MODULE 6

Sludge treatment and disposal-Methods of thickening, Sludge

digestion- Anaerobic digestion, Design of sludge digestion tanks
and Sludge drying beds, methods of sludge disposal

PART 2
Dewatering &Disposal of digested
sludge-Sludge dewatering using
Sludge drying beds and mechanical
dewatering methods, sludge
disposal methods- digested and raw
 Disposal of digested sludge
Digested sludge from the digestion tank contains a lot of water and is therefore, first of
all, dewatered or dried up, before further disposal either by burning or dumping.
In some cases the digested sludge without dewatering is run into trenches, which are
0.9m wide x 0.6m deep, and rectangularly spaced at 1 to 1.5m apart in parallel rows.
When the sludge has dried to a firm state, it is covered at top with a thin layer of soil.
After about a month, the land is ploughed up with powdered lime and planted with
crops. THIS METHOD IS CALLED DISPOSAL IN TO TRENCHES.

In India, the moisture of sludge is removed by the sludge drying beds; whereas, in
Western countries, dewatering is done by vacuum filters or by using high speed
centrifuges.
Sludge dewatering
The digested sludge from the digester contains lots of water which
should be removed by dewatering and then disposed off or further
processing
Dewatered sludge can be handled as a solid material even though it still contains a
significant amount of water(often as much as 70%)
Sludge dewatering methods
i. Sludge drying beds
ii. Mechanical methods
 Dewatering , drying and disposal of
digested sludge using sludge drying beds
• Drying of the digested sludge on open beds of land is suitable for hot
countries like India.
• Sludge drying beds are open beds of land, 45 to 60 cm deep, and
consisting of about 30 to 45 cm thick graded layers of gravel or
crushed stone varying in size from 15cm at bottom to 1.25cm at top,
and overlain by 10 to 15cm thick coarse sand layer. Open jointed
under-drain pipes of 15cm dia at 5 to 7 cm c/c spacing are laid below
the gravel in valleys(ref fig.). These pipes are laid at a longitudinal
slope of about 1 in 100. The beds are about 15X30 m in plan, and are
surrounded by brick walls rising about 1 metre above the sand
surface.
• The sewage sludge from the digestion tank is brought and spread
over the top of the drying beds to a depth of about 20 cm to 30 cm,
through distribution troughs having openings of about 15cmX20 cm
at a distance of about 2m or so.
• A portion of the moisture, drains through the bed, while most of it is
evaporated to the atmosphere. It usually takes about two weeks to
two months, for drying the sludge, depending on the weather and
condition of the bed.
• The required area for sludge drying beds normally ranges between
0.05 to 0.2 sq.m per capita. To protect the bed against rain and snow
glass roof is provided over the bed.
• Sludge should never be applied to a bed until the preceding dose has been
removed. Normally, sludge is removed from the beds after a period of about 7-10
days; as within this period, about 30% of the moisture goes away and the surface
of sludge gets cracked. The sludge cakes are then removed by spades, and then
they are dumped in a pit for drying. Area requirement of drying bed for different
types of sludge is given below.
Sl no Source of sludge Area in sq.m/capita
Open beds Covered beds
1 Primary clarifiers 0.1 0.08
2 Intermittent sand filters 0.1 0.08
3 Standard rate trickling filter 0.12 0.1
4 High rate trickling filter 0.15 0.12
5 Activated sludge 0.18 0.14
6 Coagulated sludge 0.20 0.15

