• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.677-684
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• 2006

Electro-flotation(EF), a novel sludge thickening method, could improve the dewaterability of activated sludge. The gas(microbubbles) generated during EF decreased the solid-liquid separation time below 1/5 of the time required for gravity sedimentation. In addition, over 90% of the sludge volume reduction could be achieved by EF although the settling characteristics of the sludge was very poor. The SRF(specific resistance to filtration) of the thickened sludge by EF was much lower than that of the sludge thickened by gravity sedimentation. The SRF of the thickened sludge decreased exponentially with increase of gas generation rate of the EF system. Gas generation rate could be controlled by varying the current density of the electrode. Degasing of the microbubbles by vigorous mixing of the thickened sludge layer deteriorated the dewaterability of the sludge. Therefore, it is obvious that the gas bubbles entrapped in the thickened sludge play a key role in the observed dewaterability improvement.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.467-473
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• 2011

Objectives: Wastewater treatment plants typically produce a large volume of waste sludge. In this study, the conditioning and dewatering properties of a digested and thickened sludge from an industrial wastewater treatment plant were investigated in order to improve the dewaterbility of the sludge. Methods: Jar-tests and Buchner funnel tests were carried out to assess the conditioning and dewatering properties of a waste sludge. TTF (Time to Filter Test) and SRF (Specific Resistance to Filtration) were adopted as the indices of sludge dewaterbility. Results: The valuation indices influencing the dewaterbility of the waste sludge, including TTF, SRF, water contents, VS/TS ratio and turbidity, were measured. The TTF and SRF of the digested and thickened sludge were decreased to 40 sec, $3.43{\times}10^{12}$ m/kg, and 39 sec, $1.09{\times}10^{12}$ m/kg, respectively. Conclusions: The conditioner composed of natural inorganic materials turned out to be effective in the reduction of sludge water contents.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.17-22
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• 2004

This study was focused on the treatment of thickened sewage sludge. General bacteria and E. coli were disinfected over 99％ and organic compounds were decomposed after irradiation. It was suggested that this process can be an alternative for digestion Process. The moisture content in sludge was decreased over 10％ (w/w) and the coagulation of sludge particles was enhanced by irradiation at the dose of 15 kGy and addition of sea waste resource (star-fish) as a dewatering aid.

• 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 the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2002

This study was carried out to evaluated for dewaterability of sewage sludge using waste oystershell and loess. The Jar-Test and the Buchner funnel test were proceeded for the assessment of dewaterability of a thickened sludge and digested sludge. TTF(Time to Filter), SRF(Specific Resistance to Filtration) were adopted as the valuation indices of sludge dewaterability. Dewatering conditioner which composed of both oystershell and loess is much dewaterable than the one composed of only oystershell. In the course of combining with oystershell and loess, the following fact was found that the dewaterability of the combination which have the higher ratio of oystershell than that of loess is superior. The most suitable oystershell :loess ratio of dewatering conditioner is 9:1 in treating both thickened sludge and digested sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.747-753
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• 2006

Air flotation is a solid-liquid separation process that utilizes up-flow microbubbles to thicken activated sludge and enhance clarification efficiency. Continuous air flotation experiments were performed to investigate the effect of operation parameters such as initial MLSS (mixed liquor suspended solid) concentration, air pressure, surface loading rate, air to solid (A/S) ratio, and flotation time on thickening efficiency. An initial activated sludge concentration ranged from 3,000 to 12,000mgSS/L and thickened sludge concentration varied from 6,400 to 28,100mgSS/L. The result showed that the thickening efficiency was mainly dependent on surface loading rate, A/S ratio, and flotation time. The pressure did not affect the thickening efficiency when it kept in the range of 1.6 to 1.8 bar. Experimental results showed that the thickening efficiency of activated sludge was increased only when the feed sludge concentration exceeded 5,000mgSS/L and the thickened concentration was over 20,000mgSS/L. At this time, SS concentration in the clarified liquid was ranged from 5 to 10mg/L.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.613-619
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• 2018

In this study, various influent sludge pre-treatment methods and the internal recirculation of thickened sludge from effluents using a liquid/solid separation unit were adopted to investigate their effects on the sludge digestion and methane production in a combined mesophilic anaerobic and thermophilic aerobic sludge digestion process. A lab-scale combined sludge digestion process was operated during 5 phases using different feed sludge pre-treatment strategies. In phase 1, the feed sludge was pre-treated with a thermal-alkaline method. In contrast, in phases 2, 3 and 4, the internal recirculation of thickened sludge from the effluent and thermal-alkaline, thermal, and alkaline pre-treatment (7 days) were applied to the combined process. In phase 5, the raw sludge without any pre-treatment was used to the combined process. With the feed sludge pre-treatment and internal recirculation, the experimental results indicated that the volatile suspended solid (VSS) removal was drastically increased from phases 1 to 4. Also, the methane production rate with the thermal-alkaline pre-treatment and internal recirculation was significantly improved, showing an increment to 285 mL/L/day in phase 2. Meanwhile, the VSS removal and methane production in phase 5 were greatly decreased when the raw sludge without any pre-treatment was applied to the combined process. Considering all together, it was concluded that the combined process with the thickened sludge recirculation and thermal-alkaline pre-treatment can be successfully employed for the highly efficient sewage sludge reduction and methane gas production.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.5-13
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• 2022

