KOMBOLCHA INDUSTRIAL PARK

(KIP)

Training MANUAL for

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT PROCESS

Prepared by:
AHEMED (Laboratory technician)
NEBIAN MOKONEN ( STP Technician)
DANIEL MISGANIE ( Senior STP Expert)

MARCH 2011E.C
1. Introduction

• Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household
sewage water.
It includes physical, biological and sometimes chemical processes to remove pollutants..
Its aim is to produce an environmentally safe sewage water, called effluent, and a solid waste,
called sludge or bio solids, suitable for disposal or reuse. Reuse is often for agricultural purposes,
but more recently, sludge is being used as a fuel source.
Water from the mains, used by manufacturing, farming, houses (toilets, baths, showers, kitchens,
sinks), hospitals, commercial and industrial sites, is reduced in quality as a result of the
introduction of contaminating constituents.
To be continue

• Organic wastes, suspended solids, bacteria, nitrates, and phosphates are pollutants that must be
removed.
Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from municipal wastewater, containing
mainly household

• sewage plus some industrial wastewater. Physical, chemical, and biological processes are used to
remove contaminants and produce treated wastewater (or treated effluent) that is safe enough for
release into the environment.
• A by-product of sewage treatment is a semi-solid waste or slurry, called sewage sludge. The sludge
has to undergo further treatment before being suitable for disposal or application to land.
Objectives of sewerage treatment plant

• To produce an environmentally safe fluid waste stream and solid waste suitable for disposal or re
use
• To produce a disposal effluent without causing harm to the surrounding environment, and prevent
pollution
Importance of sewerage treatment plant
• To provide some degree of treatment to waste water before it can be used for agricultural,
irrigation or aqua culture environments
• To allow human effluent to be dispose of without dangerous to human health or unacceptable
damage to the natural environment.
• To get the proper treatment of water for healthy living because large number of people die from
water born disease
Origins of sewage (source of sewerage treatment plant

• Sewage is generated by residential, institutional, commercial and industrial establishments. It

includes household waste liquid from toilets, baths, showers, kitchens, and sinks draining into
sewers. In many areas, sewage also includes liquid waste from industry and commerce. The
separation and draining of household waste into grey water and Backwater is becoming more
common in the developed world, with treated grey water being permitted to be used for watering
plants or recycled for flushing toilets.
Our sewerage treatment plant capacity
• Kombolcha industrial park sewerage treatment plant has 2500 M3 or 2,500,000 L per day of
sewerage treatment capacity. it is equivalent to 104.1 m3 per hour or 104,000 l per hour
• System design water quantity and water quality
The design capacity and water inlet and out let quality respectively shown in table below
Designed water inlet and out let quality

Design basic

Design capacity

Daily capacity Qd 2500 M3/d Remark

Peak variation factor KZ 1.86 - Coad of GB50014-2006,P20

Average flow Qh(aver) 104.2 M3/h Qd/24

Peak flow Qh(peak) 194.2 M3/h Qh*KZ

 Design inlet and out let quality

Design inlet and out let quality

Parameter influent Effluent Unit Remark
COD 680 100 Mg/l
BOD 340 30 Mg/l
TSS 400 30 Mg/l
NH3-N 50 10 Mg/l
TN 50 10 Mg/l
TP 7.0 2.0 Mg/l
PH 6-9 6.5-7.5
Temp 16-35 20-30 O
C
 Designed treatment efficiency for each treatment
SN Parameter COD BOD NH3-N TN TP SS
(Mg/) (Mg/) (Mg/) (Mg/) (Mg/) (Mg/)

1 Sewage inlet ≤ 680

2 Pre treatment ratio 15% 15% 5% 5% 10% 5%

out≤ 578 289 48 48 6.3 340

3 Biological system ratio 82% 86% 85% 85% 50% 75%

out≤ 104 40 7 7 3.2 85

4 Lamella clarifier ratio 25% 20% 0% 0% 50% 50%

out≤ 78 32 7 7 1.6 43

5 Sand filter ratio 15% 10% 0% 0% 30% 80%

out≤ 66 29 7 7 1.1 9

6 Carbon filter ratio 15% 10% 0% 0% 10% 15%

out≤ 56 26 7 7 1.0 7

7 Discharge standard ≤ 100 30 10 10 2 30

 Sewerage treatment process flow diagram
Sewerage treatment process follow diagram

