1997:10

LULEAL
UNJVERS1TY
Of T ECH NOLOGY

Dewatering of
Wastewater Sludge
by N atural Air Drying

by

STEFAN MARKLUND

Department of Environmental Planning and Design

Division of Sanitary Engineering

1997:10 • ISSN: 1402 -1757

ISRN: LTU - LIC -- 1997/10 - - SE
 DEWATERING OF WASTEWATER
SLUDGE BY NATURAL AIR DRYING

by
Stefan Marklund

Division of Sanitary Engineering

Luleå University ofTechnology

Licenciate T hesis
Luleå, May 1997
Abstract

Wastewater sludge dewatering on drying beds was one of the earliest methods to redu-
ce the water content of sludges. At present this method is arousing new interest, as a
simple tool for local sludge recycling and intensified use of sludge nutrients in
farming.

At present a more widespread use of drying beds in northern latitudes is being

hampered by the lack of proven guidelines and manuals. Therefore natural drying on
sand beds is more common in areas with favourable climatic conditions. However, an
obvious alternative in northern latitudes is to combine dewatering on sand beds in
summer with dewatering on freeze-thaw beds in winter.

The conditions for sludge dewatering by moisture drainage through a bottom sand
layer and evaporation to free air was evaluated in laboratory and pilot tests. The labo-
ratory experiments comprised water evaporation tests at different temperatures and
wind speeds and sludge dewatering in two different environments. The results showed
that moisture could be evaporated at an increased rate, compared with the natural
mean lake evaporation rate in the summer, by controlling the air speed and tempera-
ture at the water surface.

An outdoor test period included the influence of precipitation and relative humidity on
sludge drying. These tests resulted in a shorter period of constant rate drying and a
lower final total solids content in the sludge, at dewatering periods from 34-55 days. It
was also noted that roofing the sand drying bed resulted in a notably increased final
total solids content.

Further studies comprised sludge dewatering in five similar pilot scale sand drying
beds, using a 5 % total solids biological-chemical wastewater sludge. The experiments
were conducted in a controlled environment at 24-27 °C and 30-40 % relative humi-
dity. The initial sludge mass varied between 147 and 263 kg. In order to study the
influence of cracking on dewatering, the sludge in three of the units was surface-cut to
9-36 pieces. The drainage removed 19-34 % of the sludge moisture within 28 days
from the start, with the thinner layer of sludge (ca 120 mm)being finished at half the
time compared with the thicker layers (ca 350 mm). Sludge evaporation increased the
total solids content to 50 % in 5 to 8 weeks from the start, depending on the inital
sludge thickness as above. Compared with the earlier work a lower rate of evaporation
was measured at all units in this indoors experiment.

The cracking pattern applied to three sludge units did not increase the rate of evapora-
tion compared with the other units, but in general the constant rate evaporation did
continue until the sludge reached the 50 % total solids level. The specific dewatering
rate measured as grams of water per rn2 and day for the sludge dewatered to 50 % total
solids was constant, independent of the inital sludge layer thickness. Thus the design
of the optimum sludge layer thickness probably must be based on local conditions.

To increase our basic knowledge of sand bed dewatering further studies should be
directed towards the influence of solar flux and air humidity variations on the rate of
evaporation. Furthermore, due to the lack of basic guidelines for northern latitudes,
special interest should be given to design criteria for open and covered beds.
Preface

The main part of this thesis was carried out at the Division of Sanitary Engineering,
Luleå University of Technology.

The experimental outfit and project costs were sponsored by the National Board for
Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK), which is gratefully acknowledged.

I am also grateful to Rolf Engström and Anders Westerberg for technical assistance,
making the test runs possible, and to research engineer Kerstin Nordqvist for careful
analyses of all sludge and liquid samples. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr Chris-
ter Stenmark for practical assistance during a critical period.

Paul McMillen at the University Library reviewed the language with impressive speed,
while Milan Vnuk at the Division of Applied Geology transformed the final text and
drew the figures. Thomas Norlin at the Kiruna branch of the National Surveying
Authority solved all the area measurement problems. All of them are acknowledged
for their steadfast assistance and professional skill.

Finally, Professor Jörgen Hanæus, Head of the Division of Sanitary Engineering of

Luleå University of Technology, is appreciated for all his constructive discussions and
efforts needed to give the final work priority.