Disposal/ use of dried sludge

Dried sludge is disposed of by burning or incineration. Some times it is used for filling
low lying areas. The dried sludge is generally used as manure in our country, as it
contains 1.7% nitrogen, 1.5% phosphoric acid and 0.5% potash.
 Mechanical Sludge dewatering
• A physical unit operation used to reduce the moisture
content of sludge
• Difficulty due to fact that particles are very fine,
colloidal in nature and possess a gel-like structure due
to polymeric flocculation.
• Compared to thermal (evaporative processes) for
water reduction, mechanical dewatering is often
selected due to its low energy requirement
Mechanical Methods of Sludge dewatering
• Vacuum filtration
• Centrifugation
Before applying mechanical dewatering methods, the
drainability of liquid from sludge should be improved by
a process called Sludge conditioning.
 Sludge conditioning
• In this process sludge solids are treated with chemicals or
other means to prepare sludge for dewatering.
• It improves the drainability of digested sludge. Sludge
becomes more amenable to dewatering.
• It can be achieved by various methods such as elutriation,
chemical conditioning, heat treatment, freezing etc
Sludge elutriation
• Washing of sludge to remove salts, alcohols, organic acids
• Can reduce the dosage of conditioning agent
• In some cases before dewatering, the sludge is thickened or
conditioned and then elutriated
• Sludge elutriation is carried out in sludge or multiple tanks by
washing the sludge with water. During washing, the solids are
continuously kept in suspension by air or by mechanical
action.
Single stage, Multistage, Counter- current washing may be employed as
one of the three-methods for washing. The choice of any of these
methods will depend upon the availability of water, because single
stage elutriation will require 2.5 times the water required two stage
elutriation, and 5 times that required for counter-current washing,
for the same alkalinity reduction.
• In the elutriation process, sludge and water are mixed in a
chamber fitted with mechanical devices, keeping it for 20
sec(detention period). The sludge is then settled in settling with a
detention period of 4 hrs, and the excess water is decanted.
• Counter-current elutriation is generally carried out in twin tanks,
similar to the sedimentation tanks, in which sludge and water
enter at opposite ends. The quantity wash water required is about
2 to 3 times the quantity of sludge elutriated.
Chemical conditioning
For chemical conditioning, ferric chloride, lime. Alum and various
organic polymers could be used to flocculate the sludge. The doses
required would depend on the type of coagulant and the
characteristic of sludge, and could be estimated based on the
laboratory trials.
Thermal conditioning
 Vacuum filtration
• In vacuum filtration process,
the sludge is first mixed with a
coagulant such as ferric
chloride, and then conveyed to
a vacuum filter, consisting of a
hollow rotating drum, covered
with a replaceable filter cloth.
The drum rotates partly
submerging into the sludge. The
vacuum created by a pump
within the drum draws the
moisture from the sludge
through the cloth. The sludge
cake which is formed on the
outside of the drum is removed
by a scraper, as the drum
rotates. See fig.
Cylindrical drum filter
 Disposal of dewatered sludge from Mechanical
devices
• The mechanical dewatering removes only about 50% of the moisture
and hence actually heat dried and the dry residue is used as manure
• Heat drying involves the application of heat to evaporate water and to
reduce the moisture content of biosolids through conduction, convection or
radiation . Advantage of this method is to reduce product transportation
costs, improve storage capability, and marketability.
• The wet sludge is disposed of by
i.Disposal by dumping into sea.
ii.Disposal on surface.
iii. Disposal by incineration.

i.Disposal by dumping into sea.