Sewerage inlet

Collection bar screening

Pump station

Screw Fine screening

collection
conveyer
O&G removal oil
collection
Sand
sand disposal separator sand
Sand separation

Equalization tank
water

RAS2 Anoxic tank

RAS1

blower Aerobic tank

pac&pam conditioning sludge thickener sludge Secondary clarifier

Sludge
Filter press
transfer Lamella clarifier Pac&P
tank
am

Sludge cake disposal

Clean water tank
NaCl
O

Back wash
Blower Sand filter

Back wash pump Back Wash Carbon filter

 Sewerage treatment process

Sewage treatment generally involves three stages, called

• Primary treatment
• Secondary treatment and
• Tertiary treatment.
 Types of the treatment process
Sr,No Type of Type of treatment Name of the unit Type of impurities removed
treatment unit

1 Physical physical Screen Large suspended and floating

treatment matter
physical Oil and grease removal Removal of lipids

physical Grit removal Removal of gravel sands and

grits
2 Biological Biological Trickling filters Dissolving organic matters or
treatment Activated sludge toxic chemicals
Plant
Digesters
Rotating biological contactors

3 Chemical chemical Chemical reactors TSS,MLSS dissolved ions and

treatment chemicals
 Here are some details about the process

• Primary treatment consists: of temporarily holding the sewage in a quiescent basin where heavy
solids can settle to the bottom while oil, grease and lighter solids float to the surface. The settled and
floating materials are removed and the remaining liquid may be discharged or subjected to secondary
treatment. Some sewage treatment plants that are connected to a combined sewer system have a
bypass arrangement after the primary treatment unit. This means that during very heavy rainfall
events, the secondary and tertiary treatment systems can be bypassed to protect them from hydraulic
overloading, and the mixture of sewage and storm water only receives primary treatment.

• It includes bar screening, fine screening, oil and grease removal, grit removal and equalization tank

The main purpose of primary treatment is separation of large suspended solids from the sewage .

•
 Secondary Treatment

• removes dissolved and suspended biological matter. Secondary treatment is typically performed by
indigenous, water-borne micro-organisms in a managed habitat. Secondary treatment may require a
separation process to remove the micro-organisms from the treated water prior to discharge or tertiary
treatment.
• It is just developing activated sludge: activated sludge is the process of breaking down of organic
matters using microorganisms and oxygen
• It is the process of developing bacteria which is the main source of the sewerage treatment plant
process
It includes:
Anoxic tank
• Aerobic tank
• Secondary clarifier
 To be continue

• Anoxic tank: is the main tank consists of partial aerobic and partial anaerobic
• Used for denitrification of total nitrogen.

Denitrification
• Denitrification is the biological transformation of nitrate to nitrogenous gas by reduction.it always
follows nitrification and the reaction sequence may be represented as follows
• No3→No2→NO→N20→N2
• The process is facilitated by facultative bacteria.
• Follow nitrification process
• Transformation of nitrate to nitrogenous gases, mainly nitrogen and nitrous oxide
• Facilitated by heterotrophic facultative bacteria
To be continue

• Sequence of steps: conversion of nitrate to nitrite, to nitric oxide, to nitrous oxide and finally to
nitrogen
• Decontaminates waste water and aquatic system by lowering nitrate levels
• Reactant formed by nitrification
• Denitrifies less sensitives to environmental stresses
• Works at PH of 7.0-8.5 and temperature of 26-38 0c

Aerobic tank: is a process of breaking down of organic compounds with oxygen and micro
organisms
• The process under goes ammonification and nitrification process
To be continue

