Evaluation of Thermal Hydrolysis Efficiency of Sewage Sludge via Rheological Measurement
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 12
Abstract
Thermal hydrolysis processes (THP) play an important role in sewage sludge treatment. In this study, both low-temperature (60°C–90°C) and high-temperature (120°C–170°C) thermal hydrolysis experiments were performed on the initial sludge (at a total solid of a 7.03% and 6.45% by weight). The results have shown that the release of organic matter is logarithmic with the duration during low-temperature thermal hydrolysis (LTHP). For high-temperature thermal hydrolysis (HTHP), the release of organic matter is linear with a treated temperature. Good linear relationships were obtained between the release of a soluble chemical oxygen demand (rSCOD) and soluble proteins/polysaccharides. The pH decreased with the increase of the treatment temperature. The apparent viscosity of the sludge decreased after the thermal hydrolysis, especially at a high temperature. The yield stress of the sludge disappeared, and the thixotropy increased. Moreover, the flow behavior index increased, and the consistency coefficient decreased with the increase of the thermal hydrolyzed temperature. Meanwhile, we found a linear relationship between the rSCOD and increasing infinite viscosity. It demonstrated that the rheological measurement could be used as an indicator to evaluate the extent of organic matter solubilization in THP.
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All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Beijing Univ. of Civil Engineering and Architecture (Grant No. X18182).
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 12 • December 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 2, 2020
Accepted: Jul 14, 2020
Published online: Sep 20, 2020
Published in print: Dec 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 20, 2021
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