Application Guide Sludge Mixers for Anaerobic Digestion

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Sludge Mixers for Anaerobic Digestion

Since the 1950s, there has been a constant increase in water consumption and the amount of wastewater. Municipalities, industries and government are forced to treat sewage more and more intensively. During the process of treating wastewater a great amount of sludge is produced along the process way. This sludge is full of toxic substance and full of potential pathogens and have to be treated in a separate way so that it will be transformed from a aggressive into a harmless by-product of wastewater treatment plants. Additionally the ratio of organic material will be reduced so that the volume of the treated sludge will be reduced.

The anaerobic digestion process is a common way to reduce the organic ratio in the sludge by generating useful methane gas (Biogas). The anaerobic organisms used in the conversion of waste solids to methane are very sensitive to changes in process conditions. Therefore, homogeneous mixing is essential for a uniform temperature and nutrient profile. A reliable and economical system is required to solve problems in large tanks such as deposits at the bottom and the formation of scum and foam on the sludge surface. The requirements of a mixing system should meet in order to ensure optimal anaerobic digestion can be described as follows: The complete digester content need to be homogenised with the raw sludge (2 - 8% dry solid content) supplied in a continuous process. Intensive mixing is required to maintain a sufficient exchange of substances. Avoidance of temperature and material gradients. Efficient utilisation of the entire digester volume. The Draft Tube Mixer meets these requirements.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant

The sludge of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) will be produced in two areas of the process - mechanical treatment and biological treatment of wastewater. The mechanical treatment
In the mechanical treatment the so called primary sludge will be separated of the wastewater by using screens and sedimentation tanks. It contents of mostly fat and large amounts of biodegradable organic material. Up to 90% of all waste is separated from the wastewater within this process step.
Sewer
Grit chamber Screen To the biological wastewater treatment Primary clarifier

Primary sludge to digester

The biological treatment

The biological treatment of wastewater is necessary to separate dissolved and colloidal organic matter (e.g. proteins) and nutrients. For this step specialized bacteria groups are living in so called aeration tanks. The bacterias use this dissolved matters as energy resource and transform this into CO2, N2, Water and biomass. In settlement tanks the purified water will be separated from these bacteria groups. A part of this bacteria groups will be pumped back into the aeration tanks but a certain part of dead bacterias (so called exceed sludge or secondary sludge) is pumped into the anaerobic digester.
Aeration tank Secondary clarifier

Excess sludge To digester

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The Sludge Process

The sludge process which takes place in the anaerobic digester is also called sludge stabilisation and requires a uniform temperature, pH and material profile within the total volume of the digester. It is a biological process, which means living bacteria groups are needed for this step and any bigger variations of the process conditions would kill the bacteria groups. The process will stop at once!
Biogas

Stabilised sludge

The process of anaerobic digestion is separated into four steps: Hydrolysis: In this step polymers like hydrocarbons, fat and proteins are braken down in smaller dissolved polymers by specialized bacteria. Acid formation: The dissolved polymers are now be transformed into organic acids, alcohol and by-products like water and CO2. Acid phase: Organic acids and alcohol will now be transformed by a different specialized bacteria group into acetic acid. Methane phase: In this final step the acetic acid is now transformed into CO2, water and methane - so called Biogas.
Combined sludge

The produced Biogas consists up to 75% of methane and will be used as energy resource for the WWTP, additionally the Biogas can upgrade for public gas network. Sludge conversation factor is 1m sludge = up to 23m Biogas in 30 days. For this process a sufficient and reliable mixing device is required and will be meet by the draft tube sludge mixer. After the process of anaerobic stabilisation the stabilized sludge will be dewatered by centrifuges up to 15 - 30% DSC (Dry Solid Content) and can be used according to the sludge or biosolids quality: Highest quality biosolids are used in agriculture as soil conditioner and fertilizer Lower quality biosolids can be used on non-agricultural land Poor quality biosolids can be disposed of by land filling or incineration

