OR N A

S TY A
PRATI
WI .W
ADELI
.
A NOV
(D500
I .A.
14006
1)
ELSA
R O SD
(D500
IANA
14006
2)
SELLA
(D500
ERIAN
14006
TIKA
3)
DIDI
SULA
(D500
IMAN
14006
.A.
4)
(D500
14006
5)

THIC

KENE
R

Technische
Universitt
Dresden

Peter Krebs

Department of Hydro Science, Institute for Urban Water Management

Urban Water Systems

12 Sludge Treatment

12.1 Overview
12.2 Thickening
12.3 Biological sludge stabilisation
12.4 Volume reduction
12.5 Sludge disposal

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PK, 2006 - page 2

12 Sludge treatment

12.1 Overview

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PK, 2006 - page 3

Composition of sludge
Predominantly water
Micro-organisms
Viruses, pathogens, germs in general
Organic particles, heavily bio-degradable
Organic compounds, inert, adsorpted to sludge flocs
Heavy metals
Micro-pollutants, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupters
All non-degraded compounds extracted from wastewater
are found in the sludge
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PK, 2006 - page 4

Goals of sludge treatment

Volume reduction

Thickening
Dewatering

Elimination of
pathogenic germs

If used in agriculture as fertiliser or

compost

Stabilisation of organic Gas production

substances
Reduction of dry content
Improvement of dewatering
Reduction of odour
Recycling of
substances
Urban Water Systems

Nutrients, fertiliser
Humus
Biogas
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PK, 2006 - page 5

Overview
Wastewater treatment

Process water

Primary, secondary, tertiary sludge

Thickening
Hygienisation
Stabilisation

Biogas

Thickening

Agriculture

Dewatering
Drying
Gujer (1999)
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Energy

Incineration
12 Sludge treatment

Disposal site
Construction industry
Atmosphere
PK, 2006 - page 6

Sludge Treatment Alternatives

Eckenfelder & Santhanam (1981)

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PK, 2006 - page 7

12 Sludge treatment

12.2 Thickening

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Thickening by Gravity
Gravitative separation, similar to settling tank
Additional mechanic stirring to enhance flocculation and
extraction of water and gas
Supernatant is introduced to primary clarifier or if floatables
and grease contents are high to grid chamber
Thickened sludge is withdrawn from hopper and introduced to
sludge treatment
For an efficient thickening process the development of gas
bubbles must be prevented
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Gravity Thickener
Inflow

Scum scimmer

Sludge
liquor
Picket fence

Thickened sludge
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Dimensioning of gravity thickeners surface

Solids overflow rate

qTSS ,Th

QWAS XTh,in

ATh

qTSS,Th

Specific solids overflow rate (kg TSS / (m2 d))

QWAS

Inflow to thickener (m3/d)

XTh,in

Solids concentration in thickeners inlet (kg TSS / m3)

ATh

Surface of thickener (m3)

Typical values for solids overflow rate qTSS,Th and concentration of thickened
sludge XTh
qTSS,Th
XTh
Primary sludge

80 120

80 - 150

50 - 70
25 - 30

50 - 100
20 - 35

Primary and secondary sludge

Secondary sludge
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Thickening by Flotation
Pre treatment: mostly chemical flocculation
Slude is placed in contact with air-saturated water
(full flow or recycle pressurization)
Air bubbles attach to solid particles
lower specific gravity than water
Floating Sludge bubble composite is collected at the surface

Water is recovered under a scum baffle and removed

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Thickening by Flotation

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Flotation unit

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12 Sludge treatment

12.3 Biological sludge

stabilisation

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Anaerobic mesophilic sludge stabilisation

Digester
Heated to 33 37C process rates are higher
Content of digester is mixed Sludge and water obtain a
similar residence time
Storage unit
Not heated little biological activity
Not mixed separation of sludge and process water, which
is directed to WWTP
Control of loading to WWTP, app. 10% of N-loading
Further thickening
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Processes in digester
Anaerobic degradation
2 C5H7NO2 8 H2O 5 CH4 3 CO2 2 NH4 2 HCO3
Degradation of organic substances of app. 50%
Biogas production: 63% CH4 (Methane)
35% CO2
2% other gases (N2, H2, H2S)
electricity and heating
Organic nitrogen is converged to NH4+
N-loading of WWTP
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Characteristic values of digester

Mean residence time of sludge
Small units, badly mixed

< 30 d

Medium size units with mixing

20 d

Large plants with mixing

Biogas production related to
degradation of organic substances
Degradation of organic substances

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12 Sludge treatment

12 16 d
0.9 m3 / kg VSSdegr.
40 55%

PK, 2006 - page 18

Simultaneous aerobic sludge stabilisation

No primary clarifier no primary sludge
High sludge age SRT, app. 25 d
Activated sludge tank is larger than that combined with an
anaerobic sludge stabilisation
No biogas production
Possibly combined with storage or thickener unit
Stable and simple operation

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12 Sludge treatment

12.4 Volume reduction

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Volume reduction
Water content in stabilised sludge > 95% !
Reduction of water content and volume
Sludge volume
VS VDS VW VDS WVS

With water content

VW

VS

1
VDS
VS
1 W

non-linear
relation!
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Volume reduction

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Dewatering
Conditioning with flocculation agents (poly-electrolytes) for
efficient dewatering
W

DS

Centrifuge

> 0.7

< 0.3

Batch-wise

Hydraulic pressure
through plates in
water-tight chambers

> 0.6

0.4

continuous

Pressed between two

filter belts around
staggered rollers

> 0.7

0.3

Unit

Operation

Method

Decanter

Continuous

Chamber filter
press
(large plants)
Belt filter press
(small plants)

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Drying bed
Thin sludge layer (< 20 cm)
Sand layer as drainage and filter layer
Sludge is

first dewatered by drainage

then air-dried through evaporation

Applicable for small plants

Dimensioning W 0.55 (Imhoff, 1990)
Plant type

Specific surface

Only mechanical treatment

13 PE/m2

Trickling filter

6 PE/m2

Activated sludge plant

4 PE/m2

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Drying
Vaporisation of water content
Partial drying

W 0.3 0.4

Full drying

W down to < 0.1

Contact drying over heated areas

Drying by convection through hot air counter-current
inlet app. 600C, outlet app. 300C (Imhoff, 1999)
For large plants
Disposal is critical: fire, dust explosion
In granulate form as fertiliser
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12 Sludge treatment

12.5 Sludge disposal

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Use in agriculture
Recycling of nutrients, from stabilised sludge

Sludge treatment

Fertiliser*

Liquid sludge
Dewatered sludge
Dried sludge

P- and N-fertiliser
P-fertiliser, N as storage product
P-fertiliser

Limit re. over-fertilisation

Problems
Acceptance
Heavy metals
Micro-pollutants, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors
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Composting
Aerobic biological degradation of organic substances
Prerequisites

Stabilisation
Dewatering
Hygienisation

Approach
Structure means: straw, wood, saw dust, wood chips
Mixture app. 1:1
Water content app. 0,65
Requirements are more demanding than for sludge use as
fertiliser!
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Incineration
Use of energy content, but not of nutrients
Mono incineration (sludge exclusively)
Calorific value of sludge high enough no biogas use
before, no stabilisation
Water content not minimised (no full drying)
Fluidised bed incinerator, incineration at 800 950C in
fluidised sand bed
Expensive!
Co- incineration
In coal power station
In solid waste incinerators
In cement production, ash is bounded to cement
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