Chapter 5

Sludge treatment

5.1 Sludge definition:

Sludge is made of solid materials separated from the water line during
wastewater treatment. In addition to solids, sludge contains a high percent
of water.

5.2 Sludge sources:

In wastewater treatment sludge is classified into the following types:

A. Grit sludge:
It is all the solids collected in the grit removal chamber, because grit
can be easily drained and is relatively stable in terms of biological
activity, it dose not need treatment and is generally disposed directly
to landfills.

B. Primary or raw sludge:

Primary sludge is the sludge taken from the bottom of the primary
mg
settling tanks. It contains from 3-8% solids (1% ≅ 10,000 ) .This
L
sludge is composed of settleable raw solids. Almost 7% of the
primary sludge is organic.

C. Secondary Sludge:
This sludge consists of microorganisms and inert materials that has
been wasted from the secondary treatment processes. Thus 9% of this
sludge is organic this sludge contains from 0.8 to 2%
mg
solids (i.e. 8,000 − 20000 ).
L
5.3 Sludge quantities:

A. Primary sludge:
The quantity of primary sludge is calculated using the following
equation:
M p = E • ss • Qin ………… (5.1)

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 Where,
kg
M p = mass of primary sludge,
d
kg
ss= suspended solids in the influent,
m3
E = efficiency of primary sedimentation tank→ taken from (Figure (1))
m3
Qin = influent flow to primary sedimentation tank, .
d

kg m3
To convert the sludge quantity from to :
d d
Mp
Qp = ………… (5.2)
Xp
m3
Qp= flow rate of primary sludge, .
d
kg
Xp=concentration of solids in primary sludge, .
m3
X p = ρ sludge • S ………… (5.3)
where,
k kg
ρ sludge = sludge density, 3 (usually taken as ρ water =1000 3 unless given
m m
S = solids fraction in sludge expressed as decimal fraction (i.e. 0.05 =
5%).

Example 5.1:-
kg
Determine the quantity of primary sludge both in and m3/d, given the
d
following:-
SS = 700 mg/l
Qin = 2000 m3 /hr
S = 5% dry solids in the sludge.
D = 36 m (diameter of primary sedimentation tank)

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 Qinf P.S A.T S.S Qeff

sludge sludge

1 St Thickener

Qthick
Sludge

digester

Sludge
Qthick 2nd Thickener

Sludge

Qdew Dewatering

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 Solution:-
a) find the overflow rate to the primary sedimentation tank:-
Q
O / F = in
A
πD π * 36 2
2
A= = ≅1018 m2
4 4
m3 1 24 hr m3 m
O / F = 2000 • • = 47 2 = 47
hr 1018 m 2
d m •d d

b) Find the sedimentation efficiency (E):-

from figure (1), E = 54%
c) Calculate sludge quantity:-
MP = E * SS * Qin
mg 10 3 L kg Kg
SS = 700 • 3 • 6 = 0.7 3
L m 10 mg m
m3 24hr m3
Qin = 2000 • = 48000
hr d d
3
Kg m Kg
M P = 0.54 • 0.7 3 • 48000 =18144
m d d
M
QP = P
XP
Kg Kg
X P = ρ SL • S = 1000
3
• 0.05 = 50 3
m m
3 3
18144 Kg m m
QP = • ≅ 363
d 50 Kg d

b) Secondary sludge quantities:-

Secondary sludge quantities were discussed previously in the suspended
growth treatment:-
kg XV
Px = sludge production =
d θc
Px m3
Qw = , sludge production in
Xr d
For more details on these quantities return to chapters 3 and 4.

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 5.4 sludge treatment:-
The main goal of sludge treatment is to convert it to an inert solid product
that can be safely disposed in the environment or reused for useful
purposes.
The main sludge treatment steps are-
a. Sludge thickening.
b. Sludge stabilization.
c. Sludge dewatering.
In the following section, a detailed discussion of these treatment steps is
given.

5.5 Sludge thickening:-

The main goal of sludge thickening is to reduce the sludge volume by
removing as much as possible of the water content of sludge, leading to
the increase of the solids content of sludge. Thickening is achieved by the
following three methods:-

a) Gravity thickening:-
Gravity thickening is achieved in circular tanks similar to sedimentation
tanks. Sludge is allowed to settle and compact. The thickened sludge is
withdrawn from the bottom of the thickener. To improve thickening some
chemicals are added, this process is called sludge conditioning. Sludge
conditioning is discussed below.

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 b) Flotation thickeners:-
For sludges with low weights, gravity thickeners are not efficient. In this
case, the sludge floats on the surface and than removed by scum removal
arms.

c) Mechanical thickening:-
Mechanical thickeners include centrifuges, rotary drams and filter belts.
The centrifuges and rotary drums use the centrifugal force to separate
solids from liquids. Filter belts are squeezing machines in which the
sludge is inserted between two moving belts resulting in the separation of
solids from liquids.

