Effect of polyelectrolyte conditioning on the enhanced dewatering of activated sludge by application of an electric field during the expression phase

Activated sludge is known to be poorly dewaterable due to its high surface charge density and the extreme solids compressibility, even after polyelectrolyte conditioning. The application of an electric field during pressure dewatering (PDW) of sludge can enhance the dewaterability by the electroosmosis effect. A comparative study was conducted to investigate the additional effect of an electric field, applied during the expression phase, on the dewatering course of polyelectrolyte conditioned sludge, compared to mere PDW. It was found that the application of an electric field markedly improved the dewatering kinetics for all sludge samples, regardless of the conditioning treatment. Although the conditioning polyelectrolyte characteristics and dose had a major effect on the PDW of sludge, the conditioning history did not have a significant effect on the electroosmotic water transport efficiency during the sludge expression phase. By means of on-line streaming potential measurements and fractionated filtrate electrophoretic mobility measurements, it could be demonstrated that even at high polyelectrolyte doses, leading to positively charged sludge flocs, negative surface charges were still present inside the sludge matrix. During the expression of the sludge cake, when liquid is forced to move through the floc inside pores, these negative surface charges hampered PDW, but enhanced electroosmotic dewatering. Electroosmosis is therefore an appropriate technique to remove the water fraction that is associated with these negative surface charges.     

Physico-chemical characteristics of full scale sewage sludges with implications to dewatering

An investigation was carried out for a variety of different sewage sludges in order to establish correlations between sludge composition, structure and dewatering properties. Results indicated that the fraction of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in sludges was the most important parameter with respect to sludge structure. With high EPS contents, sludges had a lower shear sensitivity and lower degree of dispersion. This in turn lead to better filterability in terms of low resistance to filtration (SRF). The floc stabilising role of EPS components was not consistent with DLVO-theory, as the zeta-potential increased with increased EPS content due to increased EPS charge content. This indicates that polymer entanglement is a key factor to stable floc structure. This does not rule out the possible change in dispersion due to changed electrostatic repulsion for a given EPS content. While EPS had a good effect on floc stability and filterability, the cake dry matter content decreased with large EPS contents. This could be due to an osmotic pressure related to the polymer charge quantity, or it could be caused by water entrapment in the floc structures. A high degree of sludge dispersion increased the cake dry matter content in filtration. This mechanism is, however, impractical due to high SRF and not important to conditioned sludge. In practice, dewatering also includes sludge expression. Taking this into account, osmosis related to EPS charges is likely to be increasingly important (increasing the negative effect of EPS content on cake dry matter).     

Gravity drainage of activated sludge: new experimental method and considerations of settling velocity, specific cake resistance and cake compressibility

A laboratory scale setup was used for characterization of gravitational drainage of waste activated sludge. The aim of the study was to assess how time of drainage and cake dry matter depended on volumetric load, SS content and sludge floc properties. It was demonstrated that activated sludge forms compressible cakes, even at the low pressures found in gravitational drainage. The values of specific cake resistance were two to three orders of magnitude lower than those obtained in pressure filtration. Despite the compressible nature of sludge, key macroscopic parameters such as time of drainage and cake solid content showed simple functional dependency of the volumetric load and SS of a given sludge. This suggests that the proposed method may be applied for design purposes without the use of extensive numerical modeling. The possibilities for application of this new technique are, among others, the estimation of sludge drainability prior to mechanical dewatering on a belt filter, or the application of surplus sludge on reed beds, as well as adjustments of sludge loading, concentration or sludge pre-treatment in order to optimize the drainage process.     

Lignite aided dewatering of digested sewage sludge

Mechanical dewatering is commonly used to increase the solids content of municipal sludge prior to its disposal. However, if the rate of filtration is slow, mechanical dewatering can be expensive. In this study, the use of lignite to improve the sludge dewatering is investigated. The effectiveness of lignite conditioning of polyelectrolyte-flocculated sludge is examined using mechanical compression tests. Results show that lignite conditioning in conjunction with polyelectrolyte flocculation gives much better dewatering than the polyelectrolyte flocculation alone. Using Darcy's filtration theory, the specific cake resistance and permeability of the compressed cakes are obtained. Both of these parameters are significantly improved after lignite conditioning. Mercury porosimetry tests on compressed cakes show that the porosity of the lignite-conditioned sludge cake is much higher than that of the polyelectrolyte-flocculated sludge and it increases with increasing doses of lignite. The mercury porosimetry results show that the lignite pore volume of pores greater than 0.5 μm are reduced with increasing sludge ratio indicating that sludge is trapped within these pores, whereas smaller pores are unaffected. The yield stress curves for sludge, lignite and sludge-lignite mixtures show that the sludge filter cake is very compressible, but the lignite-conditioned cake has a range of compressibility which although more than lignite indicate that the cake is relatively incompressible at low pressures. Thus, lignite conditioning acts to maintain the permeability of the filter cake during compression dewatering by resisting cake compression. This leads to a trade-off between the rate of dewatering and the solids content of the compressed cake. With lignite conditioning, the dewatering rate can be increased by a factor of five for the same degree of water removal.     

