Sludge Treatment

Wednesday 13th June 2018

Definition
 Sludge is the residual solid that is the end
product of wastewater treatment i.e. the
concentration of solids from the wastewater

 Sludge contains many objectionable materials

and must be disposed off properly.

 Sludge treatment objectives are reduction in

volume and rendering it suitable for ultimate
disposal.
 Composition of sludge
• Predominantly water
• Micro-organisms: Viruses, pathogens, germs in
general
• Organic particles, Bio-degradable organic
compounds
• Heavy metals
• Micro-pollutants, pharmaceuticals, endocrine
disrupters
 All non-degraded compounds extracted from
wastewater are found in the sludge
Sludge Characteristics
 Wastewater sludge concentration is based on the
process from which they are produced
(a) Raw or primary sludge

(b) Humus sludge (Secondary)

(c) Chemical sludge

(d) Excess Activated sludge

(e) Digested sludge

Raw or primary sludge
 This is from primary sedimentation tank.

 It contains settleable matter and high organic content (e.g.

feacal matter and food scrubs).

 Primary sludge is from 3 to 6 percent solids.

 Raw sludge is grey in color with a heavy feacal odor.

 Color and odor intensify on prolonged storage under anoxic or

anaerobic condition.
Raw or primary sludge
 Quantity of solids in raw sludge (primary) on a
dry mass basis can be determined by the
following equation
 Humus Sludge (Secondary)

 This consists of biological solids, sloughed or

scored from the surface of the filter medium thus
represent the net growth of biomass in the filters.

 Humas is organic in content hence exhibit similar

problem with those of primary sludges under an
anoxic or anaerobic conditions.
 Humus sludge (Secondary)

 Solids in humus sludge can be determined by the

following equation.

 Ms = X' x BOD5 x Q
 Chemical sludge
 This is produced by process involving chemical
coagulation or chemical sedimentation.

 This process is seldom (although they offer

economical method of phosphorous removal and
treatment of storm sewage overflows).

 Sludge produced is a mixture of organic raw sludge

and chemicals.
Excess Activated sludge
 This is the return sludge from the underflow of
the final sedimentation tank in the activated
sludge process.

 It consists of light flocculent biological solids

with a significant demand for oxygen.

 Activated sludge has higher moisture content than

other organic wastewater sludges leading to
dewatering problem.
Digested sludge
 This is a product of either aerobic or anaerobic
digestion

 It is stable and easy to dewater on open dry beds

without severe water problems.
Composition of Sludge

 Total solid residue (TSR)

 Sludge moisture content (Pm)

 Volatile solids content (VS)

Total Solid Residue (TSR)
 This is used for measuring the gross solid content.

 TSR = Dry weight of sludge (residue after

evaporation to constant weight) divided by wet
weight of sludge multiplied by 100%
Sludge Moisture Content (Pm)

 Pm= (100-TSR) x100%

 Volatile solids content (VS)
 VS is a measure of organic content of the sludge.

 It indicates the degree of stabilization which can be achieved by biological

processes.

 Volatile solids is quoted as a percentage of the total solid residue.

 Therefore: VS= [Weight of TSR] - [Residue after ignition of the dried sludge
solids from the TSR at standard temperature of 600c (for 1 hr)]

 Residue (solids) after ignition of the dry sludge from TSR is termed the fixed
solid residue (FR)

 This defines the weight inorganic matter in the sludge this is the minimum
weight of solids which would remain for ultimate disposal after incineration.
Other analyses of the Sludge components
 Determination of nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorous and potassium.

 It is also necessary to check on the amounts and type of heavy

metals present.

 Organic contents and moisture content are the most important

characteristics of sludges.

 A sludge with high organic content is in unstable state and

continues to degrade and is likely to present health, odor and
rodent problems.
Volume of sludge
 Sludge contains between 1-10% solids while the
other is water.

 Sludge moisture content has the greatest effect on

the volume of sludge to be processed by given
plants hence important to examine sludge
moisture-weight -volume relationship.
Volume of sludge

With a sludge having solids content less than 10% [Pm>90%], density of
wet sludge is nearly equal to density of water = 1000kg/m3
Volume of sludge
 Sludge concentrated with mass of dry solids, SS, remaining constant while
moisture content decreases from Pm1 to Pm2 the ratio between the initial
volume V1 and the final volume V2 is given by

Hence
(a) Removing water from sludge of raw solid content affords a dramatic reduction
in volume.