– Dumping or controlled release of sewage sludge from a barge or other vessel
into marine water.
ii.Disposal on surface.
A controlled area of land where only sewage sludge is placed for a period of
one year or longer. Sludge placed in this area is not provided with a daily or
final cover
• iii. Disposal by incineration
• The dewatered wet sludge produced in
wastewater treatment plant may also be
disposed of by burning, in suitably designed
incinerators, when sufficient space is not
available for burial near the plant site, or the
sludge cannot be dried and used as manure.
Following are the methods for incineration.
a) Multiple hearth furnace
b) Fluidised bed furnace
c) Flash type furnace
d) Infra red (Electric or radiant heat) furnace.
a)Multiple hearth furnace
• Dewatered sludge is turned to ash
• Used in large plants
• From the standpoint of the overall
incineration process, multiple hearth
furnaces can be divided into three
zones. The upper hearths comprise
the drying zone where most of the
moisture in the sludge is evaporated.
The temperature in the drying zone is
typically between 425 and 760 degree
Celsius . Sludge combustion occurs in
the middle hearths (second zone) as
the temperature is increased to about
925 degree Celsius . degree Celsius .
The combustion zone can be further
subdivided into the upper-middle
hearths where the volatile gases and
solids are burned, and the lower-
middle hearths where most of the
fixed carbon is combusted. The third
zone, made up of the lowermost
hearth(s), is the cooling zone. In this
zone the ash is cooled as its heat is
transferred to the incoming
combustion air.
b)Fluidized Bed Incinerators
• Combustion of the sludge occurs in two
zones. Within the bed itself (Zone 1),
evaporation of the water and pyrolysis of
the organic materials occur nearly
simultaneously as the temperature of the
sludge is rapidly raised. In the second zone
(freeboard area), the remaining free
carbon and combustible gases are burned.
The second zone functions essentially as an
afterburner.
• Fluidization achieves nearly ideal mixing
between the sludge and the combustion
air and the turbulence facilitates the
transfer of heat from the hot sand to the
sludge. The most noticeable impact of the
better burning atmosphere provided by a
fluidized bed incinerator is seen in the
limited amount of excess air required for
complete combustion of the sludge.
Typically, FBCs can achieve complete
combustion with 20 to 50 percent excess
air, about half the excess air required by
multiple hearth furnaces. As a
consequence, FBC incinerators have
generally lower fuel requirements
compared to MHF incinerators.
 DISPOSAL OF RAW SEWAGE SLUDGE
USING LAGOONS
• In this method the raw sludge is kept at rest in a large
shallow open pond called a lagoon. The detention period
is 1 to 2 months and may extend up to 6 months. During
its detention in the lagoon, the sludge undergoes
anaerobic digestion there by getting stabilized. Due to
this anaerobic decomposition foul gases will be evolved.
Therefore the lagoons should be located away from
habited area.
• After the sludge has been stabilised and the moisture has
been drained away, the contents are dug out to about
half of their original volume and used as manure.
• The method is cheap
• The drawback is evolution and eruption of foul gases
polluting the environment
• Sewage sludge lagoon
is a shallow pit of 0.6
to 1.2 m depth formed
by excavating the
ground. A 15 cm thick
layer of ashes or
clinker is placed at the
bottom of the pit.
Underdrains of 15 cm
diameter is laid at the
bottom and they are
placed at 3 m centre to
centre. Banks are
formed on both sides
using excavated earth.
 Questions
1. Differentiate between primary sludge and secondary sludge.
2. A sedimentation tank is treating 8 million litres of sewage per day containing 300
ppm of suspended solids. The tank removes 45% of suspended solids. Calculate
the quantity of sludge produced per day in bulk and weight, if a) moisture content
of sludge is 96%; and b) moisture content of sludge is 96%.
3. Give the flowchart showing sludge treatment and disposal.
4. What is sludge thickening? Describe any two methods.
5. What are the advantages of sludge thickening?
6. How is sludge aerobically digested? List the advantages.
7. What are the various steps in anaerobic sludge digestion process? Explain.
8. Differentiate between standard-rate and high-rate sludge digester.
9. Describe about the products due to anaerobic sludge digestion process.
10. Give the schematic diagram showing the stratification of the various processes
during anaerobic sludge digestion.
11. What are the various stages during anaerobic sludge digestion process? Explain.
12. Explain the factors affecting the sludge digestion process.
13. With the help of a neat sketch, explain the construction and working of an
anaerobic sludge digestion tank..
14. Design a digestion tank for primary sludge with the help of following data
i) Average flow=250mld
ii) Total suspended solids in raw sewage=400mg/l
iii) Moisture content of digested sludge =85%.
Assume any other suitable data you require.
15. Give the schematic diagram of a two-stage high rate anaerobic sludge
digester.
16. List the advantages and disadvantages of anaerobic sludge digestion
process.
17. With the help of a neat sketch, explain the construction and working of a
sludge drying bed.
18. What do you mean by elutriation of sludge? How is it done?
19. What is sludge conditioning? What is its necessity?
20. Differentiate between chemical conditioning and thermal conditioning.
21. Explain any one method for mechanical dewatering of sludge with the
help of a sketch.
22. How is mechanically dewatered sludge disposed off? Explain.
23. Explain in detail, the disposal of raw sludge.