• Advances in environmental research
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.199-206
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• 2014

Dewatering is an extremely important step in wastewater treatment process to reduce the final sludge volume in order to minimize the cost of sludge transportation and disposal. In the present study, the effect of different sludge solids content (1, 2 and 3.8%) on the dewaterability of anaerobically digested sludge using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans was studied. The pH reduction rate was higher during initial process in the sludge having low solids content, but after 48 h of bioleaching, similar pH of below 3 was observed with all the different solids content. Bio-oxidation rate of $Fe^{2+}$ was initially higher in sludge with low solids content, but 100% $Fe^{2+}$ was oxidized within 60 h in all the three treatment levels. Compared to the control, specific resistance to filtration was reduced by 75, 78 and 80% in the sludge with a solids content of 1, 2 and 3.8% respectively, showing improvement in dewaterability with an increase in sludge solids content. Sludge effluent quality and sludge settling rate were also improved in treatments with higher solids content after the bioleaching process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.551-559
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• 2008

An experimental study was carried out to evaluate the potential of flotation process for the secondary clarifier of an activated sludge process. Flotation techniques, applied in this study, include electrofloation (EF) which generated fine bubbles smaller than $35{\mu}m$ in average and diffuser flotation (DF) which generated fine bubbles smaller than $55{\mu}m$ in average. The batch experiments were done with activated sludge displaying various characteristics. It was shown that the efficiency of solids/liquid separation was reduced as the diluted sludge volume index ($DSVI_{30}$) of activated sludge increased. The dependency, however, gradually decreased as the gas to solids (G/S) ratio increased. Thickening efficiency of EF was more than 2~10 times and DF process was more than 1.5~5 times as compared with gravity sedimentation (GS). Stable sludge blanket was maintained regardless of sludge settleability when the G/S ratio was 0.019 in the EF. On the other hand, Serious deterioration in the sludge blanket was observed in the DF depends on G/S ratio and sludge settleability. And For EF and DF, the suspended solids concentration of effluent was not nearly influenced on settleability of activated sludge and more clear than GS. A biological nutrient removal (BNR) process, combined with EF as a secondary clarifier was operated for three months. The mean MLSS (mixed liquid suspended solids) concentration in the reactor and mean solids concentration of return sludge were estimated to be 5,340 mg/L and 16,770 mg/L, respectively. The water quality of effluent was considerably stable and low value was accomplished, that was, standard suspended solids concentration $0.07{\pm}0.51mg/L$ and standard turbidity $1.44{\pm}0.56NTU$. The EF could be applicable for enhancement of efficiency of activated sludge system as well as improvement of the water quality of effluent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.559-566
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• 2003

From this research, the performances of a sludge reduction in the sewage sludge aerobic digestion was experimented by using a sludge pretreatment and membrane bioreactor. The submerged plate membrane was used as the solid-liquid separation membrane. After drawing small amounts of sludge in a bioreactor and then doing the alkaline treatment and ozone treatment, the sludge was sent to back to the reactor. The HRT in the reactor was set as 5 days and the operation in the reactor was carried out at the DO of 1mg/L on average. After 100 days of operation in the reactor, it was shown that the reduction efficiency of total solids was more than 83%. Most of volatile solids were removed through mineralization, and the considerable portion of the non-volatile solids was dissolved and then flowed out with the effluent. Only about 16.3% of total solids in the sludge was accmulated in the reactor even without the loss of volatile fraction. Also, by deriving nitrification and denitrification in one reactor simultaneously, more than 90% of nitrogen removal effect was realized and the experiment was run smoothly without fouling of membrane, even in the high concentration of MLSS. Based on this experiment, sludge can be reduced considerably at a low HRT by these two newly suggested approach.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.715-723
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• 2004

The quantity of residuals generated from water treatment plants depends upon the raw water quality, dosage of chemicals used, performance of the treatment process, method of sludge removal, efficiency of sedimentation, and backwashing frequency. Sludge production by the physical separation of SS occurs under quiescent conditions in the primary clarifier, where suspended solids are allowed to settle and to consolidate on the clarifier bottom. Raw primary sludge results when the settled solids are hydraulically removed from the tank. The relative solid and liquid fractions of a slurry are most commonly described by the solids concentration, expressed as mg/L or percent solids. The purpose of the present investigation is to estimate a suitability on the design capacities of residuals treatment facilities by the quantity of dewatered sludge generated from water treatment plants.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.5-12
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• 2014

Anaerobic digestion was investigated for the stabilization of sludge, decrease of volatile solids, production of biogas for wastewater sludge. In this study, total solids and volatile solids, elemental analysis were conducted to determine characteristics of various types of sludges and investigate the feasibility of biogas production of Municipal Wastewater Sludge (MWS), Industrial Wastewater Sludge (IWS), mixed sludge (Mix), and Municipal Wastewater Sludg Cake (MWSC). Total solids, volatile solids, and C/N ratio were determined in the range of 11.2~20.6 %, 62.1~83.1 % of TS and 4.96~8.33 %. Using the biochemical methane potential (BMP test), mixed sludge and wastewater sludge finished the methane production within approximately 20 day and 16~17 day. Sludge cake finished within 10 day. Mixed sludge produced 395.5 mL $CH_4$ per g of Volatile Solid (VS) and resulted in the highest methane production. For carbon dioxide production, five sludges had similar value of accumulated carbon dioxide production except for sludge cake.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.9-19
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• 1998

