Front. Environ. Sci. Engin.
China 2010, 4(1): 102–107
DOI 10.1007/s11783-010-0001-z
REVIEW ARTICLE
Possible solutions for sludge dewatering in China
Wei WANG (✉)1, Yuxiang LUO1, Wei QIAO2
1 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2 College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2009
Abstract In China, over 1.43107 tons of dewatered
sewage sludge, with 80% water content, were generated
from wastewater treatment plants in 2007. About 60% of
the COD removed during the wastewater treatment process
becomes concentrated as sludge. Traditional disposal
methods used by municipal solid waste treatment facilities,
such as landfills, composting, or incineration, are unsui-
table for sludge disposal because of its high water content.
Disposal of sludge has therefore become a major focus of
current environmental protection policies. The present
status of sludge treatment and disposal methodology is
introduced in this paper. Decreasing the energy consump-
tion of sludge dewatering from 80% to 50% has been a key
issue for safe and economic sludge disposal. In an analysis
of sludge water distribution, thermal drying and hydro-
thermal conditioning processes are compared. Although
thermal drying could result in an almost dry sludge, the
energy consumption needed for this process is extremely
high. In comparison, hydrothermal technology could
achieve dewatered sewage sludge with a 50%–60%
water content, which is suitable for composting, incinera-
tion, or landfill. The energy consumption of hydrothermal
technology is lower than that required for thermal drying.
Keywords sewage sludge disposal, water content, ther-
mal drying, hydrothermal conditioning
1 Status of sludge generation and disposal
in China
1.1 Generation of sewage sludge
Over the past two decades, many wastewater treatment
plants (WWTPs) have been built to treat municipal
wastewater in order to control environmental pollution.
Received April 11, 2009; accepted September 22, 2009
E-mail: solid@tsinghua.edu.cn
In 2007, 3.102109 tons of municipal wastewater was
generated, and 49.1% was treated by biological processes
[1]. Accordingly, large amounts of sewage sludge were
generated in these sewage treatment facilities. Sludge is
composed primarily of organic microbes and inorganic
minerals, and will pose a serious environmental risk if its
disposal is inadequately managed.
Approximately 1.43107 tons of dewatered sewage
sludge with 80% water content were generated in China in
2007. The annual generation of dewatered sewage sludge
in China over the past two decades, illustrated in Fig. 1,
was estimated from the amount of annual treated municipal
wastewater [1] and a survey of dry sludge generation ratios
in WWTPs by Zhu et al. [2]. The treatment and disposal of
these large and rising quantities of sludge is now attracting
increasing attention. The biological gel structure of sludge
is now recognized as one of the key limitations to the
efficient dewatering and anaerobic digestion that are
needed for its safe disposal [3].
1.2 Status of sludge disposal
A survey, carried out by the author, showed that the
WWTPs, each with a capacity of over 2105 tons per day,
treated 2.273107 tons of sewage per day in 2006, which
represents about 50.9% of the total sewage treated in
China. These plants produced annually 6.14106 tons of
dewatered sewage sludge with 80% water content. The
disposal status of sludge from those plants is illustrated in
Fig. 2. 83% of this sludge was not disposed of properly.
Potentially contaminated industrial wastewater treated in
WWTPs diminishes the quality of sludge as a fertilizer
which farmers now rarely use. Neither can city virescence
engineering use such large amounts of sludge. As shown in
Fig. 2, a mere 10% of the sludge was disposed of by direct
drying, the main method for sludge disposal used in
developed countries. Another 6% was disposed of in
landfills and 1% by composting. The remaining sludge,
dumped without any treatment, presents a considerable
environmental risk.
 Wei WANG et al. Possible solutions for sludge dewatering in China
Fig. 1 Generation of municipal sewage and dewatered sewage sludge in China
Fig. 2 Disposal status of sludge generated from WWTPs with a
capacity over 2105 tons per day in 2006
2 Status of sludge disposal technology in
China
2.1 Sludge disposal by landfill
In some developed countries, a special sanitary landfill is
required for sludge to be disposed of by way of landfill [4].
The construction standards for these types of landfill are
stricter than for municipal solid waste landfills; thus, the
construction cost is higher [5,6]. In China, sludge is treated
along with municipal solid waste in the same landfills. The
high water content creates problems with the compaction
of waste at the landfill site, and it also influences the
stability of the waste body.