Luleå in April 1997

Stefan Marklund
This thesis consists of the following parts

Factors influencing natural sludge dewatering on sand beds

Paper I Dewatering of sludge by natural methods.

Wat. Sci. Tech. Vol. 22, pp 239-246, 1990.

Paper II Dewatering of drying beds - Combined biological-chemical

sludge behaviour.
Wat. Sci. Tech. Vol 28, pp 65-72, 1993.

Paper III A study of the influence of cracking on wastewater sludge drying

behaviour.
Submitted to Vatten, 1997.
Factors influencing natural sludge dewatering on sand beds

Background

Besides the main objective of wastewater purification, wastewater plant operation

involves the production and handling of sludge with a low solids content. Whether the
wastewater treatment process can be characterized as mechanical, biological, chemical
or even natural, excess solid matter is accumulated and has to be handled.

As municipal water services from the start developed as a means of providing citizens
with potable tap water as well as removing used tap water and infiltrating water,
wastewater sludge handling and final use was not a point of interest. However, during
the last 20 years the question of beneficial use of sludge has aroused renewed interest.
At present the art of converting wastewater sludge into certified biosolids, achieving
acceptance from the public and from local farmers, is a primary goal for the municipal
water business in many countries.

At present more than 2100 small and large municipal domestic wastewater treatment
plants purify sewage from more than 7 million people in Sweden, producing annually
ca 1000 Mtn' of treated water and ca 1 Mon' of wastewater sludge (VAV 1995). Of the
corresponding total of 200 000 tonnes of sludge total solids (TS), ca 20 000 tonnes are
produced at small treatment plants (Hahn 1983).

The necessity of sludge dewatering is unquestionable and obvious. Even though dewa-
tered sludge is only a fraction of the liquid flow through the plant, usually ca 1/1000 or
less calculated as yearly figures, the sludge as a liquid with suspended solids before
removal from the wastewater treatment processes is of another and much greater order
of magnitude. Sludge is usually produced at a number of places within a plant and is
removed to the sludge processing parts at intervals ranging from a number of minutes
to a number of hours. If the sludge removal stops, the purification process deteriorates.

The sludge treatment processes are designed to produce results within hours or days,
in the case of highly sophisticated and sensitive nutrient removal processes, compared
with many months for rugged open pond systems. The pond systems are more robust,
simply because they are designed to store large sludge volumes. With regard to tra-
ditional treatment technology, it can be stated that most plants will respond negatively
within a day or two, either due to reduced clarifier efficiency or to disturbed biological
sludge properties, if the sludge processing fails.

Sludge dewatering is not an easy process due to the high volatile solids content of
sludge. As illustrated in Figure 1, the choice of treatment differs according to the total
solids content.

During dewatering, the sludge is transformed from a thin fluid to a mixture with plas-
tic properties through the use of gravity thickening and mechanical dewatering. The
figure states that 34 % TS is a practical upper limit for mechanical dewatering. Further
sludge dewatering must use drying and combustion technology. By cloying, the sludge

1
 — FLUID »' PLASTIC >LI CRUMBLY DRY DUST

1.0 _L

GRAVITY ,/ o INITIAL TS 2%
THICKENING/
+ INITIAL TS 5%
\

MECHANICAL
DEWATERING

DRYING
BURNINGH

.0
0 10 20 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
TS %
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
MOISTURE %

Figure 1. Moisture content versus sludge volume for an initial TS content of

2 % and 5 %, where 70 % of the total solids are volatile.

is transformed to a light and porous matrix and the TS is increased up to 80% or even
90%.

By burning the remaining volatile solids are reduced to ash and the water is
evaporated.

The increase in TS is related to a volume reduction, most noticeably at the first treat-
ment steps with gravity thickening resulting in a ca 50 % volume reduction yielding
5-9 % TS. Mechanical dewatering reduces the volume to 15-6 % of the original,
depending on the initial TS, while drying down to the burning limit reduces it even
further down to 5- 2 % of the initial weight. Final combustion finally leaves a residue
in the order of 2-0.5 %. It should be pointed out that these figures are theoretical and
in practice the weight reduction is not followed by a similar reduction of the volume at
moisture contents below 50-60 %, as the dried sludge, as well as the incineration
residue, becomes porous in its strucure.