• Ammonification process
• Ammonification: This is a process where bacteria or other decomposers break down nitrogen-
containing chemicals from waste or a dead body into simpler chemicals, such as ammonia.
• N2 →NH3 or NH4
• Nitrification Process
• nitrification is the transformation of ammonium (NH4) to nitrate (No3) by oxidation. The process
is represented by the chemical equation
• 2NH4+3O2→2NO2+2H2O+4H+ energy
• then bacteria primary from the nitro bacteria group convert nitrite to nitrate
• Nitrification is an oxidation process (loss of electrons or gain of the oxidation state by an atom or
compound takes place).
To be continue
• This process starts with the ammonia which gets oxidized into nitrite (NO2-), this action is
performed by the bacteria Nitrosomonas . Later on, this nitrite (NO2-) gets oxidized into nitrate
(NO3-), and this action is performed by the Nitrobacteria.
• The bacteria are autotrophic, and the reaction is performed under aerobic condition. The
importance of this step in nitrogen cycle is the conversion of ammonia into nitrate, as nitrate is the
primary nitrogen source present in the soil, for the plant. Though nitrite is toxic to the plants
• Secondary clarifier

• Clarifiers are settling tanks built with mechanical means for continuous removal of solids being
deposited by sedimentation. A clarifier is generally used to remove solid particulates or suspended
solids from liquid for clarification and (or) thickening. Concentrated impurities, discharged from
the bottom of the tank are known as sludge, while the particles that float to the surface of the
liquid are called scum. It is used to return sludge to aerobic tank which is further used as a source
of food for bacteria
Tertiary treatment

• Tertiary treatment is the final cleaning process that improves wastewater quality before it is
reused, recycled or discharged to the environment.
• The treatment removes remaining inorganic compounds, and substances, such as the nitrogen and
phosphorus.
• Bacteria, viruses and parasites, which are harmful to public health, are also removed at this stage.
• Let's take a look. Wastewater flows from the biological reactor and IDAL to a pumping station and
meet in the flash mixer.
• Alum is used to help remove additional phosphorus particles and group the remaining solids
together for easy removal in the filters.
To be continue

• Wastewater from the flash mixer is gravity fed through the sand filters.
• Because of the addition of alum, tiny particles cluster together in masses called floc.
• Floc is trapped by the sand, while the clear water is gravity fed to the chlorine contact tank.
• The filters are backwashed every 24 hours to remove the floc that has accumulated. The backwash
water is returned to the primary treatment stage to go through full treatment. The chlorine contact
tank disinfects the tertiary treated wastewater.
• Chlorine removes microorganisms in treated wastewater including bacteria, viruses and parasites
such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
• The chlorinated water slowly winds its way along the discharge tank, giving it time to react .
To be continue

• Any remaining chlorine is removed by adding sodium bisulphite just before it's discharged.
• Chlorine is removed from the water since it can be harmful to water quality and aquatic life when
in high concentrations.
• It is also called "effluent polishing." It is more advanced treatment method. It includes
• Filtration
• Coagulation
• Reverse osmosis
• Membrane technology
To be continue

• Filtration : is any of various mechanical, physical or biological operations that separate solids
from fluids (liquids or gases) by adding a medium through which only the fluid can pass. The fluid
that passes through is called the filtrate. In physical filters oversize solids in the fluid are retained
and in biological filters particulates are trapped and ingested and metabolites are retained and
removed. However, the separation is not complete; solids will be contaminated with some fluid
and filtrate will contain fine particles (depending on the pore size, filter thickness and biological
activity). Filtration occurs both in nature and in engineered systems; there are biological,
geological, and industrial forms. For example, in animals (including humans), renal filtration
removes waste from the blood, and in water treatment and sewage treatment, undesirable
constituents are removed by absorption into a biological film grown on or in the filter medium, as
in slow sand filtration.
• Sand filtration removes much of the residual suspended matter. Filtration over activated carbon,
also called carbon adsorption, removes residual toxins.
Difference between coagulation and flocculation
To be continue

