POLYMER OPTIMIZATION FOR

CENTRIFUGE DEWATERING
CWEA Seminar
Math, Operations, and Maintenance for
Biosolids Systems

September 13, 2011

Steve Walker
Senior Operations Specialist
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 Learning Objectives
• Why optimize

• Dewatering basics

• Centrifuge basics

• Polymer considerations

• Sludge considerations

• Optimization approach

• Putting
P tti optimization
ti i ti in i action
ti
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 Dewatering
Sludge Dewatering
• The removal of a portion of the water contained in sludge
by means of a filter press, centrifuge, or other
mechanism.

Process optimization
• The discipline of adjusting a process so as to optimize a
set of parameters without violating a constraint

• The most common goals are minimizing cost,

maximizing throughput, and/or efficiency

• The goal is to maximize one or more of the process

paramrters, while keeping all others within their
constraints
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sw510s1.pptx/4

WHY OPTIMIZE
 Polymer Costs

57%
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 Dewatering Polymer Costs
$137,038
$130,014 $16,222
$15,701
$465,220
$466,391 $206,715

57%
$1,911,634

Liquid Oxygen Ferric Chloride DAF Polymer Cent Polymer

SBS SHC Carbon Chlorine

sw510s1.pptx/6
 Polymer – Raw Material Costs40

35
Monthly Percentage Change

30 Producer Price Index for Plastics Material and

Resins Manufacturing
25 Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://stats.bls.gov/ppi
20

Index includes:
15
Propylene
Acrylonitrile
10 Epichlorhydrin
Methyl acrylate
Methyl methacrylate
5 Formaldehyde

Month
6

5
US No. 2 Diesel
Retail Sales
4

0
sw510s1.pptx/7

1/1/2001 1/1/2002 1/1/2003 1/1/2004 1/1/2005 1/1/2006 1/1/2007 1/1/2008 1/1/2009 1/1/2010 1/1/2011
$/gal
sw510s1.pptx/8

DEWATERING
 Dewatering Considerations
• Centrifuge components
• Centrifuge adjustments
• Operational targets
• Throughput
• Sludge makeup
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 Water in Sludge
Gallons of Water in 10 tons of Sludge
600 000
600,000

500,000
G a llo n s o f W a tee r

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000 Focus Area

0
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
33
35
Percent Solids
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 Centrifuge Components

Bowl Scroll
Sludge Feed
Weir Plates

SIEBTECHNIK GmbH

Liquid Discharge Solids Discharge

sw510s1.pptx/11
 Centrifuge Factors
Bowl speed
• Adjusted
Adj t d through
th h th
the PLC
• The faster the speed, the greater the shear
f t on flocculated
factor fl l t d sludge
l d
• Can impact cake dryness, centrate quality, and
polymer dose
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 Centrifuge Factors
Conveyor (scroll) speed
• Controlled by the PLC
• Modern centrifuges are controlled using a
%torque setpoint
• To obtain the desired torque, the PLC adjusts
th scrollll speed
the d
• Can impact cake dryness, centrate quality, and
polymer dose
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 Centrifuge Factors
Differential
• Th
The difference
diff between
b t the
th bbowll speed
d and
d th
the
scroll speed
• Th
The differential
diff ti l changes
h as th
the PLC achieves
hi
the desired torque
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 Centrifuge Factors
Weir depth
• M
Mechanical
h i l adjustment
dj t t tto plates
l t att th
the end
d off
the bowl
• Sets
S t the
th pooll depth
d th within
ithi th
the b
bowll
• Can impact cake dryness, centrate quality, and
polymer dose
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 Operational Targets
Criteria Units Importance

y
Cake dryness %TS Disposal costs
Water equals weight and takes up
volume
Centrate quality %TS Impact on liquid treatment processes
or
Re-treatment of solids (thickening,
TSS, mg/L
digestion and dewatering)
Impact of inert solids on activated
sludge mass calculations

