Investigation of drying potential of municipal treatment sludges

In order to find effective solutions for sludge related problems in WWTPs, different sludge treatment processes including sludge thickening, stabilization, conditioning and dewatering have been applied to improve the sludge quality while decreasing the amount of processed sludges. In addition, sludge drying as a treatment process, has recently used in practice to reduce the sludge amount in WWTPs and also evaluate the processed sludges for possible beneficial alternatives.Thermal drying processes intend to enhance water removal from dewatered solids which attains both volume and weight reductions. Beyond this, thermal drying of sludges can provide in a product with significant energy and nutrient value.This research aimed to emphasize the importance of the sludge drying technology to investigate sludge?s drying abilities under the different temperature and drying time conditions at laboratory conditions.Two experimental studies were designed by using the Box Wilson experimental statistical method for the achieved data to be evaluated. In the first experimental study, the retention time range of 10-120 minutes and the temperature range of 50-180 centigrade degrees were selected as operational while the retention time range of 10-180 minutes and the temperature range of 80-250 centigrade degrees were selected for the second experimental study. Experimental results showed that the increasing of time and temperature increased the both dry solid contents and calorific value of the final sludge product.