Sludge dewatering can thus be performed to an extreme level. The optimum treatment
sequence must be evaluated on the basis of local treatment facility conditions and local
requirements for beneficial use of sludge as biosolids, as well as the need for energy
conservation.

Interaction between moisture and solids in sludge

Wastewater sludge can be characterized as a mixture of water, dissolved substances

and particles. The matrix is usually, at the point of production, a dilute suspension
with handling properties close to those of the wastewater. At an increased TS level it
starts to act as a gel, and from 15-20 % TS and above it can be compared to a wet soil.

2
Due to the high content of volatile TS, the handling and pumping properties are quite
different and more troublesome compared with those of a sludge with a high fixed
solids content.

The liquid phase of the sludge can be characterised by a number of bonding types,
relating to bonding strength or technology for moisture removal. Spangler (1960),
Smollen (1986, 1988), Vesilind (1974) and Tsang & Vesilind (1990) have proposed the
following alternative classification schemes.

Table 1. Classification of moisture attachment in wastewater sludge.

Class
Source I II III IV
Spangler (1960) Gravitational Capillary Hygroscopic
water water water
Vesilind (1974) Free Floc Capillary Particle
water water water water
Smollen (1986) Mechanical Physical Chemical
attachment attachment attachment
Smollen (1988) Free Immobilized Bound Chemically
moisture moisture moisture bound moist.
Tsang & Free Interstitial Surface Bound
Vesilind (1990) moisture moisture moisture moisture

Spangler (1960) in his reference to soil water classification referred each class of water
to the kind of primary force needed for its movement. The types are:

Gravitational water - water which exists in large pores of soil and which the
force of gravity will remove from the soil when conditions for free drainage
exist.
II Capillary water - water which is held by cohesion as a continuous film around
the soil particles and in the capillary spaces.
III Hygroscopic water - water tightly adhering to solid particles in thin films which
can be removed only as vapour.

Vesilind (1974) divided sludge moisture into four categories:

I Free water - water not attached to sludge solids in any way and that can be remo
ved by simple gravitational settling.
II Floc water - water which is trapped within the flocs and travels with them.
Removal is possible by mechanical dewatering.
III Capillary water - water which adheres to the individual particles and can be
squeezed out only if these individual particles are forced out of shape and
compacted.
IV Particle water - water which is chemically bound to the individual particles.

3
By the Vesilind definition, free water is water above the sludge blanket settled in a
one-litre cylinder. Floc water is the additional volume removed by low to medium
centrifuge speed levels (i.e. 6 000 - 8 000 g), while capillary water is removed by
gravitational forces from 13 000 g and above. The remaining water is defined as
particle water.
Smollen (1986a+b) identifies a basic split in mechanical, physical and chemical
attachment, based on the order of bound energy in kJ/kmol. In a later paper Smollen
(1988) categorises moisture into four fractions, by the use of (i) vacuum filtration, (ii)
drying at 30 °C and (iii) drying at 105 °C. Thus Smollen defines the remaining
chemically bound water at 105 °C as bound by a powerful linkage that can be broken
only by heating above 105 °C.

Tsang and Vesilind (1990) finally used a drying apparatus to dry a thin layer of sludge.
By precise weight measurements in a thermal tube dryer they obtained drying curves
such as the one shown in Figure 2. rstitial water
surface water
bound water
Rate of evaporation

Weight of sample

Figure 2. Drying curve for identifying four different types of water in sludges. From
Tsang and Vesilind (1990).

They classified sludge moisture as follows:

I Free moisture - the moisture removed during the constant rate period of a drying
curve. The moisture is not associated with particles and includes void water not
affected by capillary forces.
II Interstitial moisture - the moisture removed during the first falling rate period of
a drying curve. This is floc moisture when sludge is in suspension, and is present in
the capillaries when the cake is formed.
III Surface moisture - the moisture removed during the second rate falling period of
a drying curve. This moisture is held on the surface of the solid particles by adsorp-
tion and adhesion.
IV Bound moisture - the moisture not removed during the experiment. This moisture
is chemically bound to the solid particles.