Throughput Pounds per How centrifuges are sized and sold

hour

Polymer dose Active Operating costs

pounds per
dry ton
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 Throughput Calculation
gallon x 8.34 pounds x %TS x 60 minutes = pounds
min gallon hour hour

gpm 100 150 200

%TS
0.020 1001 1501 2002
0.022 1101 1651 2202
0.024 1201 1801 2402
0.026 1301 1952 2602
0.028 1401 2102 2802
0.030 1501 2252 3002

Notice the large change in throughput

with
ith smallll change
h iin d
density
it or flflow
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 Impact of Sludge Density
4500

4000

3500
2250 lb/hr
n lb/hr

3000
Thrroughput in

2500

2000

1500
1500 lb/hr
1000

500
0.02 0.022 0.024 0.026 0.028 0.03
0
100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275
sw510s1.pptx/18

gpm
 SLUDGE CONSIDERATIONS
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 Primary To Secondary Sludge Ratio
• The ratio is determined by primary solids in pounds
divided by secondary solids in pounds
– Do not use gallons / gallons

• There is a direct correlation between primary solids to

secondary solids (P/S) ratio and polymer required for
dewatering

• A reduced P/S ratio reduces centrate and cake quality

• An increased P/S ratio reduces the amount of polymer

required to meet centrate and cake quality
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 Primary to Secondary Solids Blend
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 Economic Impact

Product Unit Cost Usage $ per 1,000

I
Impact
t d tons
dry t

Emulsion A $2.50/active lb 7.5 lb/ton $18,750

Emulsion B $2.30/active lb 8.0 lb/ton $18,400
Dry A $2 20/lb
$2.20/lb 9 5 lb/ton
9.5 $20 900
$20,900
Dry B $2.00/lb 10.5 lb/ton $21,000
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 Primary to Secondary Solids Blend
Suggested operational considerations
• Optimize primary sludge removal efficiency

• Optimize primary BOD removal efficiency

• Plan for impacts when taking activated sludge

basins or p
primary
y clarifiers out of service
• Understand impacts of secondary wasting
adjustments
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sw510s1.pptx/24

POLYMER
 Polymer Factors
• Polymer types
• Polymer solution strength
• Batching considerations
• Mixing considerations
• Solution injection point
• Purchasing flexibility
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 Polymer Characteristics
Type Appearance Primary Active
Ingredients Content

Liquid - emulsion Opaque Polymer, oil, 25% - 40%

inverting
surfactant,
su ac a , water
ae

Liquid - dispersion White Polymer, oil, 40% - 75%

inverting surfactant

Liquid - mannich Clear, highly Polymer, water 3% - 8%

viscous

Dry White granules, Polymer, dry 50% – 98%

spheres, or surfactant
powder
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 Polymer Characteristics
Type Charge Typical Molecular Weight

Cationic Positive y high

Medium to very g

Anionic Negative Medium to very high

Non-ionic Neutral Medium to very high

• Higher charge = more active sites on a molecule

• Molecular weight dictates the length of the molecule;

higher = longer

• Higher molecular weight = harder to get into solution and

more viscous when in solution
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 Polymer Characteristics

Solution Strength 0.3% +/- 0.1

• Calculated by dividing the pounds of polymer added to a

batch by the sum of pounds of polymer + pounds of
water in a batch

• Downstream dilution water increases the surface contact

area
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 Batching
• Aging time
– Need enough time to allow the polymer molecules to
uncoil

– Water temperature can impact aging time

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 Potable or Non-Potable Water
• During aging, solids in non-potable water take up
charge sites and can decrease polymer
performance
• Expense of potable water likely offsets the loss
of polymer performance
• Makedown
M k d water
t temperature
t t
– Warmer is better

• Chlorine residual
– High chlorine content can decrease performance
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 Polymer Mixing Systems
• IInsufficient
ffi i mixing
i i energy causes polymer
l to gel,
l and
d
prevents effective polymer activation
• Excessive high mixing energy causes polymer to shear
- Increased polymer dosage
- Decreased process performance
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 Solution Injection Point
• Before centrifuge feed pump
– Blended with sludge feed