Biological nutrient removal

• Biological nutrient removal (BNR) is regarded by some as a type of secondary treatment process,
and by others as a tertiary (or "advanced") treatment process.
• Wastewater may contain high levels of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus. Excessive release to
the environment can lead to a build-up of nutrients, called eutrophication, which can in turn
encourage the overgrowth of weeds, algae, and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). This may cause
an algal bloom, a rapid growth in the population of algae. The algae numbers are unsustainable
and eventually most of them die. The decomposition of the algae by bacteria uses up so much of
the oxygen in the water that most or all of the animals die, which creates more organic matter for
the bacteria to decompose.
• In addition to causing deoxygenation, some algal species produce toxins that contaminate drinking
water supplies. Different treatment processes are required to remove nitrogen and phosphorus
To be continue

• Nitrogen removal

• Nitrogen is removed through the biological oxidation of nitrogen from ammonia to nitrate
(nitrification), followed by denitrification, the reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas. Nitrogen gas is
released to the atmosphere and thus removed from the water.

• Nitrification itself is a two-step aerobic process, each step facilitated by a different type of bacteria. The
oxidation of ammonia (NH3) to nitrite (NO2−) is most often facilitated by Nitrosomonas spp. ("nitroso"

referring to the formation of a nitroso functional group). Nitrite oxidation to nitrate (NO 3−), though
traditionally believed to be facilitated by Nitrobacter spp. (nitro referring the formation of a nitro
functional group), is now known to be facilitated in the environment almost exclusively by Nitrospira
To be continue
• Denitrification requires anoxic conditions to encourage the appropriate biological communities to
form. It is facilitated by a wide diversity of bacteria. Sand filters, lagooning and reed beds can all
be used to reduce nitrogen, but the activated sludge process (if designed well) can do the job the
most easily. Since denitrification is the reduction of nitrate to dinitrogen (molecular nitrogen) gas,
an electron donor is needed. This can be, depending on the waste water, organic matter (from
feces), sulphide, or an added donor like methanol. The sludge in the anoxic tanks (denitrification
tanks) must be mixed well (mixture of recirculated mixed liquor, return activated sludge [RAS],
and raw influent) e.g. by using submersible mixers in order to achieve the desired denitrification.
• Sometimes the conversion of toxic ammonia to nitrate alone is referred to as tertiary treatment.
• Over time, different treatment configurations have evolved as denitrification has become more
sophisticated.
To be continue

• Phosphorus removal
• Every adult human excretes between 200 and 1,000 grams (7.1 and 35.3 oz) of phosphorus
annually. Studies of United States sewage in the late 1960s estimated mean per capita
contributions of 500 grams (18 oz) in urine and feces, 1,000 grams (35 oz) in synthetic detergents,
and lesser variable amounts used as corrosion and scale control chemicals in water supplies.
Source control via alternative detergent formulations has subsequently reduced the largest
contribution, but the content of urine and feces will remain unchanged.
• Phosphorus removal is important as it is a limiting nutrient for algae growth in many fresh water
systems. (For a description of the negative effects of algae, Nutrient removal). It is also
particularly important for water reuse systems where high phosphorus concentrations may lead to
fouling of downstream equipment such as reverse osmosis.
To be continue

• Phosphorus can be removed biologically in a process called enhanced biological phosphorus

removal. In this process, specific bacteria, called polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs),
are selectively enriched and accumulate large quantities of phosphorus within their cells (up to 20
percent of their mass). When the biomass enriched in these bacteria is separated from the treated
water, these bio solids have a high fertilizer value.
• Phosphorus removal can also be achieved by chemical precipitation, usually with salts of iron (e.g.
ferric chloride), aluminium (e.g. alum), or lime. This may lead to excessive sludge production as
hydroxides precipitate and the added chemicals can be expensive. Chemical phosphorus removal
requires significantly smaller equipment footprint than biological removal, is easier to operate and
is often more reliable than biological phosphorus removal. Another method for phosphorus
removal is to use granular laterite.
To be continue

• Some systems use both biological phosphorus removal and chemical phosphorus removal. The
chemical phosphorus removal in those systems may be used as a backup system, for use when the
biological phosphorus removal is nor removing enough phosphorus, or may be used continuously.
In either case, using both biological and chemical phosphorus removal has the advantage of not
increasing sludge production as much as chemical phosphorus removal on its own, with the
disadvantage of the increased initial cost associated with installing two different systems.
• Once removed, phosphorus, in the form of a phosphate-rich sewage sludge, may be dumped in a
landfill or used as fertilizer. In the latter case, the treated sewage sludge is also sometimes referred
to as bio solids.
Chemicals used for coagulation and flocculation and treated water are the followings