103
According to the latest national standard‘Disposal of
Sludge from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant:
Sludge Quality for Co-landfill’, issued in 2007, only
sludge with a water content below 60% can be accepted by
landfills. In fact, this standard has become a great barrier
for sludge disposal through landfills. Taking the situation
in Beijing as an example, 1731 tons of dewatered sewage
sludge was generated every day in 2007 [1]. Because of the
standard limitation, none of the landfills located in this
urban area were permitted to accept the sludge. Only a
small amount of the sludge generated in the WWTPs in the
suburbs entered the gates of nearby landfills. In recent
years, a new disposal method was studied that combined
the sludge with aged refuse in landfills [7]. Landfill is the
major disposal method for sludge in Chongqing, and lime
is added to decrease the water content and to increase the
shear strength of the sludge [8]. On the whole, there is little
evidence that the situation of landfills for sludge disposal
will undergo any significant change, restricted as it is by
the national standard and the unwillingness of landfill
managers. Zhu et al. [9] developed a solidification/
stabilization method for sludge landfill and a pilot study
has been completed. This process was used to reduce
sludge moisture in Shenzhen and the treated sludge was
directly transported to the landfill site. A disadvantage of
the method became evident when it was found that the
reagent mixed with the sludge increased the pH of the
sludge and was likely to preclude further microorganism
activity in the landfill.
2.2 Sludge composting technology
Composting technology has matured into a well-developed
treatment method for both municipal solid waste and
sludge. The sludge compost sold well as a fertilizer about
ten years ago. However, with the development of the
104 Front. Environ. Sci. Engin. China 2010, 4(1): 102–107
WWTPs, industrial wastewater also began to be treated in
the WWTPs, mixed with municipal wastewater. The high
content of heavy metals in the industrial wastewater
decreased the scope for the application of the compost
produced by the sludge composting processes. Chen et al.
[10] developed a fast sludge composting process that has
been used in several projects. With this process, a capacity
of 300 tons per day was reached. To improve the fertilizer
value, some additional measures were also examined, such
as adding pig manure to the sludge during composting
[11].
In small urban areas, the volume of dewatered sludge
generated was modest, therefore the sludge compost
produced could be used as fertilizer on the farm fields
nearby. Even if it could not all be used as fertilizer,
composting could also act as a bio-safety treatment for the
sludge. However, in the large cities, composting as a
disposal method was simply not effective enough. The
large amount of sludge took excessive areas of land for
composting on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was
difficult to sell all of the compost produced as fertilizer. For
this reason, sludge composting technology is now rarely
used in big cities.
3 Influence of sludge dewatering
performance on disposal practice
3.1 Influence of water content on sludge disposal
Dewatering is a key issue for reducing sludge amounts.
Conventional dewatering methods, such as centrifugal
force or pressurized filters, removes excess water from
thickened sludge, and then the dewatered sewage sludge is
disposed of by composting, landfill, drying (e.g., pelletized
Fig. 3 Scale of sludge dewatering methods and water content demand of different sludge disposal methods
or heat drying), or incineration. In general, anaerobic
digestion does not improve sludge dewaterability. The
results of a series of surveys by the author, assessing the
scale of sludge dewatering methods generally in use and
the water content demand of different sludge disposal
methods are summarized in Fig. 3. Sludge composting
processes can only treat sludge with a water content below
60%. The water content of a sludge compost product
should be lower than 40%, according to the national
standard, the ‘Best Available Techniques Directive for
Treatment and Disposal of Sludge from Wastewater
Treatment Plant’ issued by the Ministry of Housing and
Urban-Rural Department in 2009. Incineration is not
suitable for dewatered sewage sludge disposal without
any other supplementary means because the heat value of
80% water content sludge is too low for steady incineration
and pollution control. During incineration, increased
amounts of auxiliary fuel need to be consumed in the
incinerator.
According to the latest national standard, the sludge
water content for landfill disposal must be lower than 60%.
Therefore, only if the moisture in sludge is reduced to
50%–60%, can it be treated by composting, landfill, or
incineration.