影响污泥深度机械压力脱水因素的探讨

根据污泥处理处置技术在实际应用中存在的缺陷,指出污泥的深度脱水是污泥处理处置的关键环节。因此,污泥深度脱水技术面临着巨大的技术需求和市场需求。介绍了污泥深度脱水性能的表征方法,指出模拟恒压压滤脱水后泥饼的含水率能够较好地表征污泥深度脱水性能。同时,从污泥性质、调理剂预处理、过滤压力及操作、过滤介质等方面分析了污泥深度机械压力脱水的影响因素。     

Application of microwaves for sewage sludge conditioning

The article focuses on the effect of microwave treatment on the de-waterability of sewage sludge. The specific resistance to filtration, capillary suction time, and dry matter content in centrifuged sludge cake were measured. The quality of sludge liquor obtained after microwave processing was also analysed. It was found out that microwaves improve sludge de-waterability. The quantitative improvement depends on sludge type-better effect of microwave processing were observed in the primary sludge compared to mixed or digested sludges. If microwave treatment is followed by polyelectrolyte conditioning, the effects are considerably better than while these conditioning methods are used separately. Microwave conditioning increased burden of organic matter (BOD(5), COD) in the sludge liquor.     

Compression and swelling of activated sludge cakes during dewatering

A drainage/filtration apparatus was developed for automatically determining sedimentation velocity and dewatering rate. Pressure-step testing was used to study filter cake compressibility, resistance, and swelling. Activated sludge was analysed, and the data indicate that the sludge is highly compressible even at low pressures (10 kPa). Furthermore, compressed sludge cakes swell if the pressure is released. Hence, the average specific cake resistance decreases if the pressure is released, though the resistance is higher after the compression cycle than before. Sludge must be dewatered under low pressure, because higher pressure only compresses the cake and does not improve the dewatering rate.     

Experimental analysis of centrifugal dewatering process of polyelectrolyte flocculated waste activated sludge

The study experimentally investigated the centrifugal separation of moisture from activated sludge subject to cationic polyelectrolyte flocculation. An arm-suspended centrifuge was employed which allowed in-situ detection on all positions of interfaces of centrifuged sludge as functions of time. Experimental results revealed that, sludge flocculation would yield a significant sedimentation effect at the first phase of centrifugation. Therefore, not as suggested in conventional centrifugal-filtration models, the most significant moisture-removal stages included filtrate to flow through a wet cake. Moreover, an optimal rotational speed exists at which the moisture-removal rate reaches a maximum value. New theories/correlations are required to describe centrifugation dewatering of polyelectrolyte flocculated sludge.     

Influence of salt, pH and polyelectrolyte on the pressure electro-dewatering of sewage sludge

This paper deals with the influence of pH, salt and polyelectrolytes on the electro-dewatering (EOD) of agro-industrial sludge at 3% w/w of dry matter. Initially, a selection of polyelectrolyte types and doses was carried out for mechanical dewatering tests. Subsequent EOD tests were carried out in a laboratory two sided filter press at constant electric current density of 80 A/m² and at pressure of 5 bar. It was found that whatever was the initial value of pH, salt content or polyelectrolyte type, the EOD progressed always towards the same equilibrium point at around 50% w/w of dry matter. EOD rate and energy input was not affected by the presence of polyelectrolyte whatever was its charge density and molecular weight. However, EOD rate and specific energy consumption and repartition of liquid at anode and cathode sides were strongly influenced by the salt content (adjusted by Na₂SO₄) or by the initial pH (adjusted with H₂SO₄ or NaOH). EOD performed better at lower salt content and at slightly acid pH. In optimum conditions, the process (EOD) required 2 h to reach dry matter of 40% w/w with specific energy consumption of 0.25 kWh/kg of water removed for the treatment of conditioned sludge. For comparison, compression without electric field at 5 bar required 11 h to reach 22% w/w of dry matter. This work emphasizes and demonstrates that the electrolytic hydroxide and hydronium ions formed at the electrodes have considerable influence in the course of EOD.     