4
Besides the alternatives described above, the different bonding forms can be quantified
by using differential thermal analysis (DTA) or dilatometry. These expe-rimental
methods are applied on a laboratory scale using small weights of sludge. All methods
of this kind are based on the assumption that "bound water" is unfrozen at temperatu-
res down to -20 °C.
Sludge dewatering on sand beds can be described by the following steps:

I Initial time dewatering - the sludge has a low total solids content and dewaters at
a full rate due to moisture drainage and a constant rate evaporation
II First medium time dewatering - the sludge total solids content is rising and the
drainage is completed. Evaporation continues at the constant rate level. Small
cracks can be noticed at the surface and outer corners.
III Second medium time dewatering - the sludge total solids increase transforms the
sludge layer to a plastic medium. The surface cracks are widened, fmally down to
the bottom with evaporation still at the constant rate level. During this period
sludge warping is initiated.
IV Final time dewatering - the sludge has a total solids content permitting burning.
The evaporation rate is gradually declining to a low rate, finally leaving only the
chemically bound water sludge content. The cracked sludge piece matrix is fixed
in shape, with declining piece density.

As noted above the sludge evaporation rate usually controls the time needed for the
drying bed dewatering cycle. Paper I of this thesis reports the results of evaporation
tests at different temperatures and the connected evaporation efficiency. The evapora-
tion from a horizontal water surface in nature can usually be compared to the flux
from a small lake and is as such controlled by precipitation, changes in relative humid-
ity, air temperature and air speed. An alternative approach is to cover the evaporation
surface, e.g. with a fibreglass enclosure (WEF 1983), providing increased temperature
and lowered relative humidity. By this measure it should also be possible to increase
the rate of evaporation. Another way to increase the evaporation efficiency is to
increase the contact area between the air and moisture. The paper also describes some
initial fmdings concerning simultaneous sludge drainage and evaporation. The results
in short indicate a possibility of reaching high evaporation values by covering the
drying beds and controlling the air flow and temperature.

A general difference between Swedish and other European wastewater sludge is the
prevailing Swedish use of chemical addition for phosphorus removal. The addition of
chemicals such as ferric chloride or aluminium sulphate alters both the net production
of sludge and the specific sludge properties. In Paper II a mixed mechanicaVbiologi-
cal + chemical sludge was dewatered in five pilot-scale sand drying beds and four
drainage columns. The aim of the study was to evaluate the drainage and drying pro-
cess at different sludge layer thicknesses. The drainage process was of interest, as
being the fastest dewatering step. Moisture not removed by drainage has to be remo-
ved by eva-poration. Thus, the drainage efficiency greatly influences the time
consumed for evaporation.

Sludge dewatered by drainage in columns closed to air removed between 26 and

47 % of the initial moisture. Drainage from the open sand beds removed between 19
and 35 % of the moisture. The thin layer sludge drainage was completed within 16
5
days and the thick layer drainage within 28 days. The remaining water was evaporated
with a flux of 70-100 % of the evaporation from a free water surface. The most notable
conclusion was the extended drainage period and the small moisture fraction removed,
compared with practical experience of mechanical-biological sludge (WEF 1983).

The cracking and warping of sludge during dewatering are a result of non-uniform
shrinkage through the sludge body (Kawaguchi et al 1983). As Hatano et al (1988)
noted that cracks in clayey field soil were responsible for 10-50 % of the total surface
evaporation, it is possible that cracks in sludge may have the same influence. In Paper
III the influence of cracking was described by further analyses, using the drying beds
presented in Paper II. The paper also discusses the sludge dewatering rate needed to
reach a given total solids content, as well as the influence of the initial sludge depth on
the dewatering rate. A general conclusion was that sludge dewatering to a manageable
50 % total solids content took between 5 and 8 weeks, depending on the layer
thickness. A notable experience was that the specific dewatering rate was nearly cons-
tant regardless of the initial sludge thickness. The evaporation rate did not change due
to sludge cracking in a medium sized grid. A final conclusion was that the constant
rate evaporation continued to the stated 50 % TS, indicating that the sludge layer inner
diffusion resistance was of minor importance up to this solids content.

Future research should be directed towards sludge surface evaporation flux limitations
due to natural humidity and solar variation, as well as to precipitation. Analyzing the
influence of climatic factors at northern latitudes from a practical standpoint also
focuses on the design of initial sludge layer thickness. As probably only one drying
cycle can be performed each summer, design guidelines adapted to local conditions are
needed.