3.2 Influence of water distribution on sludge dewatering
The most challenging problem in sludge treatment is to
reduce the water content to 60% through effective and
cost-effective methods. Essentially, the dewaterability is
determined by the water distribution in the sludge. In the
early 1970 s, Vesilind [12] classified the following kinds of
water in sludge: free water, interstitial water, surface or
vicinal water, and hydration water. The special cellular and
colloid structure creates difficulties in sludge dewatering,
 Wei WANG et al. Possible solutions for sludge dewatering in China
and the high water content is the bottleneck in the sludge
treatment and disposal process. At present, conventional
dewatering methods can only remove 15%–30% of the
water from concentrated sludge with a water content of
95%. Carberry [13] gave a quantitative water distribution
for concentrated sludge, indicating that 70% of the total
water was interstitial water, 22% was surface and capillary
water, and 8% was cellular water.
In recent years, substantial numbers of tests have been
carried out to determine the bound water and free water in
dewatered sludge. Interstitial water, surface or vicinal
water, and hydration water are also classified as bound
water. The bound water is defined as that portion of water
that is not removed by mechanical dewatering. A precise
measurement of bound water content is desirable for
sludge treatment engineering. Several comprehensive
studies to measure the bound water in sludge are available.
The aqueous phase is generally described as free water and
bound water. The bound water requires much more energy
to be removed. The bound water content is one of the
major limiting factors for water removal efficiency.
Different methods are used to define bound water and to
measure the energy in the bound water of the sludge solids.
Heukelekian [14] defined bound water as the water that is
still not free when the temperature is below 0°C. Kopp [15]
found that hydrolyzation of organic materials by heating
the sludge is conducive to the removal of bound water.
Specific resistance to filtration (SRF) and capillary suction
time (CST) also decreased after heat treatment.
Heat treatment has been recognized for many years as a
useful means of sludge conditioning [16]. In heat
treatment, liquid sludge is heated up to about 160°C–
180°C for over 30 min. This method effectively breaks
down the sludge gel network and decreases the water
affinity of the sludge solid. As a result, the sludge can be
readily dewatered. The hydrolysis of organics is a
dominant characteristic that distinguishes heat treatment
from other pretreatment methods. The viscosity of heat-
treated sludge decreases significantly. In general, the
energy input of sludge water removal follows a rising
curve. Based on the experimental methods of Lee et al.
[17] and Chu et al. [18], a comparison of the binding
strength between a series of raw sludge samples and heat-
treated sludge samples was made by the author and is
illustrated in Fig. 4. In the low water content range, the
binding strength was low and nearly 20% of the water was
readily removed. Once the water content decreased to
about 80%, the binding strength of the raw sludge rose
sharply. This inferred that the sludge could no longer be
dewatered, probably because the general dewatering
equipment could no longer provide sufficient force. For
heat-treated sludge, the curve inflexion appeared at a water
content of about 55%, which meant that the heat-treated
sludge could be dewatered to 50% by traditional dewater-
ing methods.
105
Fig. 4 Relationship between dewatering energy demand and
sludge water content
4 Improve sludge dewatering by thermal
drying and hydrothermal treatment of sludge
4.1 Application of thermal drying technology
In order to release bound water from sludge, different
methods have been developed based on the sludge cell
disruption, such as hydrothermal treatment, chemical
treatment [19], ultrasonic treatment [20], thermal chemical
treatment [21], and the freeze-thaw method. Direct thermal
drying is another method that can result in a nearly entirely
dry sludge. The water in the sludge is vaporized by contact
with a heating interface or a high temperature gas. As a
popular dewatering method, sludge thermal drying has also
been used in China. In 2004, the first sludge thermal drying
plant was constructed at the Shanghai Shidongkou WWTP,
with a capacity of 200 tons of dewatered sewage sludge per
day [22–23]. However, the operation and cost of this
facility has not yet been reported in any scientific journal.
The dried sludge was incinerated at the end of the process,
but there are no further operational details available.
Another sludge drying facility is under construction in
Gaobeidian WWTP, which should be able to treat 800 tons
of dewatered sewage sludge per day.