The Draft Tube Sludge Mixer - MFS

The draft tube sludge mixer is a vertical rotary pump with reversible operation. Basically, it consists of two components - the mixing equipment, including shaft and the pumping device, and the draft tube. The pumping device is inserted and adjusted in the special upper draft tube bell mouth. The sludge is pumped at a velocity of 3 m/s upward or downward through the draft tube.
Draft Tube The draft tube connects the two critical digester zones where the requirements are particularly demanding. The danger in the upper zone is that a supernatant sludge layer and scum may build up and even reach the gas bleeder lines. The lower zone is a potential area for the accumulation of heavy solids contained in the primary sludge pumped from the sedimentation tank into the digester. Such deposits can considerably reduce the effective zone within the digester and lead to costly cleaning measures. The draft tube is installed on a robust base structure. Lateral stability is achieved by four horizontal bracing ropes. In order to avoid vibration, long draft tubes are additionally braced in the middle. In the event of rope failure, the remaining three ropes will still secure the correct position of the draft tube.

Pumping device and Splash Disc The overhung mixer shaft has a one or two-stage pumping device and a splash disc mounted to it. The pumping device consists of two opposite helical blades and is adjusted within the upper draft tube bellmouth. The clearance between blade edge and digester wall is a few millimetres. Even in the case of the largest draft tube sludge mixers with a flow rate of 7.200 m/h the clearance does not exceed 15 mm. These small gaps allow a very efficient pumping performance. The pumping device is self-cleaning, i.e. even large plaits, which despite screens and grinders sometimes get into the interior of digesters, cause no problems. The splash disc has been developed and optimised over several decades. During upward operation, it diverts the liquid flow to the sludge surface. The splash disc distributes the sludge over an area of a diameter of up to 4,500 mm.

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The Mode of Operation

The operation of the draft tube sludge mixer is reversible, i.e. the sludge can be moved upwards or downwards. Upwards mode of MFS
During upward operation, the splash disc distributes the sludge over the sludge surface area softening the supernatant sludge layer and destroying part of the scum built up during the process. In the same way the foam build up will be controlled.

Downwards mode of MFS

During downward operation, the softened supernatant sludge layer, the scum and foam will be sucked down the draft tube and remixed with the digester contents. The high velocity of up to 3 m/s causes a strong jet flow at the lower bell mouth, flushing away any deposits at the bottom.

Reversible operation ensures the problems in the critical zones are successfully dealt with and the digester contents are thoroughly mixed. The by-product of destroying these both critical zones the entire volume of the digester will be mixed up sufficiently.

The Process Requirements

Main process requirements for the mixing device in anaerobic digester:
Customer Need Sufficient mixing of the entire digester volume Avoiding of supernatant blanket on the sludge surface Mixer Requirement Specialized digester mixing device Destroying capacity of mixing device or additional breaking device Destroying capacity of mixing device or special foam destroyer Lifting capacity of the mixing device Halberg Solution Draft Tube Mixer Type MFS Splash disk of the MFS; in the upwards mode MFS creates a liquid umbrella to destroy and to break the scum blanket Splash disk of the MFS; in the upwards mode MFS creates a liquid umbrella to control effectively the foam built up In the downwards mode the MFS produce a jet stream in the outlet head of the digester and blows the bottom clean Strong shaft design Strong designed bearings Easy and fast disassembling without stopping the anaerobic digestion Special design of the inlet of the draft tube with small gap between which guarantee a continuously high flow for remove below articles Real operation test with test reports and vibration analyse Specific power consumption from 2 - 5 w/m. Savings in comparison up to 40.000 Euro/year Subsidiary all over the world with special local trained sales and service people for mixers

Controlling of foam built up

Avoiding of accumulation of settlements in the bottom area of digesters Reliability and maintenance free

Robust design and maintenance friendly

Constant flow over the operation

Optimized clearance between the impeller and tube

Tested equipment before delivery Energy efficiency

Test bench in production plant Less required power

Local sales and Service availability

Locations all over the word

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