(b) Doubling the solid content from 1-2% halves the volume of wet sludge.
 Volume reduction
Thickening Dewatering Drying
50
45
.

40
35
mass [t] (volume [m³])

30
25
20
15
10 Water
5 Dry matter

0
1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
dry matter [%]
Volume reduction

Thickening: Gravitative separation

Dewatering: Conditioning with flocculation agents

(poly-electrolytes) for efficient dewatering

Drying: Vaporisation of water content

Exercise

Sludge liquor containing 1% solids was put in a 1

liter graduated cylinder. The solids were allowed to
settle and the liquid decanted until the total volume
was 500 ml.

Calculate the dry mass of the solid and the new

volume/ fraction of solid after decanting.
Sludge pumping
 Sludges with less than 10 percent solids can be pumped through
force mains .

 Sludges with solids content less than 2 percent have hydraulic

characteristics similar to water (this can be assumed for design
purposes).

 For solids content greater than 2 percent, however, friction losses

are from 1 to 4 times the friction losses for water.

 Both head losses and friction increase with decreasing

temperature.

 Velocities must be kept above 0.6 m/s.

 Sludge pumping
 Grease content can cause serious clogging, and grit will adversely affect flow
characteristics as well. Adequate clean-outs and long sweep turns will be used
when designing facilities of these types.

 Sludge pumps can be plunger, progressing cavity, torque-flow, or open

impeller centrifugal types.

 Plunger and progressing cavity pumps generally should be used for pumping
primary sludges; centrifugal pumps are more suitable for the lighter
secondary sludges.

 Centrifugal and torque-flow pumps are used for transporting digested sludge
in most cases; plunger and progressing-cavity pumps are used when a suction
lift is involved.
 Treatment processes
Objectives of Sludge Treatment

1. Organic matter stabilization

2. Volume reduction (water removal)

3. Pathogenic organism destruction

4. Use of by products (e.g. methane in anaerobic treatment

and composite production)

5. Safe disposal of the sludge.

Sludge digestion
 The major function of sludge digestion (and its principal advantage) is the
stabilization of the sludge in terms of volatile content and biological
activity.

Aerobic Digestion
 Aerobic digestion accomplishes sludge digestion through biological
oxidation of cellular matter, which is done without the excess production of
volatile solids associated with anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic sludge digestion

 The objectives of anaerobic digestion are the stabilization of organic solids,
sludge volume reduction, odor reduction, destruction of pathogenic
organisms, useful gas production, and the improvement of sludge
dewaterability.

 Volatile solids typically are reduced by 60 to 75 percent, with final volatile

matter contents of 40 to 50 percent .
Other Treatments Methods
 This includes
(a) Freezing
(b) Thawing
(c) Ultrasonics - high frequency sound waves

Freezing and thawing are not used much due to

• Fragile nature of the frozen and thawed sludge particles
• Cost
•But where these 2 methods occur naturally they are effective.
•Ultrasonic have restricted use due to cost or operational
problems.
Disposal (Partial disposal processes)
 The methods of final disposal can be broadly
categorized as disposal or utilization procedures.

 Example: the sanitary landfill and land surface

application are, respectively, disposal and
utilization methods.

 The method selected for final sludge disposal or

utilization must be in accordance with regulatory
agency requirements .
Disposal

 Incineration

 Burnt sludge produce an ash containing very little

water and very little organic content, therefore the
sludge is reduced to the non - volatile fraction.

 Furnaces used are multiple hearths and the fluidized

bed.
Pyrolysis

 This is combustion under reduced oxygen.

Complete oxidation is not possible.
Composting

 Dewatered sludge can be composted with

household refuse to produce an agricultural or
horticultural composite.

 Non-degradable materials e.g. rags, metals, glass,

etc are removed before composting.
Disposal (Ultimate disposal methods)

Land dumping:
 Sludge is disposed at landfill site,

 But surface and ground water contamination

should be avoided.

 Sludges are dewatered before transportation

to the landfill site.
Land treatment
 Sludges can be used as a soil conditioner due to its high
content of nutrients.

 A digested sludge contains approximately 3% nitrogen, 2%

phosphorous, and 0.4% potassium in dry solid.

 Due to pathogenic organisms in the sludge, it must be digested

or pasteurized or disinfected.

 Land treatment represents a recycle of organic material back

into the food chain.
Sea dumping:

 Sludge discharged into the sea should be into

deep water for dispersal and degradation to occur.

 The sludge can be transported by boats or

discharged by pipelines.