Sludge drying is a popular technology, as it is effective
for the reduction of retained water in sludge. However, it
has the disadvantage of consuming a very large amount of
energy. The energy obtained from the thermal output of dry
sludge incineration is less than the energy input required
for sludge drying, considering the thermal efficiency of
incineration and drying, making it a particularly inefficient
overall process. The latent heat of vaporizing 1 kg of water
was 3150 kJ, which is the largest part of the energy
consumption during the drying process and accounts for
106 Front. Environ. Sci. Engin. China 2010, 4(1): 102–107

Fig. 5 Solid-liquid separation of sludge before and after hydrothermal treatment. (a) Untreated sludge (300); (b) hydrothermally
treated sludge (300)

around 50% of the total thermal drying process cost. The
application of sludge drying technology has therefore been
restricted due to its prohibitive energy costs.
4.2 Principal and technology of sludge hydrothermal
treatment
a capacity of 15 tons of dewatered sewage sludge per day.
This process allowed an increased sludge feed concentra-
tion, which resulted in energy savings in the sludge heating
process. Figure 6 shows a photograph of the pilot plant
apparatus.

Hydrothermal treatment is another pre-treatment method

used for improving the dewaterability of sludge [24].
During this process, the sludge is heated to between 160°C
and 180°C for 30–60 min at the corresponding vapor
pressure. A partial solution is made from the sludge treated
by thermal hydrolysis, and the biological cells are
disintegrated. This creates a sludge that is more suitable
for dewatering and digestion. Dewaterability tests carried
out as a Cambi process showed an increase in the
dewaterability [25]. As cell water is set free by thermal
hydrolysis, the viscosity of the sludge also decreased.
Thus, a sludge of about 12% dry solid (DS) could be
handled in the same way as a raw sludge of 5%–6% DS. Fig. 6 Hydrothermal process pilot (2008, Dongguan)
Hydrothermal technology, by significantly increasing the
dewaterability of the sludge, therefore provides a promis- 5 Conclusions
ing way for using a higher sludge concentration in the
digester feed, for providing a higher buffer capacity, and The proper disposal of sewage sludge is an important
for ensuring a stable digestion process. measure for environmental protection, especially in highly
Figure 5 [26] shows the change of sludge solid-liquid populated cities in China. The large volume of sewage
separation performance after a hydrothermal treatment. sludge and its low disposal rate has become a bottleneck
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to for urban development. Landfill, composting, and incin-
analyze water distribution of the sludge. The bound eration are the three traditional disposal methods for
water content decreased from 3.6 g per solid sludge to municipal solid waste, and have also been incorporated in
1.0 g. The bound water proportion of the total sludge sludge disposal. However, the low dewatering and
decreased from 70% of the raw sludge to 30%–40% of the digestion properties of the sludge currently limit the
treated sludge. application of these three methods as effective means of
The hydrothermal process was also studied in a sludge sludge disposal. Decreasing the water content from 80% to
treatment field in China. The first pilot plant was built in 50% has been a key issue in improving sludge disposal
2002 at the Qinghe WWTP in Beijing and used a low- efficiency. Thermal drying technology and hydrothermal
pressure oxidation process [27]. In 2008, an innovative technology are two promising methods for sludge
pilot project, based on a hydrothermal process, was dewatering. Thermal drying technology can decrease the
developed by the author’s group in Dongguan City, with water content to lower levels than can hydrothermal
 Wei WANG et al. Possible solutions for sludge dewatering in China
technology, but the energy consumption is higher. These
two technologies have been used in several new sludge
treatment plants, and they will become major supplemen-
tary technologies for the three traditional methods of
sludge disposal.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National High
Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No.
2006AA06Z384).
