Wastewater treatment sludge processing

This manual focuses on thermal treatment processes for wastewater treatment sludges. Processes indude multiple-hearth and fluid-bed furnaces, wet air oxidation, disk dryers, and the Carver-Greenfield process. Also cSscussed are heat recovery, stack gas cleaning, emissions, combustion theory, fuel use. solids preparation, and ash management... 

On November 8, 2000, U.S. EPA listed as hazardous two wastes generated by the chlorinated aliphatics industry.18 The two wastes are wastewater treatment sludges from the production of ethylene dichloride or vinyl chloride monomer (EDC/VCM), and wastewater treatment sludges from the production of vinyl chloride monomer using mercuric chloride catalyst in an acetylene-based process. 

These types of surfactants have the largest share of world-wide total production [14] and the highest application rates in household, trade and industrial processes. As these compounds were handled mainly in aqueous systems, they were consequently discharged with the waste-water. After a more or less efficient wastewater treatment (WWT) process, which results in an elimination, i.e. degradation by wastewater biocoenosis and/or adsorption of the surfactants to the sludge, these polar compounds and their metabolites either reach the environment by wastewater discharges or are adsorbed to wastewater sludge,... 

Quenching wastewater treatment sludges from metal heat treating operations (T) where cyanides are used in the process (except for precious metals heat treating quenching wastewater treatment sludges). 

Wastewater treatment sludge from the mercury cell process in chlorine production (T)... 

Wastewater treatment sludges from the manufacturing and processing of explosives (R)... 

SoHd by-products include sludge from wastewater treatment, spent catalyst, and coke from the EDC pyrolysis process. These need to be disposed of in an environmentally sound manner, eg, by sludge digestion, incineration, landfill, etc. 

Dissolved Air Flotation. Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is used to separate suspended soflds and oil and grease from aqueous streams and to concentrate or thicken sludges. Air bubbles carry or float these materials to the surface where they can be removed. The air bubbles are formed by pressurizing either the influent wastewater or a portion of the effluent in the presence of air. When the pressurized stream enters the flotation tank which is at atmospheric pressure, the dissolved air comes out of solution as tiny, microscopic bubbles. Dissolved air flotation is used in many wastewater treatment systems, but in the United States it is perhaps best known with respect to hazardous waste because it is associated with the Hsted waste, K048, DAF flotation soflds from petroleum refining wastewaters. Of course, the process itself is not what is hazardous, but the materials it helps to remove from refining wastewaters. 

Fig. 2. Typical flow sheet for a domestic wastewater treatment plant utilizing the activated-sludge process.

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