Disinfection
• The purpose of disinfection in the treatment of waste water is to substantially reduce the number
of microorganisms in the water to be discharged back into the environment for the later use of
drinking, bathing, irrigation, etc. The effectiveness of disinfection depends on the quality of the
water being treated (e.g., cloudiness, pH, etc.), the type of disinfection being used, the disinfectant
dosage (concentration and time), and other environmental variables.
• Cloudy water will be treated less successfully, since solid matter can shield organisms, especially
from ultraviolet light or if contact times are low. Generally, short contact times, low doses and
high flows all militate against effective disinfection. Common methods of disinfection include
ozone, chlorine, ultraviolet light, or sodium hypochlorite
To be continue

• . Chloramine, which is used for drinking water, is not used in the treatment of waste water because
of its persistence. After multiple steps of disinfection, the treated water is ready to be released back
into the water cycle by means of the nearest body of water or agriculture. Afterwards, the water
can be transferred to reserves for everyday human uses.
• Chlorination remains the most common form of waste water disinfection in the world due to its
low cost and long-term history of effectiveness. One disadvantage is that chlorination of residual
organic material can generate chlorinated-organic compounds that may be carcinogenic or harmful
to the environment. Residual chlorine or chloramines may also be capable of chlorinating organic
material in the natural aquatic environment. Further, because residual chlorine is toxic to aquatic
species, the treated effluent must also be chemically di chlorinated,
• adding to the complexity and cost of treatment
To be continue

PAC (poly aluminium chloride) and PAM (poly acryl amide)

• The flocculent PAC and PAM are often used in sewage treatment, Combination of PAC and PAM,
Sewage treatment enterprises will obtain the best results with the lowest cost. If 1000 party of
water consume amount of PAC 20KG, the effect is the best, then, can actually use 6KG PAC with
200 grams of CPAM (usually PAC dosage of 1/30) to complete the condensation. In this
combination, PAC and PAM realize the best benefit.
• The proportion of sewage treatment PAC and PAM, this according to different water condition.
Sometimes the content is too high, the dosage of PAM will be more. So the safest method is to
have a lab test. As the sewage treatment agent, we generally choose two types PAC and pam. PAC
is a yellow solid particle, PAM is white powdered particles. One of them is the flocculation, the
other is to help precipitation. So if both of them use together, sewage purification can achieve very
good results. But these two kinds of dosage ratio are need time to experiment and calculation. We
usually experiment were conducted in a beaker. Polyacrylamide prices and PAC prices are
different. PAM is a little higher, PAC will be relatively cheaper
To be continue

• PAC is polymerization aluminium chloride can be as flocculent, PAM is polyacrylamide can be

coagulant, usually used in combination, first adding PAC, then adding PAM, sometimes it may be
necessary to add acid or alkali to adjust PH value.
• Both of them mainly used for coagulation sedimentation tank, i.e. physicochemical treatment
section, commonly used in industrial. If the treatment process of biological chemical materialized,
the dosage of PAC is about 0.1% (GB, 10% effective content), PAM is about 1-3ppm, in which
each million tons of water were fed PAC about 10 tons, PAM10-30kg. If the process is first
materialized biochemical, will more than double dosage. The actual dosage according to water
quality is different, need according to the field tuning.
To be continue

• PAM can be used as a flocculent in water treatment, can also be used as a coagulant aid, to
improve the effect of coagulation. Due to its price and properties, a weak toxicity, in drinking
water must control the dosage. Generally used in special circumstances. When the polymeric
aluminium chloride and polyacrylamide with the use, should be different depending on the water
quality in accordance with the sequence of addition, the dose should also determine by test. In the
process of wastewater treatment, PAC direct used for sewage and chemical coagulation treatment,
can reduce the waste water colour, turbidity, SS and a certain proportion of COD and BOD, but
also by adsorption precipitation to remove part of the N and P.
Odour control