5.6 Sludge conditioning:-

Sludge conditioning is a pretreatment step to increase the efficiency of
sludge thickening and dewatering of sludge. The two most common
methods of sludge conditioning are:-

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 a) Chemical conditioning:-
• Addition of lime Ca (OH)2.
• Addition of ferric chloride Fe cl3
• Addition of alum AL2 (SO4)3.
• Addition of organic polymers.
These chemicals are coagulants as they neutralize and destabilize the
electrically charged particles in the water and allow them to settle
efficiently.
• Organic polymers replace Fe cl3
and AL2 (SO4)3 salts in order to overcome the major problems involved
with these inorganic chemicals.
Advantages of organic polymers over inorganic chemicals are:-
• Dosage is around 10 times lower than that of inorganic chemicals
(typical dosage is 5-10 kg/ tonsludge)
• Cost saving obtained in capital cost and running cost.
• Treated sludge dose not contain inorganic chemical such as Fe3+
and AL3+.
•
b) Heat treatment:-
Heat treatment is a conditioning process that involves heating of sludge
for short periods of time under pressure. By heat treatment, the structure
of sludge flocks is altered to liberate more water from particles. The high
capital cost of equipment limit the use of this method to small treatment
plants only.

5.7 Design of gravity thickeners:-

Primary and secondary sludge are either treated in separate thickeners or
in one common thickener. The following table gives the design criteria
for gravity thickeners according to the sludge source:-

Expected Mass
Sludge source Influent S (%) under flow loading
S (%) kg/d.m2
- Separate sludges
PS …..…….... 2-7 5-10 100-150
TF …..…….... 1-4 3-6 40-50
RBC …..…….... 1-3.5 2-5 35-50
WAS…..…….... 0.5-1.5 2-3 20-40

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 - Combined Sludges
PS + WAS 0.5-4 4-7 25-70
……… 2-6 5-9 60-100
PS + TF 2-6 5-8 50-90
…………
PS + RBC
……….
• Note: PS = primary sludge., TF = Trickling filter sludge, RBC =
Rotating biological contactor sludge, WAS = Waste activated
sludge.

- The area of the thickener is determined using the mass loading criteria
according to the sludge source as shown in the above table.
- The depth of the thickener is determined as follows.
As shown in Figure (4), the thickener depth is divided to the following
regions:-

5/10 ‫ﺻﻮرة ص‬
h1 = free board depth above sludge surface, typically taken as 0.6m.
h2 = clear liquid zone, typically taken as 1.0m.
h3 = settling zone, typically taken as 1.5m.
h4 = Thickening zone, it is a sludge storage region and have to be
calculated as shown later.

So, the thickener side wall depth (H) is calculated as :-

H = h1 + h2 + h3 + h4
The depth at the center of the thickener is calculated by adding (H) to h5:-
d
h 5 = , d = thickener diameter .
16
To calculate (h4), the thickening zone height, we assume that this zone
has a volume enough to store one day thickened sludge. So the total solids
interring the thickener will accumulate in this zone but the concentration
of solids in the thickened zone will be much more than that in the sludge
interring the thickener so, to calculate (h4):-

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 VTZ = AT . h4
VTZ = Volume of sludge in the thickening zone, m3
AT = Surface area of the thickener , m2
(mT ) in
VTZ = ............5.6
( XT ) out
(mT ) in = ( M T ) in • t ..........5.7
( XT ) out = ( ρ SL )T • ( ST ) out ..........5.8

(mT)in = mass of sludge dry solids accumulated in the thickening zone,

(kg)
Kg
(MT)in = mass of sludge dry solids interring the thickener per day,
d
t = time, days.
(XT)out = concentration of solids in sludge in the thickening zone and in
the thickening zone and in the thickened sludge coming out of the
thickener, (kg/m3)
( ρ SL )T = density of thickened sludge, (kg/m3)
(ST)out = concentration of solids in the thideoned sludge expressed as
decimal fraction.
Combine equations (5.4) and (5.6) and solve for h4:
(mT ) in
h4 = ...............(5.9)
AT ( XT ) out

Example (5.2):-
0Design a gravity thickener to treat a combined primary and activated
sludge. The following data is given:-
Primary sludge:-
kg
QP = 500 m3 / d , ρ SL = 1100 3 , S = 5%
m

Secondary sludge (activated sludge):-

kg
Qs =150 m3 / d , ρ SL =1040 3 , S =1%
m

Thickener design criteria:-

- LS = solids loading rate = 50 kg/m2.d (assumed)

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 - Thickened sludge concentration (ST)out = 7%
( ρ SL )T = density of thickened sludge = 1120 kg/m3