Research objective

The aim of this thesis is to improve the engineering base for utilizing sludge dewate-
ring by natural air drying. In particular, the relation between drainage and evapo-
ration is investigated, as well as the influence on drying exerted by cracks in the
sludge.

References

Hahn R. (1983). Sludge dewatering at small wastewater treatment plants.

Requirements for the use of sand drying beds. Department of Enviromental Enginee-
ring, Lund Institute of Technology. Bulletin series VA no 42. (In Swedish)

Hatano R., Nakamoto H., Sakuma T. and Okajima H. (1988). Evapotranspiration in

cracked clay field soil. Soil Sci. Nutr, 34(4), pp. 547-555, 1988.

Kawaguchi S., Hacho T., Kobayashi Y. and Yamazaki K. (1983). Shrinkage by drying
of sludge from purification plants. Memoirs of Faculty of Tokyo Metropolitan Univ.
No. 33, 1983, pp. 97-103.
6
Smollen M. (1986a), Categories of moisture content and dewatering characteristics of
biological sludges. 4th World Filtration Congress, Ostende Belgium. Royal Flemish
Soc. of Engineers, Antwerp, Belgium. Pp. 14.35-14.41.

Smollen M. (1986b). Dewaterability of municipal sludges: A comparative study of

specific resistance to filtration and capillary suction time as dewaterability parameters.
Water SA, Vol 12, No 3 July 1986, pp. 127-130. ISSN 0378-4738.

Smollen M. (1986c). Dewaterability of municipal sludges: Sludge characterization and

behaviour in terms of SRF and CST parameters. Water SA, Vol 12, No 3 July 1986, pp.
133-138. ISSN 0378-4738.

Smollen M. (1988). Moisture characteristics and volume reduction of municipal

sludges. Water SA, Vol 14, No 1 January 1988, pp. 25-28. ISSN 0378-4738.

Spangler M. G. (1960). Soil water. Soil Engineering, 2nd edition. International

Textbook Co, Scranton PA.

Tsang K. R. and Vesilind P. A. (1990). Moisture distribution in sludge. WaL ScL Tech.
Vol. 22, No. 12, pp. 135-142, 1990.

VAV (1996). Swedish Water and Wastewater Association statistics 1995. (In Swedish)

WEF (1983). Sludge dewatering. Manual of practice 20. Second printing 1991. Wash-
ington D. C: USA. ISBN 0-943244-42-0.

Vesilind RA. (1974). Treatment and disposal of wastewater sludges. Ann Arbor Sci.
Publ. Inc. USA. ISBN 0-250-40063-4.

7
Wet. Sci. Tech. Vol. 22, No. 3/4, pp. 239-246. 1990. 0273-1223/90 $0.00 + -50
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved. Copyright C) 1990 IAWPRC

DEWATERING OF SLUDGE BY
NATURAL METHODS
S. Marklund
Division of Sanitary Engineering, Luleå University of Technology,
S-951 64 Luleå, Sweden

AESTRACT
Drying fram a free water surface and fu a waste activated sludge was studied in three
separate experimental arrangements. Evaporatian in a closed chamber with a surface area of
1.0 m2 was studied with temperatures between 20 and 60°C and air flows between 75 and
300 m3/hcur. The rate of evaporaticn varied between 351 and 746 granAti2 *1-our. The
efficiency varied between 11 and 20%. To increase the efficiency the air-liquid area has
to be enlarged.
Evaporation from two pilot sludge drying beds was studied in an open air test lasting four
months. One similar bed was tested in a controlled environment. The results Showed that
above a critical moisture content between 600 and 1100% evaporation from sludge equals the
rate of evaporation from a nee water surface. Below the critical moisture level the rate
decreases rapidly.
Further work Should be directed towards full-erale tests with covered drying beds. Special
attention Should be drawn to methods to improve the drying rate during the falling rate
period, to two phase drying and to the evaluation of a combined dewatering system with
sludge freeze drying in winter season and sludge drying in summer season.
KEYWORDS
Sludge drying; evaporation; dewatering; small engineering.
INTRODUCTION
Sludge treatment at small wastewater treatment plants (WTP) is often limited. In most
rasee the treatment consists of one or two sludge storage units, with a sdämerged aerator
and a decanting device. For final dewatering and treatment the sludge has to be
transported to and processed in a central farttity.
This process has the disadvantage of transporting non-dewatered sludge, often over vast
distances. Co-processing of sludge from small and large Tomas also prohibits reuse in
farming, as more polluted sludges usually cannot be separated from lese polluted ones in
the treatment chain.
In areas with an arid climate, on-site sludge dewatering on open sand bede is commonly
used In climate zones with more precipitation, dewatering results tend to be more
unstable. For Scandinavia the process is further limited by lcw temperatures in the winter
season as well as parts of fall and autumn. Recent develcpments in sludge freeze-thawing
technolcxjy seem to enable a year-round use of sand beds.
In this way the sand bed can be used as a sludge freeze-thaw bed during winter and
as a sludge drying bed during summer.

