The purpose of this work was to examine the settling properties of activated sludge from a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The experiments were carried out in a bench-scale reactor, fed with wastewater from the University of Olsztyn treatment plant. Concentrations of the examined activated sludge varied between 2.5 and 6.0 kg SS m. Laboratory analyses of the sludge comprised: sludge concentrati...

The organic composition of the feed sludge to six laboratory-scale anaerobic digesters was adjusted by substituting a proportion of the primary sludge for glucose or propionic acid solution. Substitution with glucose caused an increase in the microbial extracellular polymer (ECP) content of the digested sludge, which altered the particle size distribution of the sludge and made the sludge more ...

An understanding of sludge rheology during anaerobic digestion can improve digester performance, particularly with regards to mixing. However, the “black box” nature of digesters limits the knowledge on sludge flow behaviour, once it enters the digester. A study on the flow properties (i.e. apparent viscosity and yield stress) as well as the yielding and restructuring behaviour of primary, seco...

Utilization of sewage sludge on land is an appealing sludge disposal method. The reasons are not just because of the environmental and economic constraints associated with other disposal methods such as incineration and landfilling, but also because the sludge is beneficial both as a soil conditioner and as a fertilizer [1,2]. However, the major limitation with land application of sewage sludge...

Sludge management in waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) is essential for safeguarding the system performance. Sludge accumulation patterns in WSPs are strongly influenced by the pond hydrodynamics. CFD modeling was applied to study the relation between velocity profiles and sludge deposition during 10 years of operation of the Ucubamba WSP in Cuenca (Ecuador). One tracer experiment was performed ...

Aerobic granular sludge was cultivated adopting internal-circulate sequencing batch airlift reactor. The contradistinctive experiment about short-term membrane fouling between aerobic granular sludge system and activated sludge system were investigated. The membrane foulants was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technique. The results showed that the aerobic g...

Dewatering of sewage sludge is an important part of proper sludge management practice. It is becoming a more challenging issue for water industries as new regulations on sludge disposal are being imposed. In this paper, the application of mechanical thermal expression (MTE) to dewater sewage sludge and the conditioning of sludge by mixing with brown coal are investigated. Raw sludge, sludge flo...

This is a literature review for the year 2015 and contains information specifically associated with suspended growth processes including activated sludge, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket, and sequencing batch reactors. The review encompasses modeling and kinetics, nutrient removal, system design and operation. Compared to past reviews, many topics show increase in activity in 2015. These includ...

The recent United Kingdom ban on the disposal of sewage sludge at sea has led to the prediction that land application of sludge will become more widespread. The positive aspect of recycling nutrients may, however, be offset by the risk of contamination by heavy metals that are frequently present in sludge. The environmental impact of applying metal-rich sewage sludge to agricultural land was, t...

Sludge production from wastewater treatment process is high, and the disposal of excess sludge will be forbidden in a near future, thus increased attention has been turned to look into potential technology for sludge reduction. The study attempts to review alternative sludge disposal methods, including anaerobic digestion, aerobic digestion and landfills. In these sludge processes, excess sludg...