• Odours emitted by sewage treatment are typically an indication of an anaerobic or "septic" condition.
Early stages of processing will tend to produce foul-smelling gases, with hydrogen sulphide being
most common in generating complaints. Large process plants in urban areas will often treat the odours
with carbon reactors, a contact media with bio-slimes, small doses of chlorine, or circulating fluids to
biologically capture and metabolize the noxious gases. Other methods of odor control exist, including
addition of iron salts, hydrogen peroxide, calcium nitrate, etc. to manage hydrogen sulfide levels.
• High-density solids pumps are suitable for reducing odors by conveying sludge through hermetic
closed pipework. The main chemicals used for odor control method are the followings
• Acid such as HCL, H2SO4, HNO3
• Bases such as NaOH, KOH
Activated carbon
• The main gases released from pretreatment stage are hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and other volatile
hydrocarbons. these gases which are mainly released from screening, oil and grease, grit removal and
equalization thank may cause serious problem for human health as well for all living things
To be continue

• The process can be done as follows

• H2S + NaOH →Na2S+H2O
• NH3+H2SO4→(NH4)2 SO4
• The activated carbon is mainly used to absorb and remove other volatile gases
Sludge treatment and disposal
• The sludge accumulated in a wastewater treatment process must be treated and disposed of in a
safe and effective manner. The purpose of digestion is to reduce the amount of organic matter and
the number of disease-causing microorganisms present in the solids. The most common treatment
options include anaerobic digestion, aerobic digestion, and composting. Incineration is also used,
albeit to a much lesser degree.
To be continue

• Sludge treatment depends on the amount of solids generated and other site-specific conditions. Composting
is most often applied to small-scale plants with aerobic digestion for mid-sized operations, and anaerobic
digestion for the larger-scale operations.
• The sludge is sometimes passed through a so-called pre-thickener which de-waters the sludge. Types of pre-
thickeners include centrifugal sludge thickeners rotary drum sludge thickeners and belt filter presses.
Dewatered sludge may be incinerated or transported offsite for disposal in a landfill or use as an agricultural
soil amendment.
• Sewage sludge treatment describes the processes used to manage and dispose of sewage sludge produced
during sewage treatment. Sludge is mostly water with lesser amounts of solid material removed from liquid
sewage. Primary sludge includes settle able solids removed during primary treatment in primary clarifiers.
Secondary sludge separated in secondary clarifiers includes treated sewage sludge from secondary treatment
bioreactors.
To be continue

• Sludge treatment is focused on reducing sludge weight and volume to reduce disposal costs, and
on reducing potential health risks of disposal options. Water removal is the primary means of
weight and volume reduction, while pathogen destruction is frequently accomplished through
heating during thermophilic digestion, composting, or incineration.
• The choice of a sludge treatment method depends on the volume of sludge generated, and
comparison of treatment costs required for available disposal options. Air-drying and composting
may be attractive to rural communities, while limited land availability may make aerobic digestion
and mechanical dewatering preferable for cities, and economies of scale may encourage energy
recovery alternatives in metropolitan areas.
• Energy may be recovered from sludge through methane gas production during anaerobic digestion
or through incineration of dried sludge, but energy yield is often insufficient to evaporate sludge
water content or to power blowers, pumps, or centrifuges required for dewatering. Coarse primary
solids and secondary sewage sludge may include toxic chemicals removed from liquid sewage by
sorption onto solid particles in clarifier sludge. Reducing sludge volume may increase the
concentration of some of these toxic chemicals in the sludge
 Treatment process
Sludge thickener
To be continue

• Thickening is often the first step in a sludge treatment process. Sludge from primary or secondary
clarifiers may be stirred (often after addition of clarifying agents) to form larger, more rapidly
settling aggregates. Primary sludge may be thickened to about 8 or 10 percent solids, while
secondary sludge may be thickened to about 4 percent solids. Thickeners often resemble a clarifier
with the addition of a stirring mechanism. Thickened sludge with less than ten percent solids may
receive additional sludge treatment while liquid thickener overflow is returned to the sewage
treatment process.
 Sludge Conditioning

