Norwegian University of Science and Department of Civil and

Technology (NTNU) Environmental Engineering

Exercise 6

TVM4171 Wastewater treatment - 2017

Sludge treatment

A municipal (city) wastewater treatment plant consisting of an activated sludge (AS) process
for BOD removal followed by chemical precipitation for phosphorus removal (AS with post-
precipitation). The biological and chemical sludge is mixed before the sludge treatment line.
The total sludge production from the treatment plant is 20 000 kg TS/day with a solid
concentration of 1 %. The amount of phosphorus (P) removed with the sludge is 360 kg P/d.
We can consider 80 % of the sludge as biological, and that 70 % of the biological fraction is
VS.

a) The sludge treatment line needs to include processes for thickening, hygienization,
stabilization and dewatering. Name 2 alternative sludge treatment methods each for
thickening, hygienization, stabilization and dewatering, respectively. Explain very
shortly how they work.

b) Design a gravity thickener for the sludge. Determine the daily sludge and reject flow
after thickening. Also, determine the daily production of solids as thickend sludge and
as reject. Assume a sludge concentration after thickening of 6 %, and a solid capture in
the thickener of 90 %.

c) Anaerobic digestion is the preferred stabilization method. Design the anaerobic

digesters, and estimate the biogas and methane production.

d) Centrifuges are used for final dewatering. The solid concentration in the sludge is
increased from 6 % to 25 % during dewatering. Calculate how this will affect the
density of the sludge. Determine the daily sludge and reject flow after dewatering.
Also, determine the daily production of solids as dewatered sludge and as reject.
Assume a solid capture in the centrifuges of 95 %.

e) Calculate the total daily flow of reject water and its concentration of solids, nitrogen
and phosphorus. Assume that none of the phosphorus and 70 % of the nitrogen in the
sludge is solubilized during the sludge treatment.

f) Thermal hydrolysis is currently not part of the sludge treatment plans. The
municipality is afraid that a thermal hydrolysis process would be unnecessary
expensive. On the other side, what would be the arguments for including thermal
hydrolysis in this train of sludge treatment processes?
g) The dewatered sludge needs to be transported 120 km for final disposal on farmland.
The current sludge transport costs are 500 NOK/m3. An equipment supplier can offer
a filterpress that he claims will produce a final dry solid concentration in dewatered
sludge of 60 % at the same operational costs as for the centrifuges. If this were the
case, what would the cost savings for sludge transport be?

h) The municipality want to consider recovering phosphorus. By doing this, they

consider converting the existing treatment plant to an enhanced biological phosphorus
removal process (EBPR). Assuming the sludge production is the same as the
biological sludge production in the existing treatment plant, and that the P released to
the reject is the luxary uptake of P in the EBPR. Assume the recovery from the reject
is as struvite. Estimate the P and N recovery, the amount of struvite produced, and the
amount of magnesium addition needed. Assume optimum struvite precipitation
conditions.