239
240 S. MARKLUND

THEORY OF NATURAL DEWATERING.

Sludge dewatering an sand beds.

Dewatering on sand beds consists of initial gravity drainage and evaporation. Initial
solid contents can be as low as 0.5%, behaving as a diluted suspension. By gravity dewate-
ring, water content is reduced by between 25 and 90%,depending an initial content. py
further reducing the moisture content with evaporation the sludge acts liguLe like a gel and
finally as a solid. During this latter stage the sludge Shrinks and cracks. The evapo-
ration can be continued to equilibrium, producing a cake as hard as dry sand or porcelain.
Usually the moisture content in sludge is divided into three types:
1.Gravitational water - water removable by the force of gravity,
when conditions for free drainage exist.
2.Capillary water - water held by cohesion as a film around the
soil particles, and in the capillary spaces.
3.Hygroscopic water - water tightly adhered to solids, can only
be removed by evaporation.
Mathematical modelling of gravitational dewatering behaviour is usually based on the
specific resistance concept. py determining the basic parameters - specific resistance
R at a given head loss h, coefficient of conpressibility (o), initial solids content
F9 initial head H and dyRamic viscosity of the filtrate (µ) - the total gravity
drainage time in &ours according to Adrian (1978) can be predicted as
µ ' Rc' F
t=( • (ho+1 0+1
- a Hoh - -0+1Ho +0+1 _0+1 1 (1)
100(h )°" (o+1) a o )).(---)l+o
e
Dewatering by evaporation of liquid In a sludge layer, is limited by thermal energy net
input and differential vapour pressure. The thermal input raises the free kinetic energy
of the water and the rate of evaporation. An increase in vapour in an air volume in
contact with a liquid surface can continue until the rate of vaporization is balanced by
connsation. Further evaporation can only be achieved hy reducing the vaprur level in the
air.
Pettersson (1984) gives the following empirical equation for evaporation from small water
surfaces to air

= Ab-- • (x -x ) (2)
P
•
where Am = mass of evaporated water (kg/s)
A = water surface area (n?)
a = heat transfer rnefficlent (Win? K)
C = specific heat raparity of air (kWs/kg)
P
x'v = vapour content at the water surface (kg B 0/kg air)
at constant pressure 2
xv = vapour content In ambient air (kg H 0/kg air)
2
Drying of sludge involves the simultaneous processes of transfer of heat to evaporate
liquid and transfer of mass as internal moisture and evaporated liquid. During the initial
stage the rate of drying is stated to approximate that of a free water surface. With the
formation of a thin solid rake the internal resistance to moisture movements becomes
larger. This makes the rate of replenishing the evaporating water lnwer. At a specific
moisture content the falling internal rate limits the evaporation process. Further
evaporating with an InLaa dry solid cake at the top gradually limits the evaporation
rate.
Sludge freezing-thawing.
Treatment of sludge by freezing-thawing has according to Reed (1985) and Martel (1987)
been known since the 1930s. When water transforms into ice crystals virtually all suspen-
ded and soluble impurities are rejected. In that way sludge and other impurities are col-
lected in frozen layers between adjacent layers of frozen water. The process is basiraily
Irreversible, and during melting water freely drains away from the sludge.
 Dewatering of sludge by natural methods 241