• Sludge conditioning is a process whereby sludge solids are treated with chemicals or various other
means to prepare the sludge for dewatering processes.
• 1. Chemical Conditioning...
• Chemical conditioning (sludge conditioning) prepares the sludge for better and more economical
treatment with vacuum filters or centrifuges. Many chemicals have been used such as sulfuric
acid, alum, chlorinated copperas, ferrous sulphate, and ferric chloride with or without lime, and
others.
The local cost of the various chemicals is usually the determining factor. In recent years the price
of ferric chloride has been reduced to a point where it is the one most commonly used he addition
of the chemical to the sludge lowers or raises its pH value to a point where small particles
coagulate into larger ones and the water in the sludge solids is given up most readily. There is no
one pH value best for all sludge. Different sludge such as primary, various secondary and digested
sludge and different sludge of the same type have different optimum pH values which must be
determined for each sludge by trial and error
To be continue
• Tr. Tanks for dissolving acid salts, such as ferric chloride, are lined with rubber or other acid-proof
material. Intimate mixing of sludge and coagulant is essential for proper conditioning. Feeders are
also necessaryforapplyingthe chemicalsneededforproperchemicalconditioning .
To be continue

• The most frequently encountered conditioning practice is the use of ferric chloride either alone or in
combination with lime. The use of polymers is rapidly gaining widespread acceptance. Although ferric
chloride and lime are normally used in combination, it is not unusual for them to be applied individually.
Lime alone is a fairly popular conditioner for raw primary sludge and ferric chloride alone has been used
for conditioning activated sludge. Lime treatment to a pH of 10.4 or above has the added advantage of
providing a significant degree (over 99 percent) of disinfection of the sludge.

Organic polymer coagulants, and coagulant aids have been developed in the past 20 years and are
rapidly gaining acceptance for sludge conditioning. These polymers are of three basic types:
• Anionic (Negative Charge) ...
• Serve as coagulants aids to inorganic Aluminium and Iron coagulants by increasing the rate of
flocculation, size, and toughness of particles.
• Cationic (Positive Charge) ...
• Serve as primary coagulants alone or in combination with inorganic coagulants such as aluminium
sulphate.
To be continue

• Non-ionic (Equal Amounts of Positively and Negatively Charged Groups in Monomers) ...

• Serve as coagulant aids in a manner similar to that of both anionic and cationic polymers.

• The popularity of polymers is primarily due to their ease in handling, small storage space
requirements, and their effectiveness. All of the inorganic coagulants are difficult to handle and
their corrosive nature can cause maintenance problems in the storing, handling, and feeding
systems in addition to the safety hazards inherent in their handling
To be continue

2. Thermal Conditioning...
• There are two basic processes for thermal treatment of sludge. One, wet air oxidation, is the
flameless oxidation of sludge at temperatures of 450 to 550O F and pressures of about 1,200 psig.
The other type, heat treatment, is similar but carried out at temperatures of 350 to 400 O F and
pressures of 150 to 300 ps. Wet air oxidation reduces the sludge to an ash and heat treatment
improves the dewater ability of the sludge. The lower temperature and pressure heat treatment
ismorewidelyusedthantheoxidationprocess.

When the organic sludge is heated, heat causes water to escape from the sludge. Thermal treatment
systems release water that is bound within the cell structure of the sludge and thereby improves the
dewatering and thickening characteristics of the sludge. The oxidation process further reduces the
sludge to ask by wet incineration (oxidation).
To be continue

• Sludge is ground to a controlled particle size and pumped to a pressure of about 300 psi.
Compressed air is added to the sludge (wet air oxidation only), the mixture is brought to a
temperature of about 350O F by heat exchange with treated sludge and direct steam injection, and
then is processed (cooked) in the reactor at the desired temperature and pressure. The hot treated
sludge is cooled by heat exchange with the incoming sludge. The treated sludge is settled from the
supernatant before the dewatering step. Gases released at the separation step are passed through a
catalytic after-burner at 650 to 705O F or deodorized by other means. In some cases these gases
have been returned through the diffused air system in the aeration basinsfordeodorization.

