FACTORS AFFECTING POLYMER DEMAND

Matthew J. Higgins
1
, Sudhir N. Murthy
2
, Yen-Chih Chen
1
, Nicholas Maas
1
1
Dept. of Civil and Env. Engineering, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2
Washington DC Water and Sewer Authority


INTRODUCTION

Synthetic organic polymers are widely used by industry and municipalities to facilitate
dewatering of sludges. Polymer is needed to produce a floc that is strong enough to remain
intact and large enough to dewater well during the mechanical dewatering process. The amount
of polymer demand needed for good floc properties varies from plant to plant, depending on
digestion process, polymer type, and dewatering process. In fact, two plants with the same
digestion type and same polymer may exhibit different polymer demand. In addition, different
polymer types will also have different optimum doses for even the same sludge type. The
reasons for the differences are not well understood. It was hypothesized that biocolloids, made
up primarily of protein and polysaccharide, created the majority of polymer demand in digested
biosolids. As a result factors affecting biocolloid concentration and the coagulation of the
biocolloids by polymer would impact polymer demand.


RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this research were to better understand the factors which affect polymer
demand in order to better predict polymer demand and also develop strategies to reduce polymer
demand. To achieve these objectives, the research focused on the following topics:

1) Role of biocolloids on polymer demand;
2) Impact of polymer characteristics on polymer demand;
3) Impact of shear on polymer demand;
4) Quantification of shear for full-scale dewatering equipment (centrifuges, belts, etc..);
5) Implications for utilities and practitioners.


RESEARCH BENEFITS

The benefits of the research include useful tools for understanding the factors which impact
polymer demand, how plants can utilize this information to reduce polymer demand, and also
predict how process changes such as changes in digestion or dewatering equipment may impact
polymer requirements for conditioning.


RESEARCH SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

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Samples from a number of different treatment plants were collected and analyzed for a number
of different parameters. The samples included mixed liquor, waste activated sludge (WAS),
conventional aerobically and anaerobically digested, thermophilic anaerobically digested,
temperature phased anaerobically digested (TPAD), and an auto-thermal aerobically digested
sample (ATAD). The samples were analyzed for biocolloid concentration (both protein and
polysaccharides) for different size fractions, optimum polymer dose, dewatering properties, and
the mesophilic anaerobically digested samples were analyzed for metal content.

To examine the effect of polymer characteristics, the same sludges were dewatered using
polymer with differing charge density, molecular weight, branching, and functional groups.


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A brief summary of the results is provided in the following sections.

Role of Biocolloids. A linear correlation was found between the concentration of biocolloids (as
measured by protein and polysaccharides less than 4.2 m) and the optimum polymer dose
(OPD) as shown in Figure 1. All samples were dewatered using the same polymer and same
procedure. Interestingly, the thermophilic samples tested typically had the highest biocolloid
concentration and highest polymer dose, and mesophilic anaerobic digested biosolids had lower
biocolloids, while MLSS and aerobically digested samples had the lowest OPD and biocolloid
concentration.
Optimum Polymer Dose (meq/kg)
80 60 40 20 0
P
r
o
t
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+

P
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a
c
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(
m
g
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)
3000
2000
1000
0
W
M
An
An
An
An
T
M
An
A

Figure 1. OPD vs 4.2 m size fraction of protein and polysaccharide showing different sample
types (A=aerobically digested, An=anaerobically digested, M=MLSS, T=TPAD, W=waste
activated sludge).
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These results demonstrate that the small floc particles made up primarily of protein and
polysaccharides create a sink for polymer demand. The results also suggest that decreasing
biocolloid concentration will decrease polymer demand.


Impact of Shear on Polymer Demand. Research has shown that shear can significantly impact
polymer demand, in that greater amounts of shear results in greater polymer demand. Research
was performed in this study to better understand how different biosolids and polymer types
responded to shear during dewatering. The shear was measured using the unitless parameter Gt,
where G is the velocity gradient (related to the power/shear imparted to the sludge, with units of
1/time) and t is the time that the shear is applied. Figure 2 demonstrates the response of different
sludge types to shear. In these tests, the optimum polymer dose was determined for different Gt
values. The slope of the lines are related to how shear sensitive the sample was, with greater
slopes meaning greater shear sensitivity. A greater shear sensitivity relates to more polymer
demand during dewatering, especially in high shear dewatering devices. The results showed that
WAS samples were the most sensitive to shear followed by thermophilic, TPAD, and then
anaerobic and aerobic digestion were approximately the same.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000
Aerobic
Anaerobic
TPAD
Thermophilic
WAS
O
p
t
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m
P
o
l
y
m
e
r
D
o
s
e
(
m
e
q
/
k
g
)
Gt

Figure 2. Comparison of shear response for four different digested sludge types using the same
linear polymer.


Additional testing demonstrated that different polymers respond differently to shear, and some
are much better at forming flocs under high shear than others. For example, high molecular
weight polymers (greater than about 1-2 million) are needed for effective conditioning under
high shear. In addition, for high molecular weight polymers, branched polymers appear to
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provide the best conditioning over a greater range of shear. Therefore, a plant with a shear
sensitive sludge (such as thermophilic or WAS) and dewatering equipment that imparts
significant shear, could consider a high molecular weight, branched polymer for effective
conditioning.