Solution:-
1) calculate (MT)in , (mT)in:-
(MT)in = MP + MS
m3 kg kg
M P = QP • X P = Q p • ρ SL • S = 500 • 1100 3 • 0.05 = 27500
d m d
3
m kg kg
M S • Qs • X s = QS . ρ sl . S =150 •1040 3 • 0.01=1560
d m d
kg kg kg
( M T ) in = 27500 +1560 = 29060
d d d
kg
(mT ) in = ( M T ) in *t = 29060 •1d = 29060 kg
d
(note : − t =1d always for the design of thickeners )

2) calculate the area of the thickener "AT":-

(M ) 29060 kg / d
AT = T in = 2
= 581 m2
LS 50 kg / m .d

- Find the diameter:-

4 4
d= AT = • 581 = 272 m > 20 m (not o.k )
π π
(note:- the maximum diameter for thickeners is 20m)
Use two thickeners:-
581
Area of each thickener = = 291 m2
2
4
d= • 291 =19 m < 20 m o.k
π
3) calculate the depth of each thickener:-

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 (mt ) in
h4 =
AT ( XT ) out
( XT ) out = ( ρ sl )T (ST ) out
kg kg
=1120 3
• 0.07 = 78.4 3
m m
29060
(mT ) in = =14530 kg
2
14530 kg m3
h4 = • ≅ 0.64 m , say 0.65 m
291m2 • 78.4 kg
d 19
h5 = = =1.19 m, say1.2 m
16 16
side wall depth:-
H = h1 + h2 + h3 + h4 = 0.6 + 1.0 + 1.5 + 0.65 = 3.75m
Depth at the center = 3.75 + 1.2 = 4.95m = HC

4)Culcalate the reduction of sludge volume:-

(M ) 29060 / 2
Thickend disch arg e → QT = T out = =185 m3 / d
( XT ) out 78.4
(Qw ) Re moved = Q p + QS − QT = (500 +150 −185)m3 / d = 465 m3 / d
(QW ) Re moved 465
% reduction = •100 = •100 = 71.5%
(QP + QS ) (500 +150)

5.8 sludge stabilization:-

Sludge stabilization is the process in which the biodegradable
organic matter is converted to non-biodegradable (or inert) matter. The
main purpose of this process is to produce a sludge that will not undergo
any further decomposition when disposed to the environment (i.e stable
sludge). If sludge is disposed without stabilization it will create bad odor
and health hazards.

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 The most common method used for sludge stabilization is the
anaerobic digestion. This process is achieved in a closed anaerobic tank
called digester. Figure (2) shows a typical digester cross section. The
digester shown is a cylindrical tank with a conical shaped bottom. It is an
anaerobic completely mixed reactor.
The cover of the digester is a floating cover to give flexibility for gas
accumulation and to prevent explosion. The sludge in the digester is
heated to 35oC to give the best digestion efficiency. The digested organic
matter is converted into gases such as methane (CH4), carbondioxide
(CO2) and (H2o). The produced methane is collected and used for energy
production.

Cross section through a typical standard rate digester

5.9 Solids reduction in digesters:-

The solids in the sludge interring to the digester is classified as follows:-

5/17 ‫ﺻﻮرة ص‬
From this classification, we understand that the solids reduction will be
performed only on the biodegradable portion of the organic matter, while

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 the inorganic and the non-biodegradable portions will leave the digester
without reduction.

5.10 Anaerobic digester design:-

The volume of the digester is determined based on the sludge detention
time
( θ c ) using the following relation:-
V = Qin θ c …….. (5.10)
and ( θ c ) is selected in the range of 15-20 days based on the percent of
organic matter destruction. The following equation is used to calculate the
percent reduction as a function of ( θ c ):-
Rs = 13.7 ln (( θ c )) + 18.9 ………. (5.11)
Where:-
Rs = percent Reduction of organic matter,%
θ c = sludge detention time, days.
The diameter of the digester is typically is the range 5-20m. The sidewall
depth should not be less than 8m because of mixing difficulties in shallow
tank, and maximum sidewall depth is 15m. The floor of the digester is
usually conical with a bottom slope of 1:6.
The rate of gas production in digesters is typically taken as 0.5 m3 gas for
each "kg" organic matter destroyed. The percent of methane is
approximately 65% of the total gas production. The produced gas is
collected from the top of the digester and passed through a water tank in
which CO2 and H2S and other gases are dissolved while CH4 (methane) is
collected a gain and stored in a cylindrical tank called gas
holder. Then, methane is used for power generation that can be used in
the wastewater treatment to operate the electrical equipments. Methane is
60-70% of the total gas produced.

Example (5.3):-
Anaerobic digester is to be designed to treat a thickened sludge having the
following data:-
QT = 370 m3/d, S = 7%, MT = 29060 kg/d, S.G = 1.12
θ c = 20 days, 70% of MT is organic, S.G = 1.05 after digestion.