Freezing of sludge can be achieved either by natural freezing on open beds or by using re-
frigeration equipment. The rate of natural freezing of sludge can be calculated with
methods for estimating ice thickness on lakes.
According to Bengtsson and Eneris (1977) ice thickness can be expressed as
h=k1S (3)
where: h = ice thickness (=m10-2 )
k = degree-day °efficient
S = accumulated sum of frost days (°C days)
For the northern part of Sweden k is between 2.2 (including the effect of an insulating
snow layer) and 3.6 (snad-free ice layer). S is expressed as the added sum of fiLoL days
multiplied with the mean daily tepzrature (° C) for eadh day. As the water content in a
sludge normally is between 97-99.5% this can be expected to follow the freezing pattern
of water.
Thawing of frozen sludgP can be expressed by the following equation
z = k' • IV (4)
where: z = actual depth of thawing (=nr 2)
k'= degree-day crefficient
V = accumulated number of days (° C days) when temperature is above 0°C.
V is the added number of non-freezing days multiplied with the mean daily temperature for
each day.
Fetrebring and Lagesscn (1986) concluded that the equations above well correlate with ex-
perimental experience of freezing and thawing sludge on open beds. They investigated a
full-scale study on three separate beds in northern Sweden, with a mean k value for the
degree-day coefficient for freezing of 1.91 cm/fS. The measured k value for thawing was
between 3.76 and 4.06 cm/1S.
The initial solid contents of between 1 and 3% was increased to between 21 and 31% after
freeze-thaw. This represents a mean volume rektion of 90%. Depending an the lrrpl yearly
sum of positive and negative degree-days, either the maximum freezing depth or melting
depth is a limiting value for sludge depth Fer season. In the northern part of Sweden
(Luleå) the mean value for negative degree-days is 1185 and the correspondirxg pnsitive
value is 1820.
In order to keep the bed free from snow, and increase the freezing velocity, the sludge
was frozen in layers of ah-ut 100 mm. This increases the maximum depth of frozen sludge to
above 2 meters. The seasonal melting depth can be calculated to approx. 1.7 metres,
thereby being the lore) limiting factor of the proccoo.
EQUIPMENT DESIGN
Three different types of drying equipment were used in studies of the drying of water
and sludge.
Evaporation fram a liquid. (Fig. 1)
The aim of the work was to study evaporation fxais small bodies of water with limited
surface areas. For this purpose an isolated evaporation chamber (F) with a conrected
control unit for air flow and air temperature (B) was constructed. The chamber is of
glass-firer plastic with a suface area of 1.0 rj and a total height of 1.50 metres. Inlet
and outlet air passes thell through 120 mm openings situated at opposite sides 320 mm from
the top. The Chamber is heat-insulated with 100 mm polystyrene.

Inlet air flow and temperature can be preset between 50 and 300 n? /h and 20 and 60°C.
NO humidification control devices were in operation. Inlet air humidity was normally
in the range of 20-40% at 20°C.

JWST 22:3/4-R
242 S. MARKLUND

B F
&.137-1877/jM5
2.2....<.

G
A AIR INLET
B AIR FLOW CONTROL UNIT
C PREHEATER CONTROL UNIT 2000
D SENSOR FOR PREHEATER CONTROL e
E SENSOR FOR MEASUREMENT OF 9reu
hri mein!
INLET AIR TEMPERATURE AND
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
F EVAPORATION CHAMBER
G LIQUID
H SENSORS FOR MEASUREMENT OF LIQUID TEMPERATURES
LIQUID LEVEL SENSOR
J SENSOR FOR MEASUREMENT OF OUTLET AIR TEMPERATURE
AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY
K AIR OUTLET
L HEAT INSULATION

Figure 1. Schematic diagramed the experimental arrangement for

detenninetien of evaperatien rates from a water
surface.

At the center of the chamber above is a potentiemetric level sensor for liquid (I) and
three submerged temperature sensors. Inlet and outlet air humidity and teuriz.Lature are
measured by combined sensors (E,J). In early experiments readings of huniditywmre based
on wet and dry bulb temperatures, later on relative humidity was measured with on-line
condenser sensors. Umpareture was measured with direct reading Pt-100 sensors. The rea-
dings of temperature and humidity were recorded by a micreMac transforming unit connected
to a PC unit.

Each experiment started with a liquid temperature of 10-11°C. The liquid consisted of
potable water, in some experiments with the addition of salt as NaCl.

