Overview
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ABSTRACT
Sludges from municipal and industrial wastewater are subject to disposal restrictions or recycling forcing to implement treatment to reduce volume or nuisance such as odors and microbial content. It is first necessary to characterize the sludge according to their origin or their physicochemical properties. Are then discussed the steps thickening and dewatering to remove free water, drying to remove bounded water and technical chemical and biological stabilization to reduce the nuisances, or the final mass of sludge.
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Éric GUIBELIN: Engineer Polytech Clermont-Ferrand - Expert at Veolia Environnement's technical department
INTRODUCTION
Urban or industrial water treatment generates liquid, pasty or solid waste that needs to be characterized in order to minimize its environmental impact.
The bulk of these by-products is sludge, a generic term for the insoluble or particulate phase, or the phase rendered insoluble by appropriate pollution treatment.
Manufacturers, local authorities and their representatives must therefore adopt a logic of qualitative and quantitative waste reduction. To do this, they must first identify their waste, assess its potential to harm the environment and evaluate its suitability for treatment.
In this first article, we will examine the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of sludge, depending on the type of industry and the type of water treatment applied, as well as the means of reducing the volume (quantity) and odour or microbiological nuisance (quality) of sludge. These means typically involve liquid-solid phase separation by natural or mechanical thickening, dewatering by centrifugal decantation or filtration, drying by evaporation, and finally stabilization and hygienization to reduce nuisances.
The final disposal of sludge will be the subject of a second article
Toxic or simply undesirable sludge is preferably eliminated by thermal oxidation. In this case, the organic fraction is generally destroyed in the gas phase in a high-temperature incinerator, but can also be treated directly in the liquid state by pressurized oxidation. However, landfill, now reclassified as a "waste storage facility" (ISD), will remain a preferred option for many sludge and waste products, provided that its design and operation are beyond reproach.
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KEYWORDS
| sludge | environment | Water pollution | Drying | stabilization | thickening | dewatering
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Bibliography
Norms and Standards
- Sludge testing – Determination of characteristics in relation to suitability for concentration (T 97-001). - NF T 97-001 - 11-79 - Nov 1979
- Sludge characterization – Determination of dry matter and water content. - NF-EN 12880 - Nov 2000
- Sludge characterization – Sludge recovery and disposal – Vocabulary. - NF EN 12832 - Nov 1999
- Organic amendments – Composts containing materials of agronomic interest,...
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Arrêté du 17 décembre 1998 modifiant l'arrêté du 5 décembre 1996 modifié, dit " arrêté ADR ", relatif au transport des marchandises dangereuses par route – Circulaire du 28 juin 2001 relative à la gestion des déchets organiques.
Arrêté du 17 août 1998 modifiant l'arrêté du 2 février 1998 relatif aux prélèvements et à la consommation d'eau ainsi que aux émissions de...
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