1) Calculate the required digester volume:-

* V = QT . θ c = (370 m3/d) * 20 day = 7400 m3

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 This volume dose not include the volume of the conical volume at the
bottom.
Assume the sidewall height
V
H = 8m , So the surface area AS =
H
7400
As = = 925 m2
8
925 * 4
d= = 34 m > 20m not.ok
π
370
So ⇒ QT = =185 m3 / d ( for eaeh digester )
2
V = QT .θ c = (185 m3 / d ) * 20 = 3700 m3
assum H =15m
3700
As = ≅ 247 m2
15
247 * 4
d= =17.7 m, say18m
T

0.5 m free beard

d H

h
Slope = 1:6
if the digesters needed the be lower than 15m we can use 3 or 4 digesters
to get smaller digesters.
Correct "H" for d = 18m :-
Td 2
As = = 254.47 m2
4
V 3700
H= = ≅14.5 m
A 254.47

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 add a (0.5m) as freeboard between the maximum sludge level and the
floating cover
• Calculate the conical part depth:-
d 18
h = = =1.5m
12 12

2. Calculate the efficiency of solids reduction:-

Rs =13.7 ln θ c + 18.9
=13.7 ln 20 +18.9 ≅ 60%

• Calculate the organic matter weight:-

29060
MT = =14530 kg / d ( for each digester )
2
M o = organic matter = 70% x14530 =10171kg / d
( M iaert ) Raw = inert matter = 30% x14530 = 4359 kg / d

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 So we can either increase the depth "H" to a value in the range of 8-15m,
or we can use two digesters. Let us first try to increase H to 15m:-
7400
So ⇒ As = = 493 m2
15
493 * 4
d= = 25 m > 20 m not.ok,
π
so let us use 2 digesters.

4) Calculate the gas production:-

Gas = 0.5 m3/kg x Mdest
m3 kg m3
= 0.5 • 6103 ≅ 3052
kg d d

m3 m3
Methane = 60% • 3052 ≅ 1831 from each digester
d d

Note: this volume is at standard conditions i.e. T = 0 0C, P = 1

atmospheric. It is usually stored in gas holders (or gas storage tanks) at a
pressure larger than the atmospheric pressure to reduce the volume of gas
holders for example, if the gas is stored at P = 2 atm the volume
V P 1831*1
V2 = 1 1 = ≅ 916 m3 so we can size the gas holder.
P2 2
* Calculat the weight of the destroyed organic matters.
Mdest = 60% * organic matter
= 0.60 * 10171 kg/d (for one digester)
= 6103 kg/d
(Mdest) = 10171 – 6103 = 4068 kg/d (inert matter)
* Calculate the total inert materials leaving the digester:- (Md)
M d = ( M inert ) Raw + ( M inert ) d = 4359 + 4068
kg
= 8427
d
* Calculate the percent reduction of total solids by the digester:-
M − M dest •100 14530 − 6103
%R = T = •100 ≅ 58%
MT 14530

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 5) Calculate the concentrations of solids after digestion:-
(Md ) 8427 kg / d kg
( Xout ) d = = 3
= 45.6 3
Qd 185 m / d m
(X ) kg 1
Sd = oud d = 45.6 3 . ≅ 0.043 = 4.3%
ρ se m kg
1000 3 •1.05
m

* Mass and flow balance:-

Mr 14530 kg/d
Md 8427 kg/d Qr 185 m3/d
Qd 185 m3/d XT 78 kg/m3
(Xout) d 45.6 kg/m3 ST 7%
Sd 4.3% digest
ρ se 1120 kg/m3
ρ se 1050 kg/m3 er

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 5.10 Sludge de watering:-
Dewatering is a physical process used to reduce to water content of
sludge after stabilization. Several methods are used for dewatering as
follows:-

A) Natural dewatering:-
Natural dewatering depends on evaporation and percolation. Sludge
drying beds are the most common example of natural dewatering.
Evaporation

Sludge

Fine sand

Gravel

Perforated pipe

Sludge drying beds

B) Mechanical dewatering:-
Mechanical dewatering methods are divided to three main categories:-

a) Vacuum filtration:-
Water is removed under applied vacuum through a porous media that
retains solids and allow water to pass.

b) Pressure filtration:-
Water is removed by applying presume (squeezing). Belt filter process is
the most common example on this method.

Sludge

Dewatered sludge

Squeezed water
Sludge do3posal
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 3) Centrifugation:-
Solids are separated from liquid by centritugal forces. Solid bowl
centrifuge is an example on this method.

Mass and flow balance is performed on dewatering units as follows:-

M M
S Dewatering S
X unit X
Q Q

Note:- "S" after dewatering in the range of 25 – 50%.

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