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the performance of anaerobic sequencing batch reactor(ASBR) for digestion of a municipal sludge. Each cycle of the ASBR comprised feeding, two-or three-day reaction, one-day thickening, and withdrawal. The reactors were operated at an HRT of 10days and 5days with an equivalent organic loading rate of 0.8-1.54 gVS/l/d, 1.81-3.56 gVS/l/d at 35$\circ$C, respectively. Solids accumulation was remarkable in the ASBR during start-up period, and directly affected by settleable solids in the feed sludge. Floatation thickening occured in the ASBRs, and Solids profiles at the end of thickening step dramatically changed at solid-liquid interface. Slight difference in solids concentrations was observed within thickened sludge bed. Efficiencies through floatation thickening were comparable to that of additional thickening of the completely mixed control reactor. Average solids concentrations in the ASBRs were 2.2-2.6 times higher than that in the control throughout the total operation period. The dehydrogenase activity had a strong correlation with the solids concentration. Organics removals based on clarified effluent of the ASBRs were consistently above 86%. Remarkable increase in equivalent gas production of 27-52% was observed at the ASBRs compared with the control though the control and ASBRs showed similiar effluent quality. Thus, digestion of a municipal sludge was possible using the ASBR in spite of high concentration of solids in the sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.155-160
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• 2005

Gravity thickening process has been widely used in WTP sludge thickening at domestic water treatment plant. The operation method of the process is very simple, however, the process requires long detention time about 24~48 hours for sludge thickening, uses polymer, and low total solids of thickened sludge to increase sludge thickening efficiency. To solve there problems, we studied about flotation process, especially, electro-flotation (EF) process in WTP sludge thickening. Electro-flotation process is simpler than dissolved-air-flotation(DAF) process because EF needs only electrode and current to generate micro-bubbles and the operation is easy. This study was performed at two batch columns to compare interface height, total solids, effluent turbidity between an electro-flotation thickening and a gravity thickening. According to the result, an electro-flotation thickening was that interface height was decreasing, total solids had high concentration, and effluent turbidity was low in comparison with a gravity thickening. Also, it will make the high efficiency of following process, such as a dehydrating process and digestive process. because of high total solids and low moisture content in the sludge.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.77-85
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• 2002

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performances of the ASBR under critical conditions of solid-liquid separation, caused by extremely high solids concentration, for wider application of the ASBR to various wastes. The ASBRs and completely-mixed daily-fed control runs were operated using a municipal mixed sludge at 35$^{\circ}C$ and 55$^{\circ}C$. Conversion of completely-mixed daily-fed reactor to sequencing batch mode and changes in HRT of all ASBRs were easily achieved without adverse effect, regardless of digestion temperature. Solids accumulation was remarkable in the ASBRs, and directly affected by settleable solids concentration of the feed sludge. Noticeable difference in solids-liquid separation was that flotation thickening occurred in the mesophilic ASBRs, while gravity thickening was a predominant solid-liquid separation process in the thermophilic ASBRS. Solids profiles at the end of thickening step dramatically changed at solid-liquid interface, and slight difference in solids concentrations was observed within thickened sludge bed. Organics removals based on subnatant or supernatant after thickening always exceeded 80% in all reactors. Thickened sludge volume and gas production of the ASBRs affected mutually. Gas production increased as thickened sludge accumulated, and continuous gas evolution during thickening could cause thickened sludge to expand or resuspend. Thickened sludge volume exceeding a predetermined withdrawal level resulted in loss of organic solids as well as biomass during withdrawal step, leading to decrease in gas production ind SRT. Such an adverse mutual effect was significant in gravity thickening, while it was not sensitive in flotation thickening. Changes in organic loading had no significant effect on organic removals and gas production after build-up of solids in the ASBRs.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.44-50
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• 1993

This paper has concentrated on estimating the improvement of sludge dewaterability for the application of ozone in sewage treatment plant sludge. The experiment for the study was conducted by batch reactor, contacting ozone (5.0 g O$_3$/hr/l) to waste sludge and measured the Specific Resistance to Filtrate (SRF) varying pH, pressure and reaction time of ozone. And then checked the dissolved solids concentration of flitrate. The results of experiment were as follows: 1. When the total solids concentration of excess sludge was 9, 000 mg/l, the optimum injection rate of ozone was 5.0 g O$_3$/hr/l, and then pressure was 50 cm Hg for the measuring SRF. 2. In the range of pH 3~5, the effect of ozone injection was excellent, but it was unsatisfactory in the range of pH 9~11. Therefore, the ozone injection by acidifying pH level was effective in improving the dewaterability of sludge. 3. It was estimated that the dissolved solids concentration of flitrate was increased in proportion to the injection rate of ozone.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.73-80
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• 2018

In this study, the solids removal characteristics using T-P sludge generated from PACl coagulation were analyzed by laboratory scale and full scale experiment. As the amounts of T-P sludge injection into the raw sewage influent increased at the rate of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 %, the suspended solids concentrations after 20 minutes setting test decreased to 210, 137, 91, 64, 43 mg/L, respectively. The filtration time required for dewatering test of the raw sewage influent decreased to 982, 728, 658, 581, 492 sec for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4% of T-P sludge injection, respectively. As the amounts of PACl coagulant into the effluent from final setting tank increased at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 mg/L, the required filtration times for T-P sludge increased into 12.3, 41.7, 53.7, 67.2, 79.5 sec and the dewaterability of T-P sludge decreased. After T-P sludge returned into the primary settling tank on J-si sewage treatment plants, the effluent concentrations of COD, SS, T-N and T-P from primary settling tank into bioreactor decreased by 35.9, 27.9, 22.2, and 52.6% due to the coagulation effects of the T-P sludge. Finally, it was found that the return of T-P sludge into the primary settling tank could result into the sludge reduction having a lower water content of 3.03% p than in case of the only T-P sludge dehydration.