– Mixed through travel time, in piping and elbows

– Can shear molecules going through the pump

• Upstream of rotating assembly

– Allows for some mixing

• Inside the rotating assembly

– Injected at the splash plate and diffuses into sludge
S
Suggest
t testing
t ti alternate
lt t points
i t occasionally
i ll
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 Contract Flexibility
• Establish Primary and Alternate supplies
– Use two different suppliers
pp rather than two different
products from the same supplier

• Determine if seasonal constraints support

alternatives
– An emulsion polymer may be more cost effective in
winter months

– A dryy p
polymer
y may
y be more cost effective in the
other months
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sw510s1.pptx/34

APPROACH
 Putting It All Together

• Centrifuge adjustments

• Throughput
• Polymer batching
• Polymer solution feed rates
• Operational targets
• Operational planning
sw510s1.pptx/35
 Optimization - Premise
• The readily apparent visual clue is centrate
quality

• Within an operating range, optimum dosage

results in quality centrate
• When in the optimal dosing range, the driest
cake will be produced
• With excessive dosages, both cake dryness and
centrate
t t quality
lit will
ill d
decline
li
Goal is to determine guidelines to achieve the optimal range
for a variety of conditions
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 Test Methodology – Phase 1
• Batch polymer at preferred solution strength
• Set sludge feed rate
• Enter typical torque setpoint and bowl speed
• Set lowest polymer feed rate
• Run for a standard time (i.e., 45 minutes)
• S
Samplel ffeed,
d centrate
t t and d cake
k for
f TSS.
TSS Feed
F d TSS
is used to calculate throughput.
• Run through sequence for at least 5 polymer feed
rates
• Plot results
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 Performance Curve
Dose v. % Recovery
35 100

98

30 96

94
lb/tton or %TS
S

25 92

90
24 lb/ton
20 88

86

15 84

82

10 80
1 2 3 4 5 6

Dose, lb/ton Cake Recovery

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 Test Methodology – Phase 2
• Set
S sludge feed
f rate
• Set polymer solution feed rate for the “ideal” polymer
dose
g and polymer
• With sludge y feed rates “locked in”,
adjust % torque setpoint
• Run for a standard time ((i.e.,, 45 minutes))
• Sample feed, centrate and cake for TSS. Feed TSS
is used to calculate throughput.
g p
• Run through sequence for at least 5 torque setpoint
• Plot results
sw510s1.pptx/39
 Performance Curve 2
Torque v. % Recovery
50 100

98
45
96
40
94
ue
S or Torqu

35
92

30 90
%TS

88
25
86
20
39% Torque 84
15
82

10 80
1 2 3 4 5 6

Torque Cake Recovery

sw510s1.pptx/40
 Outcome
• Determine what dose is effective under what
conditions

• Determine what torque is effective at what

throughput

• Provide general guidelines to “dial in” centrifuges

• If using
i more than
th one polymer,
l d
determine
t i under
d
what conditions each is most effective

• Forecast usage to establish budget projections

C
Consider
id scheduling
h d li full
f ll range off testing
t ti att least
l t every 6
sw510s1.pptx/41

months
 Operating Range
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 Throughput Range
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 Polymer Dose Rate
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 Guidelines With Budgetary Impacts
Polymer Projected Cake Dryness Centrate Capture
Throughput
Emulsion Greater than X Consistently falls Consistently falls below
lb/hr per below target target
machine
Dry Less than X Consistently stays Consistently stays above
lb/hr per above target target
machine

or seasonally

Polymer Time of Year

Emulsion ~Dec 15 – Apr 15
Dry ~ April 16 – Dec 14
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 Dewatering – Operating Targets
sw510s1.pptx/46
 What Was Covered
• Why optimize dewatering polymer use
• What impacts centrifuge
f output
y
• What impacts polymer batching
g
• The impact of P/S blend
• A methodology
th d l tto d
define
fi operating
ti ranges
• Putting optimization in action
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 Polymer Optimization for
Centrifuge Dewatering

Thank you for being a wastewater treatment

professional. Be proud of your contributions.
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