Chapter

08
Sludge Treatment and
Disposal
Sources of Sludge
grit chamber,
primary sedimentation
tank,
secondary sedimentation
tank,
septic tank,
activated sludge unit,
chemical precipitation,
trickling filters etc 1
Necessity /objective of Sludge
Treatment
⚫ To reduce the volume of sludge
⚫ To stabilize the organic matter
⚫ To reduce water content so that
handling and transportation is easy
⚫ To recover and reuse fertilizing
elements present in
sludge (nitrogen and phosphorus)
⚫ To recover and reuse oils, grease due to its
industrial value
⚫ To protect water bodies from pollution and
land from sewage sickness
⚫ To reduce pathogenic bacteria
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Quantity and Characteristics of
Sludge
A. Sludge from primary
sedimentation (Plain
Sedimentation)
 Gray in color, greasy and odorous
 Fine silt, vegetable matters and
faecal matter
 Can be dewatered only after
chemical conditioning
 Solid content is 6-8% in which 60-
80% are volatile
 Quantity may be 20 m3 per million
3
B. Sludge from chemical
precipitation
⚫ Includes precipitated chemicals
entangled with solids
⚫ Similar to the sludge from plain
sedimentation but slightly heavier
⚫ Contains 70-90% of suspended solids
and 10- 30% of water depending upon
chemical dose effectiveness
⚫ Quantity may be 20 m3 per million
litres of sewage

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C. Sludge from activated sludge
process (secondary
treatment)
⚫ Brown color, inoffensive at fresh but
turns into septic after biological activity
⚫ Rich in organic matter
⚫ Contains 0.5-2% of suspended solids
and 98- 99% of water
⚫ 70-80% of suspended solids are
volatile solids
⚫ Quantity may be 30-35 m3 per million
litres of sewage

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D. Sludge from trickling
filter
⚫ Dark brown in color and less offensive when
fresh
⚫ Contains humus (dark, organic material that
forms in soil when plant and animal matter
decays) so offensive after sometime
⚫ Contains dissolved organic matters and some
settlable
solids
⚫ Contains 50-60% of non settleable suspended
solids
⚫ Usually added with primary solids for
digestion
⚫ Quantity may be 5 m3 per million litres of
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Digestion
⚫A biological process where organic
matters present in sludge is
decomposed by micro organism and
convert it into simple stable
compound.
⚫ Solids in the sludge converted to liquid
and gases thus reducing the volume of
sludge (60-70%)
⚫ Also removes coliforms by 99.8% after
30 days digestion at 95-100 0F
⚫ Moisture content is removed after
digestion and the produced gases can be
used as fuel whereas digested sludge
can be used as a fertilizer 7
Aerobic Digestion
⚫ Biologicaldegradation of organic matter
by the aerobic bacteria.
⚫ More reduction of volatile solids than
anaerobic digestion
⚫ Requires oxygen for the digestion
⚫ High operation cost
⚫ No methane gas can be recovered as
byproduct so never done for sludge
digestion

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Anaerobic Digestion
⚫ Biologicaldegradation of organic matter
by the anaerobic bacteria
⚫ Most of the organic matter is
converted into methane carbon di
oxide and water.
⚫ Energy producer
⚫ 3 stages occur:
i) hydrolysis and fermentation
ii) Acidogenesis and dehydrogenation
iii) methanogenesis

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Process in anaerobic
digestion

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Methods of Sludge
Treatment
May include all or a combination
of the following unit operations
and process
⚫ Grinding and blending
⚫ Thickening or concentration
⚫ Digestion or stabilization
⚫ Dewatering
⚫ Incineration

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Grinding and blending
⚫ Optional operation
⚫ Preliminary operation to produce
homogenous and uniform size
sludge by grinding machine
⚫ Blending is done in blending tank
to mix sludges of different
characteristics

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Thickening or concentration
⚫ Process of reducing the moisture
content of the sludge to make it thick
⚫ Reduces the plant capacity
⚫ Reduces chemical requirement in
treatment
⚫ Reduces the size of mechanical
equipment
⚫ Reduces the land required for
disposal
⚫ Saves fuel required to burn the
sludge 13
Sludge thickening
Gravity thickening
 Most common method and least
expensive
 Used for primary and combined
primary and activated sludge (not
effective when activated sludge
exceeds 40% of the total sludge weight
⚫ Done in a circular tank called gravity
thickener
⚫ Diameter not exceed 60m and maximum
depth is 3 m
⚫ Surface loading 15-35 m3/day of
sludge /m2 area of tank and detention 14
Figure of gravity
thickener

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Digestion or Stabilization
⚫ Done after thickening
⚫ Anaerobic digestion
⚫ 60-75% by volume of sludge is
decreased after digestion
⚫ 3 stages of anaerobic digestion
process (takes about 4 and half
months at 210C on controlled
conditions)
i) hydrolysis and fermentation:
ii) Acidogenesis and dehydrogenation
iii) Methanogenesis
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Sludge Digestor
⚫ Conventional or low rate digestor
⚫ High rate digestor

Factors affecting digestion

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18
Digestor Design Criteria
⚫ Maximum capacity of flow
🞄 20 MLD for high rate digestor
🞄 4 MLD for normal rate digestor
⚫ Shape: circular of maximum diameter
55 m and minimum diameter of 6 m
⚫ Depth: 4-9 m
⚫ Free board: 0.4-0.8m
⚫ Bottom slope: 1:12
⚫ Volume of digestor:

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Volume of digestor
⚫ Forlinear progress of sludge
digestion
V = (Vf +Vd)Td/2 + V d T m
⚫ Forparabolic progress of sludge
digestion
V = [V f – 2/3(Vf – V d )] T d + V d T m
Where,
V= volume of digestor, m3
Vf = volume of fresh sludge added per
day, m3/day Vd = volume of digested
sludge withdrawn/day
T = digestion time (days) 20
Methods of Sludge Disposal
1. Dumping
2. Land filling
3. Spreading on
land
4. Lagooning

Lagooni
ng
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