Optimisation of filter design and operation for wastewater treatment sludge

Abstract

Wastewater treatment (WWT) produces a biomass or sludge that must be dewatered in order to reduce its volume and subsequent disposal costs. Although WWT sludges can be compressed to high solids concentrations under enough force, they are also highly impermeable such that it takes a long time to remove the water. This leads to low throughputs for dewatering devices such as filters and centrifuges, which means that dewatering contributes a significant proportion of the overall cost of WWT. Improvements to throughput at a given final solids concentration or higher solids concentrations at a given throughput can represent substantial cost savings to the WWT industry. Recent developments in under..