A Look at Newer Methods for Dewatering Wastewater Sludges

by R. V. Villiers, Sanitary Engr.; Ultimate Disposal Section, MERL, U.S.EPA, Cincinnati, Ohio,
Joseph B. Farrell, Chf.; Ultimate Disposal Section, MERL, U.S. EPA, Cincinnati, Ohio,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1977, Vol. 47, Issue 12, Pg. 66-71


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

The U.S. water cleanup effort is resulting in the production of huge quantities of additional sludge. Because of the difficulty of disposing of this sludge, it is usually dewatered. Although disposing of sludge by incineration was once popular, many municipalities are now shutting down their incinerators. Though pressure filtration can achieve higher sludge solids concentrations, its use will be limited; it is a batch process with high operating costs. A number of new generation dewatering devices, described and evaluated in this article, are becoming available. In the early 1960's, Klein in Germany was the first to develop a belt filter press. This squeezes water out of the cake by a combination of cake shear with simultaneous application of pressure. Since then, numerous other belt filter presses have been developed in Europe and made available in the U.S. Roll and belt configurations differ, but each dewaters in a similar manner: drainage; pressure filtration and shear-pressure filtration.

Subject Headings: Sludge | Filtration | Incineration | Filters | Dewatering | Water quality | Water pressure

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