Shear in full-scale dewatering equipment. Using techniques previously reported, the
equivalent shear of full-scale dewatering equipment can be determined. A set of tests were
performed in the field, and along with some existing data in the literature, the equivalent shear of
several different dewatering devices was determined. The results are shown in Figure 3. Belt
filter presses had the lowest equivalent shear, and the two high solids centrifuges that were tested
had the greatest equivalent shear. Using this information along with previously determined
relationships, the estimated polymer dose for a mesophilic anaerobically digested biosolids was
calculated. These calculated values are also shown in Figure 3. This analysis shows that the
polymer demand for this biosolids can vary by a factor of about 5 depending on the dewatering
equipment. This factor is even greater for a thermophilic or WAS sample since they are more
sensitive to shear.


0
20000
40000
60000
80000
1 10
5
1.2 10
5
1.4 10
5
B
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F
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2

E
q
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i
v
a
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n
t
G
t
Estimated Polymer Dose (g/kg)
10
20
30

Figure 3. Comparison of Gt values for dewatering equipment and estimated OPD for each device
assuming an anaerobically digested sludge and same polymer type.


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Engineering Significance. The results allow practitioners to understand how process changes,
such as different digestion or dewatering equipment, will impact the polymer demand. In
addition, it provides tools to estimate the polymer demand that may occur as a result of these
process changes. In addition, the results can be applied to develop methods to reduce polymer
demand, thereby reducing costs.

Reducing polymer demand. The results demonstrated a clear relationship between biocolloid
concentration and polymer demand. The more biocolloids in solution, the greater the polymer
demand for conditioning. Therefore, reducing the biocolloid concentration would also reduce
the polymer demand and the associated costs. Several strategies could be used to reduce the
biocolloid concentration. For example, a direct inverse correlation was found between the Fe
content of the anaerobically digested sludges and the biocolloid concentration. In other words,
as the Fe content of the sludge increased, the biocolloid concentration decreased. This suggests
that addition of Fe would reduce the biocolloid concentration.

Greater amounts of shear have been shown to increase the biocolloid concentration, therefore,
reducing the shear would also reduce the biocolloid concentration. This could be accomplished
by minimizing the distance that sludges are piped and pumped prior to dewatering or choosing
low-shear dewatering equipment.

Predicting polymer demand. The research has shown how different digestion and dewatering
processes impact polymer demand. The main findings are that thermophilic digestion greatly
increased polymer demand due to greater concentrations of biocolloids, and high solids
centrifuges generally increased polymer demand due to greater shear exerted on the sludges
during the dewatering process. If a plant is considering upgrading to thermophilic digestion, the
results from this research can be applied to estimate how this change will impact polymer
demand. Similarly, when upgrading to a high solids centrifuge, the increased polymer demand
can be estimated using the relative shear associated with the device.

More detailed information on the research results and their application can be found in the
WERF 01-CTS-1 Report.


SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

1. Biocolloids, or particles less than 4.2 m which are made up primarily of protein and
polysaccharides, created a significant amount of the polymer demand for digested
biosolids. A good linear correlation was found between this biocolloid concentration and
the optimum polymer dose of the samples. Digestion processes that used higher
temperatures, such as thermophilic, ATAD, and TPAD had significantly greater amounts
of biocolloids and polymer demand than mesophilically digested sludges.
2. For the 34 different polymers examined, the polymer charge density is a key factor in
explaining differences in polymer demand for different polymers. The different cationic
polymers studied have different charge densities and characteristics such as linear or
branched configurations, and hydrophobic moieties. In addition, a second set of
polymers with similar varying properties including a wide range of molecular weights
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(MW) was examined. Lower MW polymer had a significantly greater polymer demand
than higher MW polymers (greater than about 1 million).
3. Shear during dewatering is an important factor in affecting the optimum polymer dose,
with greater shear requiring more polymer for conditioning. Lower MW polymers were
not as resistant to shear as higher MW polymers. In addition, branched polymers appear
to have better resistance to shear than linear polymers.
4. As the temperature of digestion increased, the sludges became less resistant to shear, and
were more susceptible to floc breakup. This means for increasing amounts of shear, the
polymer demand increased more for thermophilic sludges compared to mesophilic
sludges. Undigested sludges were also very susceptible to shear.
5. The results demonstrate that both charge neutralization and polymer bridging are key
mechanism for conditioning with polymer.
6. The shear associated with several full-scale dewatering devices was measured and
quantified using the unitless Gt term. The shear of two high solids centrifuges was
measured in the range of 75,000-120,000, medium solids centrifuges 25,000-35,000, and
a belt filter press was 10,000. This means, for the same sludge type, a greater polymer
demand would be encountered for high shear devices such as the high solids centrifuge as
compared to a relatively low shear belt filter press.


Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Water Environment Research Foundation, project 01-CTS-1.
The authors would like to thank the Project Subcommittee for their valuable review and
contributions to this work.
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