SLUDGE MANAGEMENT

In biological wastewater treatment plants ,

Carbon
dioxide
Organic matter
in ww

New sludge

mere transfer of pollution : water phase Solid phase

Sludge management – highly required for aerobic wwt systems

Typical solids content of sludge

Specific Dry solids ( lb/1000 gal )

Sludge source
gravity
Range Typical
       
Primary settler 1.02 0.9 – 1.4 1.25

       
Activated sludge 1.01 0.6 – 0.8 0.7

       
Trickling filter 1.03 0.7 – 1.0 0.8

       
Aerated lagoon 1.01 0.7 – 1.0 0.8
 Processes in sludge management

sludge

thickening

stabilization to sanitary
landfill

conditioning dewatering reduction

used as soil
conditioner
 ANAEROBIC TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER

anaerobic process
– consists of a series of microbiological processes that convert
organic compounds to methane.

Over-all
Organic matter  CH4 + CO2 + H2 + NH3 + H2S + cell growth
equation :
 Process Microbiology

Group 1: Hydrolytic Bacteria

complex organic molecules  soluble monomer molecules

… relatively slow & can be limiting !

Group 2: Fermentative Acidogenic Bacteria

monomers  organic acids, alcohols & ketones

… fast growing group !

… generation time = a few hours

 Group 3: Acetogenic Bacteria

organic acids, alcohols & ketones  acetate, H2 & CO2

CH3CH2OH + H2O  CH3COOH + 2H2

… grows
ethanol acetic acid
faster than
the methane-
forming group ! CH3CH2COOH + 2H2O  CH3COOH + CO2 + 3H2
propionic acid acetic acid

CH3CH2CH2COOH + 2H2O  2CH3COOH + 2H2

butyric acid acetic acid
Group 4: Methanogenic Bacteria

Hydrogenotrophic methanogens:

CO2 + 4H2  CH4 + 2H2O

methane

Acetotrophic methanogens:

CH3COOH  CH4 + 2H2O

methane

… grow very slowly !

… generation time = a few days

Advantages of Anaerobic Treatment

 Requires no oxygen, thus, low treatment costs

 Produces lower amount of sludge

(3-20 times less than aerobic process)
 low nutrient requirement
 low disposal costs
 excess sludge is quite stable

 Suitable for high-strength industrial wastes

 Applicable at temperatures from 10 to 65 oC

 Produces useful gas, methane

Disadvantages of Anaerobic Treatment

 Start-up of the process requires long period

 High sulfate concentrations can cause odor problems

 Anaerobic treatment is a pre-treatment method

Anaerobic Digester
 Anaerobic Digesters

Two main strategies developed

1. Biomass Recycle (Anaerobic Contact)

 analogous to aerobic activated sludge systems

 biomass washed out of the system is separated and

returned to the digester

 separate SRT from HRT - biomass retention time

becomes longer
 BIOGAS

INFLUENT

EFFLUENT

SLUDGE RECYCLE

Anaerobic contact digester

 allows operation at higher organic loading rates - smaller
digester volumes required lower capital costs for
construction

 allows reduction of the HRT to 6-12 days (1/2 to 1/4 of

digester volume)

 can achieve 60-95% COD removal

 used mainly for food processing wastewaters with a

significant content of suspended solids ( wastewater from
starch production, meat processing, abbatoir, distilleries,
green vegetable canning )
2. Retained Biomass systems

 second generation of IWW AD designs

 AC systems rarely operated below 6 day HRT - because ww

being treated usually contains insoluble organic polymers,
so that hydrolysis is the rate limiting step

 but most IWW have very low SS content and in most cases,
BOD or COD is contributed by soluble, low molecular
weight organics that are readily biodegradable. So …use of
long HRT is not necessary and is obviously very costly
 alternative designs were developed that allowed further
reduction of the HRT’s and these 2nd generation
digesters are the most important in terms of modern
IWW treatment

 idea is to retain biomass inside the digester

independent of the ww flow - allows HRT to be much
reduced

 significant reduction in reactor volume achieved

Two Main Types of Retained-Biomass Digesters

1. Fixed-Film Systems

2. Granular Sludge-based Systems

Anaerobic filter/fixed film systems

– strategy is to provide an inert surface for bacterial

adhesion (biofilm formation)
Granular Sludge-based Systems

- Biomass self-aggregates into dense,

well-settling granules. Thus, it is retained
within the digester even during upflow operation (not washed out)

- e.g. UASB reactor, most commonly applied worldwide

- Very high biomass density in the reactor, thus, allowing very high
organic loading rates

- Optimal spatial organisation of different trophic groups within the

granules.
Well-settling nature
of granules allows
them to be retained
in the reactor
Scanning electron micrograph of mesophilic sludge granule
at low magnification (Sekiguchi et al., 1999).
 The spaghetti theory of granulation

I) disperse methanogens (filamentous Methanosaeta);

II) floccule formation via entanglement;

III) pellet formation ("spaghetti balls"); and

IV) mature granules, with attachment of other anaerobic

microorganisms onto the pellet.
Different Configurations of Anaerobic Digesters
Integration of anaerobic treatment in the WWTF

Levels/degree of wastewater treatment :

primary secondary tertiary

treatment treatment treatment

anaerobic aerobic
treatment treatment

OR
anaerobic Natural
treatment treatment
 AQUATIC TREATMENT SYSTEMS
AND WETLANDS

Plant functions in aquatic treatment systems

Plant parts Functions

Roots and/or stems in 1. uptake pollutants.
water column 2. provide surfaces on which bacteria grow.
3. act as media for filtration and adsorption of solids

Stems and/or leaves 1. attenuate sunlight; thus can prevent

at or above water algae growth.
surface 2. reduce effects of wind on water.
3. reduce transfer of gases and heat between
atmosphere and water.
4. transport oxygen from leaves to roots
Reedbed Systems

Free water surface

reedbed (FWS)

cattails
Subsurface reedbed
(SF)
Constructed
wetlands
 Parameter Subsurface Flow Free Water Surface
(SF) (FWS)
Water flow rate 12 mL/min 30 mL/min

Residence time 5 days 2 days

Bed depth 25 cm 21 cm

Free water depth 5.7 cm 9 cm

Bed slope (inclination) 2.41 % 0%

Bed materials (substrate) Soil (silk loam) & pebble Soil (silk loam) only

pebble layer :
porosity = 41.22 % ;
Bed Porosity and K value n.a.
K = 9.1 cm2/cm/sec
overall porosity = 14 %

Initial number of plants 35 80