厦门城市污泥深度脱水处理及资源化利用研究

结合厦门污水处理厂污泥深度脱水工艺的应用情况,考察了预浓缩—FeC l3和CaO调质—高压隔膜厢式压滤机对污泥的深度脱水效果,并研究了泥饼的处理、处置和资源化利用情况。结果表明,污泥经深度脱水后,泥饼含水率60%,自然放置7 d后,含水率可进一步降至45%左右,满足填埋的要求,另外还可用于制砖和作园林绿化的土壤基质,也可作焚烧处置。污泥深度脱水过程中产生的滤液可循环利用,回流至进水处时,对出水水质影响很小,且可为脱氮过程提供碳源和碱度;回流至重力浓缩池时,可改善污泥沉降性能,提高脱水效率。与传统污泥脱水工艺相比,该工艺具有经济优势。     

硝酸钠强化污泥电渗透脱水的试验研究

在污泥中加入硝酸钠可提高电渗透脱水速率,考察了投药量、机械压力、电压和脱水时间等因素对电渗透脱水效果的影响。结果表明,在加入硝酸钠后,电渗透脱水速度加快、脱水程度增强、泥饼含固率在短时间内明显提高。分析认为,这主要和电渗透脱水过程中电流密度和温度的升高有关。在不同电压及脱水时间下,硝酸钠的加入更有效地提高了污泥含固率,且效果显著。     

Co-conditioning and dewatering of chemical sludge and waste activated sludge

The conditioning and dewatering behaviors of chemical and waste activated sludges from a tannery were studied. Capillary suction time (CST), specific resistance to filtration (SRF), and bound water content were used to evaluate the sludge dewatering behaviors. Zeta potentials were also measured. Experiments were conducted on each sludge conditioned and dewatered separately, and on the sludge mixed at various ratios. Results indicate that the chemical sludge was relatively difficult to be dewatered, even in the presence of polyelectrolyte. When the waste activated sludge was mixed with the chemical sludge at ratios of 1:1 and 2:1, respectively, the dewaterability of chemical sludge improved remarkably while the relatively better dewaterability of the waste activated sludge deteriorated only to a limited extent. As the mixing ratios became 4:1 and 8:1, the dewaterability of the mixed sludge was equal to that of the waste activated sludge. The optimal polyelectrolyte dosage for the mixed sludge was equal to or less than that of the waste activated sludge. It is proposed that the chemical sludges act as skeleton builders that reduce the compressibility of the mixed sludge whose dewaterability is enhanced. Bound water contents of sludge decreased at low polyelectrolyte dosage and were not significantly affected as polyelectrolyte dosage increased. Advantages and disadvantages of co-conditioning and dewatering chemical sludge and waste activated sludge were discussed.     

壳聚糖与硅藻土调理市政污泥

以污泥比阻为评价指标,综合考虑脱水率、泥饼含水率及过滤时间因素,研究使用壳聚糖与硅藻土对污泥单独调理的最佳条件及联合调理改善污泥脱水性能的效果,并与聚丙烯酰胺调理污泥的效果进行了对比。结果表明,先投加0.5g/g硅藻土调理污泥,再投加5 mg/g壳聚糖以30r/min搅拌反应150s,污泥比阻下降了95.43%,脱水率上升至91.02%,泥饼含水率降至83.13%,过滤时间降至29.5s。壳聚糖与硅藻土联合调理的效果明显优于壳聚糖或硅藻土单独调理的效果,且其联合调理改善污泥脱水综合性能的效果优于聚丙烯酰胺调理污泥的效果。     

Pressurised electro-osmotic dewatering of activated and anaerobically digested sludges: electrical variables analysis

Pressurised electro-osmotic dewatering (PEOD) of two sewage sludges (activated and anaerobically digested) was studied under constant electric current (C.C.) and constant voltage (C.V.) with a laboratory chamber simulating closely an industrial filter. The influence of sludge characteristics, process parameters, and electrode/filter cloth position was investigated. The next parameters were tested: 40 and 80 A/m², 20, 30, and 50 V—for digested sludge dewatering; and 20, 40 and 80 A/m², 20, 30, and 50 V—for activated sludge dewatering. Effects of filter cloth electric resistance and initial cake thickness were also investigated.The application of PEOD provides a gain of 12 points of dry solids content for the digested sludge (47.0% w/w) and for the activated sludge (31.7% w/w). In PEOD processed at C.C. or at C.V., the dewatering flow rate was similar for the same electric field intensity. In C.C. mode, both the electric resistance of cake and voltage increase, causing a temperature rise by ohmic effect. In C.V. mode, a current intensity peak was observed in the earlier dewatering period. Applying at first a constant current and later on a constant voltage, permitted to have better control of ohmic heating effect. The dewatering rate was not significantly affected by the presence of filter cloth on electrodes, but the use of a thin filter cloth reduced remarkably the energy consumption compared to a thicker one: 69% of reduction energy input at 45% w/w of dry solids content. The reduction of the initial cake thickness is advantageous to increase the final dry solids content.     

