Development of sludge filterability test to assess the solids removal potential of a sludge bed

N.A. Mahmoud, M.H. Zandvoort, J.B. van Lier, G. Zeeman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A qualitative sludge characterisation technique called ¿sludge filterability technique¿ has been developed. This technique enables the determination of the sludge potential for the physical removal of solids, weighing the effect of different process parameters on solids removal and identifying the mechanisms of solids removal in an upflow anaerobic sludge bed system. In this paper guidelines for conducting the test are given and a ¿standardised¿ set-up is presented. The experimental set-up and protocol are simple and the results can be obtained in a period as short as a few hours. A sludge sample is added to an upflow reactor incubated at 4 °C, to limit gas production, washed with an anaerobically pre-treated and suspended solids free wastewater to remove solids washed out from the sludge, and then fed with a model substrate, prepared from fish meal with a standard procedure. Several experimental runs were conducted to validate and optimise the technique. The results showed that the technique is reliable, workable and reproducible
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2383-2388
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume97
Issue number18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Keywords

  • Anaerobic digestion
  • Primary sludge
  • Solids removal
  • SRT
  • Test standardisation

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