An advantage of thermal treatment is that a more readily dewater able sludge is produced than
with chemical conditioning.
• Dewatered sludge solids of 30 to 40 percent (as opposed to 15 to 20 percent with chemical
conditioning) have been achieved with heat treated sludge at relatively high loading rates on the
dewatering equipment (2 to 3 times the rates with chemical conditioning).
To be continue

Theprocessalsoprovideseffectivedisinfectionofthesludge.
Unfortunately, the heat treatment process ruptures the cell walls of biological organisms, releasing
not only the water but some bound organic material. This returns to solution some organic material
previously converted to particulate form and creates other fine particulate matter. The breakdown of
the biological cells as a result of heat treatment converts these previously particulate cells back to
water and fine solids. This aids the dewatering process, but creates a separate problem of treating this
highly polluted liquid from the cells. Treatment of this water or liquor requires careful consideration
in design of the plant because the organic content of the liquor can be extremely high.
To be continue

3. Blending...
• Blending is a process where two or more types of sludge are "blended" together to facilitate a
higher sludge solids concentration and a more homogenous mixture of sludge prior to dewatering.
Blending operations tends to decrease the chemical demand for conditioning and dewatering
sludge.
The blending operation usually takes place in sludge holding tanks normally where primary sludge
is mixed with waste activated sludge. The amounts of the sludge to be blended can only be found
by experimentation, with the final results being seen at the dewatering operations
Dewatering
To be continue

• Schematic of a belt filter press to dewater sewage sludge. Filtrate is extracted initially by gravity,
then by squeezing the cloth through rollers.
• Water content of sludge may be reduced by centrifugation, filtration, and/or evaporation to reduce
transportation costs of disposal, or to improve suitability for composting. Centrifugation may be a
preliminary step to reduce sludge volume for subsequent filtration or evaporation. Filtration may
occur through underdrains in a sand drying bed or as a separate mechanical process in a belt filter
press. Filtrate and centrate are typically returned to the sewage treatment process. After dewatering
sludge may be handled as a solid containing 50 to 75 percent water. Dewatered sludge with higher
moisture content are usually handled as liquids.
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Drying beds

• Simple sludge drying beds are used in many countries, particularly in developing countries, as
they are a cheap and simple method to dry sewage sludge. Drainage water must be captured;
drying beds are sometimes covered but usually left uncovered. Mechanical devices to turn over the
sludge in the initial stages of the drying process are also available on the market.
• Drying beds are typically composed of four layers consisting of gravel and sand. The first layer is
coarse gravel that is 15 to 20 centimetres thick. Followed by fine gravel that is 10 centimetres
thick. The third layer is sand that can be between 10 to 15 centimetres and serves as the filter
between the sludge and gravel. Sludge dries up and water percolates to the first layer that is
collected at the drainage pipe that is beneath all layers.
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Disposal or use as fertilizer

• When a liquid sludge is produced, further treatment may be required to make it suitable for final
disposal. Sludge are typically thickened and/or dewatered to reduce the volumes transported off-
site for disposal. Processes for reducing water content include lagooning in drying beds to produce
a cake that can be applied to land or incinerated; pressing, where sludge is mechanically filtered,
often through cloth screens to produce a firm cake; and centrifugation where the sludge is
thickened by centrifugally separating the solid and liquid. Sludge can be disposed of by liquid
injection to land or by disposal in a landfill.
• There is no process which completely eliminates the need to dispose of treated sewage sludge.
• Much sludge originating from commercial or industrial areas is contaminated with toxic materials
that are released into the sewers from the industrial processes. Elevated concentrations of such
materials may make the sludge unsuitable for agricultural use and it may then have to be
incinerated or disposed of to landfill,
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• The sludge is obtained from secondary clarifier and lamella clarifier which is obtained as
coagulation and flocculation process using the two main pumps such as return activated sludge
and waste activated sludge pumps
• Return activated sludge (RAS) pump; is a pump used to return sludge from secondary clarifier
tank to anoxic tank and
• Waste activated sludge (WAS) pump is a pump is used to remove sludge to sludge thickener tank