These days the quantity of sludge produced from water supply and sewage facilities has reach 2,070,000 ton a year and it is still increasing every year. Additional construction of treatment facilities is required but there have been few cases of sludg...
These days the quantity of sludge produced from water supply and sewage facilities has reach 2,070,000 ton a year and it is still increasing every year. Additional construction of treatment facilities is required but there have been few cases of sludge treatment facilities constructed. Moreover, as sea dumping is expected to be illegalized in the future, people fs interest in sludge treatment and recycling is increasing and, recently, treatment methods such as incineration, composting and solidification are being actively considered.
A process preceding these sludge treatment methods is dewatering. In addition, for rational sludge treatment and sludge management policies in the future, it is the most basic and essential step to analyze the quantity and the physio chemical characteristics of sludge.
Thus the present study examined the physio-chemical characteristics of sludge generated from sewage treatment plants and investigated the effects of pretreatment on dewatering and the relation of CST and SRF with dewatering characteristic. The results of this study are as follows.
The mean water content of sludge after digestion in the winter, spring and summer was 82.26%, 82.65% and, 81.46% respectively, and pH was 7.17, 7.35 and 7.19, respectively, showing all neutral. No significant difference was observed among the seasons and other general characteristics also showed similar levels. Dewatering efficiency through sludge pretreatment was highest in treatment with 0.2% polymer flocculants. In addition, dewatering efficiency appeared high when pH was adjusted to be more acidic. The optimal pretreatment time using ozone was five minutes.
Dewatering characteristic according to the quantity of chemical input showed the same trend for CST and SRF. When CST and SRF were low, dewatering characteristic was improved and the concentrations of ferric sulfate, alum and chitosan, K250 for optimal dewatering were 9, 11, 11 and 8 mg/g TSS respectively, showing similar levels.