The current environmental problem is that environmental pollution is accelerating due to the generation of large amounts of waste and indiscriminate consumption of energy. Fossil fuels, a representative energy production fuel, are burned in the process of producing energy, generating a large amount of greenhouse gases and eventually causing climate change. In addition, the amount of waste generated worldwide is continuously increasing, and environmental pollution is occurring in the process of waste treatment. One of the methods for simultaneously solving these problems is the energy recovery from and reduction of organic wastes. Sewage sludge generated in sewage treatment plants has been treated in various ways since ocean disposal was completely prohibited, but the amount generated has been continuously increasing. Since the sewage sludge contains a large amount of organic materials, it is desirable to recover energy from the sewage sludge and reduce the final discharged waste through anaerobic digestion. However, most of the excess sludge is a mass of microorganisms used in sewage treatment, and in order for the excess sludge to be anaerobically digested, the cell walls of the microorganisms must be destroyed first, but it takes a lot of time to destroy the cell walls, so high rates of biogas production and waste reduction cannot be achieved only by anaerobic digestion. Therefore, the pre-treatment process of solubilizing excess sludge is required, and the thermal solubilization process is verified to be the most efficient among various solubilization methods, and high rates of biogas production and waste reduction can be achieved by anaerobic digestion after destroying cell walls the thermal solubilization process. In this study, when pretreating TS 10% thickened excess sludge through a thermal solubilization system, a study was conducted on solubilization characteristics according to retention time and operating temperature variables. The experimental variables for the retention time of the thermal solubilization system were 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 120 minutes, respectively, while the operating temperature was fixed at 160℃. The soulbilization rates calculated through TCOD and SCOD derived from the experimental results increased in the order of 12.11%, 20.52%, 28.62%, and 31.40%, respectively. And the variables according to operating temperature were 120℃, 140℃, 160℃, 180℃, and 200℃, respectively, while the operating retention time was fixed at 60 minutes. And the solubilization rates increased in the order of 7.14%, 14.52%, 20.52%, 40.72%, and 57.85%, respectively. In addition, TS, VS, T-N, T-P, NH₄⁺-N, and VFAs were analyzed to evaluate thermal solubilization characteristics of thickened excess sludge. As a result, in order to obtain 30% or more solubilization rate through thermal solubilization of TS 10% thickened excess sludge, 120 minutes of retention time is required when the operating temperature is fixed to 160℃, and 170℃ or more of operating temperature is needed when the operating time is fixed to 60 minutes.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6B
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• pp.661-667
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• 2006

In this study, an experiment of sewage sludge dewatering is carried by using electrokinetic method, and the electrokinetic dewatering efficiency of digested sludge is analyzed. Digested sludge without coagulants is selected and gravitational and pressing dewatering methods are applied in combination with electro-osmotic and electro-osmotic pulse technology. After the test of digested sludge, dewatering test of thickened sludge is carried to evaluate the electrokinetic dewatering feasibility of thickened sludge. Under the condition of constantly applied voltage, however, electrical resistance increases with decreasing of water content so that dewatering rate decreases with time. To reduce such a hindrance caused by constantly applied voltage, electro-osmotic pulse technology which is considered to reduce the difference of water content with height, is applied. For the application of electro-osmotic pulse, the dewatered flow rate and the dewatered volume became more increasing from the middle of the dewatering process than that of continuous voltage. Through the test of thickened sludge, electro-osmotic dewatering combined with gravitational and expression also showed high dewatering rate, which proved the possibility of using electrokinetic dewatering.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.945-949
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• 2006

For a membrane bio-reactor, it is possible to fillet and separate activated sludge and effluent by head loss of centimeters, if non-woven fabric material is used as titration media. However, if non-woven fabric material is used to thicken high-concentration sludge, excessive sludge attachment causes the rapid decrease of flux. Mesh with fore sizes of $100{\mu}m,\;150{\mu}m,\;and\;200{\mu}m$ allows for easy separation of attached sludge. This study examined the possibility of mesh as filtration media. Existing close-flow filtration process, which requires maintaining sludge movement, makes It difficult to obtain high thickening rate. With a view of complementing this weakness, this study has made an experimental examination on how high-concentration sludge (about 3,000mg/L to 10,000mg/L) will be filtered and thickened when mesh module is submersed in the bio-reactor. Effluent flowed from the bottom of the bio-reactor by head loss of 65cm. In case of pore size of $100{\mu}m$, SS showed high recovery of 80% to 96%; therefore, it has been decided that mesh can be used as filtration media. Filtration lasted for more than 9 hours, until sludge with 9,000mg/L in MLSS concentration was thickened 9 times as dense. In the range from 3,610mg/L to 9,060mg/L in MLSS concentration, it was possible to obtain effluent with less than 2mg/L in MLSS concentration within 10 minutes.