dewatering
Hygienisation
Approach
Structure means: straw, wood, saw dust, wood chips
Mixture app. 1:1
Water content app. 0,65
Requirements are more demanding than for sludge use as
fertiliser!
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PK, 2006 - page 28
Incineration
Use of energy content, but not of nutrients
Mono incineration (sludge exclusively)
Calorific value of sludge high enough no biogas use
before, no stabilisation
Water content not minimised (no full drying)
Fluidised bed incinerator, incineration at 800 950C in
fluidised sand bed
Expensive!
Co- incineration
In coal power station
In solid waste incinerators
In cement production, ash is bounded to cement
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PK, 2006 - page 29