References
1. State EPA. China Environment Yearbook. Beijing: China Environ-
mental Science Press, 2008, 630–631 (in Chinese)
2. Zhu S Q, Zhang S F, Chen H, Zhang C, Wang G H, Sun X. The plan
for Shanghai slurry disposal and treatment project. Shanghai
Construction Science and Technology, 2005, 4: 10–12 (in Chinese)
3. Yin X, Han P F, Lu X P, Wang Y R. A review on the dewaterability
of bio-sludge and ultrasound pretreatment. Ultrasonics Sonochem-
istry, 2004, 11: 337–348
4. Koening A, Kay J N, Wan I M. Physical properties of dewatered
wastewater sludge for landfilling. Water Science and Technology,
1996, 34(3–4): 533–540
5. Chan G Y S, Chu L M, Wong M H. Effects of leachate recirculation
on biogas production from landfill co-disposal of municipal solid
waste, sewage sludge and marine sediment. Environmental Pollu-
tion, 2002, 118: 393–399
6. Zhao L J, Dai S G, Gu X H. Progress on the application of the sludge
landfill technology. China Water & Wastewater, 2004, 20(4): 27–30
(in Chinese)
7. Yang Y, Zhang H. Modifiers and engineering application in
Shanghai sewage sludge landfill. Environmental Sanitation Engi-
neering, 2008, 16(5): 43–46 (in Chinese)
8. Lei X L, Ye F J. Selection of sludge treatment and disposal scheme
in municipal sewage treatment plant in Chongqing. China Water &
Wastewater, 2008, 24(24): 9–12 (in Chinese)
9. Zhu W, Ji S J, Li L. Field experiment on solidification/stabilization
of sludge. Environmental Science & Technology, 2009, 32(5): 131–
137 (in Chinese)
10. Gao D, Zheng G D, Chen T B. Inactivation of heavy metals in
sewage sludge by composting treatment. China Water & Waste-
water, 2007, 23(4): 7–10 (in Chinese)
11. Zheng Y Q, Chen T B, Gao D, Zheng G D, Luo W. Influence of
adding pig manure on urban sludge composting. China Water &
Wastewater, 2006, 22(9): 105–108 (in Chinese)
107
12. Erdincler A, Vesilind P A. Effect of sludge cell disruption on
compactibility of biological sludges. Water Science and Technology,
2000, 42(9): 119–126
13. Judith B, Carberry, Andrew J. Sludge Characteristics and Behavior.
Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1983
14. Heukelekian H, Weisburg E. Bound Water and activated sludge
bulking. Sewage and Industrial Wastes, 1956, 28: 558–574
15. Kopp J, Dichtl N. Prediction of full-scale dewatering results by
determining the water distribution of sewage sludges. Water Science
and Technology, 2000, 42(9): 141–149
16. Brooks R B. Heat treatment of activated sludge. Water Pollution
Control, 1968, 67: 592–601
17. Lee D J, Hsu Y H. Measurement of bound water in sludges: A
comparative study. Water Environment Research, 1995, 67(3): 310–
317
18. Chu C P, Lee D J. Moisture distribution in sludge: Effects of
polymer conditioning. Environment Engineering, 1999, 125(4):
340–345
19. Lin J G, Chang C N, Chang S C. Enhancement of anaerobic
digestion of waste activated sludge by alkaline solubilization.
Bioresource Technology, 1997, 62: 85–90
20. Zhang G M, Zhang P Y, Yang J M. Ultrasonic reduction of excess
sludge from the activated sludge system. Journal of hazardous
materials, 2007, 145(3): 515–519
21. Vlyssides A G, Karlis P K. Thermal-alkaline solubilization of waste
activated sludge as a pre-treatment stage for anaerobic digestion.
Bioresource Technology, 2004, 91: 201–206
22. Xu Z. Commissioning of sludge disposal system of Shanghai
Shidongkou municipal wastewater treatment plant. China Water and
Wastewater, 2005, 21(12): 98–99 (in Chinese)
23. Lv X R. Comission of sewage sludge dryness and incineration.
Industrial Boiler, 2008, 6: 49–53 (in Chinese)
24. Neyens E, Baeyens J. A review of thermal sludge pre-treatment
processes to improve dewaterability. Journal of Hazardous Materi-
als, 2003, 98(1-3): 51–67
25. Keep U, Machenbach I, Weisz N. Enhanced stabilisation of sewage
sludge through thermal hydrolysis three years of experience with
full scale plant. Water Science and Technology, 2000, 42(9): 89–
96
26. Xun R, Wang W, Qiao W. Water distribution and dewatering
performance of the hydrothermal conditioned sludge. Environmen-
tal Science, 2009, 30(3): 851–856 (in Chinese)
27. Xia Z, Wang W, Wang Z J. Study on pilot experiment of low-
pressure oxidation (LPO) of municipal sewage sludge. Journal of
Harbin University of Commerce (Natural Sciences Edition), 2005,
21(2): 153–156 (in Chinese)