上海市竹园第二污水处理厂污泥脱水性能的研究

上海市竹园第二污水处理厂的泥饼含水率为78%左右,不能达到设计值(65%),为了分析其原因,对污泥的脱水性能进行了研究.结果表明,由于产生的剩余污泥脱水性能较差,且使用的是板框压滤机与PAM调理剂,使泥饼含水率降至65%是不可能实现的;根据该厂目前的运行状况及今后污泥的出路,泥饼含水率设定为75%左右较合理.     

Shear sensitivity of digested sludge: Comparison of methods and application in conditioning and dewatering

Shear sensitivity of digested sludge was evaluated by two methods: a CST shear test and a strain sweep rheological method of measuring yield stress. Sludge pretreatment by an enzyme formulation was used to alter the sludge's response to shear and, potentially, to improve dewaterability. Also varied were the polymer conditioning dose and the amount of shear applied by mixing. A bench-scale device was then used to simulate dewatering by belt press in order to assess the CST shear tests and the rheological test. CST-based shear tests showed that the optimum chemical conditioner doses with low shear levels became sub-optimal with increasing mixing times. For all three polymer conditioners, longer shear times increased the dose requirements. When the polymer dose was held constant, and the extent of mixing varied, the CST test was a poor indicator of effects on dewaterability. The benefits of enzyme treatment, apparent by actual dewatering, were not predicted by the CST results. In contrast, yield stress values were significantly correlated with cake solids values, and inversely correlated with filtrate solids. Yield stress is not adequate by itself to predict final cake solids after dewatering, because enzyme pretreatment gave higher solids concentrations when both shear extent and initial yield stress were held constant.     

污泥电渗透脱水操作条件的优化研究

城市污水厂污泥的电渗透脱水技术具有脱水效果好的特点,但能耗较高,为此考察了电压梯度、泥饼厚度和机械压力等操作条件对脱水效果的影响。结果显示,选择较大的电压梯度并辅以适当的机械压力对电渗透脱水有利;通过优化操作条件可降低电耗。     

Enhanced sludge dewatering by dual polyelectrolytes conditioning

Sludge dewatering by dual polyelectrolytes conditioning was investigated in this study. Single polyelectrolyte is utilized in sludge conditioning conventionally, in which charge neutralization and bridging are involved in the reactions. In the current study, both cationic and non-ionic polyelectrolytes were utilized simultaneously in the conditioning. Waste activated sludge was sampled from a synthetic fiber plant, and used in the experiment. Capillary suction time (CST), specific resistance to filtration (SRF), and settling rate were used to evaluate the sludge dewatering behaviors. Zeta potentials were also measured. Sludge dewatering behaviors resulting from single and dual polyelectrolytes conditioning were compared. It was found that sludge conditioned with dual polyelectrolytes performed better in fine particle capture and in the formation of larger flocs that resulted in a better dewaterability and less chance of overdosing. The dosing sequence in dual polyelectrolytes also affected the sludge dewaterability. Reaction mechanisms in dual polyelectrolyte conditioning were proposed based on enhanced flocculation of sludge particles.     

In situ determination of solidosity profiles during activated sludge electrodewatering

Two non-invasive techniques were evaluated for the on-line measurement of sludge solidosity profiles during both pressure and electrodewatering operations. In a first approach, a radioactive tracer adsorbed onto the sludge solids was monitored by a gamma camera. Although this technique appeared very flexible in use, the lack of resolution highly limited its usefulness for (electro)dewatering experiments. Improvement in gamma camera resolution by the development of new detectors might, however, increase the future applicability of this technique. In a second technique, nuclear magnetic resonance measurements on a specially designed electrodewatering unit were made. Hereby, reliable on-line measurements of the solidosity profiles of activated sludge during electrodewatering could be made, with a resolution of less than 1mm. Thus, the mechanisms of electroosmotic- and pressure-driven cake dewatering could be illustrated. Given the measurement time required for measuring one sludge profile, both techniques appeared mainly suited for slowly varying processes, such as activated sludge expression, and not for fast changing processes, such as the initial phases of sludge filtration.     

污水厂絮凝剂耗药量对污泥脱水性能影响研究

通过离心机上机试验,研究絮凝剂耗药量对污泥脱水性能的影响。研究结果表明：离心机差速维持在4 r/min～5 r/min,扭矩在30%～40%,进泥干固体负荷在1 700 kg TDS/h～2 200 kg TDS/h的条件下,药耗在低至3.93 kg/t干污泥时仍能取得泥饼含水率不大于77%、污泥回收率不小于97%的优良脱水效果。