Sludge drying bed I. (Fig. 2)

The equipment consisted of a bottom container (E) with 300 mm of filter sand (0.8-1.2 mm)
and an overlying stnmture for sludge storage and air flaw (I,G). Drainage water was col-
lected in a box (M) through a drainage pipe (D). The sludge rapacity was 400 mm or 130
litres. To ensure a constant air flow pattern above the slirly, the surrounding walls were
constructed as removable names (I). As the sludge was atered, frames cculd be removed
giving 50 mmimmtimun vertical distance to the sludge surface. The surface area is 0.324 m2 .
B G A AM INLET
N B BRANCH PIPE
C AR VALUE
Fz,lelwfrizzArmmL D DRAINAGE PPE
E FILTERSAND
E21 Au- F SLUDGE LAYER
,// G ROOFING
H PLASTIC PPE
I REMOVABLE FRAME
,Ef..
...: .. J BOTTOM CONTAINER
K POLYETHYLENE SEALING FILM
L HEAT INSULATION
M DRAINAGE WATER COLLECTOR
N UPPER AIR OUTLET
O LOWER AR OUTLET
P SENSORS FOR TEMPERATURE
AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Q TEMPERATURE SENSORS

Figure 2. Sdhematic diagram of the expm-inental arrangement for determination of

evaporation rates from a sludge surface.
 Dewatering of sludge by natural methods 243

Inlet air flaw from the control unit is separated to the sludge surface and bottom draina-
ge pipe by two air valves (C). The flow of air over the sludge surface is controlled by a
roof with a constant distance to the surface.

Inlet and outlet air humidity and temperature as well as sludge temperatures were measrmed
with the same sensors as during the evaporation studies.
During the run the bed was placed inside the evaporation chamber. Inlet air was connected
to the inlet section of the chamber.
Sludge drying bed II. (Fig. 3)

The equipment consists of two identical beds with the same principal arrangement as bed I.
They consist of a bottom container 400x500 mm, with 300 mm of filter sand (0.8-1.2 mm).
Above there is a sludge siaLoge volume with a maximum initial mpacity of 60
?y using the same arrangerrent as in bed I with removable frames the vertical distance
between the shicigp surface and the upper edge is at its maximum 50 mm. To prevent
horizontal leakage during the initial slave of drying there is a polyethylene film between
the frames and the slueigP layer. Drainage water is collected In a container (F); see
Figure 3.
B

A INLET-OUTLET AIR
B TRANSPARENT ROOFING
C REMOVABLE WOODEN FRAME
D BOTTOM CONTAINER
E UNDERDRAIN SYSTEM
F DRAINAGE WATER COLLECTOR
G SLUDGE LAYER
H FILTER SAND
I POLYETHYLENE SEALING FILM
J TEMPERATURE SENSORS

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of the experimental arrangarent for

outdoor drying of sludge.

The top section is covered with a plastic transparent roofing (El), preventing precipita-
tion from wetting the sludge surface. The roof is of a glags-fiber polyester quality
used in solar collector systems.

RESULTS

Evaporation experiments.
Totally pule than 20 experiments were conducted with inlet air temperatures between 20 and
60°C and air flows between 50 and 300 ni/hour. Prior to eadh run the liquid height was
adjusted to between 980 and 1000 mm. Eh test was run for between 48 and 96 hours.
With temperatures between 20 and 60°C and an air flow of 300 12/h the liquid evaporated
as Shown In figure 4.
244 S MARKLUND

Figure 4. Rates of evaporation with a free air flow of 300 rd /hour.

No addition of salt.
The inlet air humidity during the tests varied between 18 and 22% at 20°C. The evapora-
ting rates for the different temperatures were 351 grams/rd'hour for 20°C,
569 grams/rd'hour for 40°C and 746 gidurtird'hour for 60°C. During the runs no increase in
evaporation rate could be observed due to Increase In water temperature.

The evaporation efficlenoy, measured as the Increase of water content in the outlet air
compared with the value at 100 % relative humidity and constant enthalpy, Shows low
figures. For the different temperatures the efficienoy is between 11 and 20%, with lower
efficienqy values for higher Ueveiatures.
The air flow over the liquid surface was calculated for inlet flows of 75-300 m2 /hour
and an air temperature of 40°C. The liquid baiverature was set at C.The general result
with all tested air flows is a pattern with a recirculating flow
at the surface of the liquid towards the inlet. The air velocities at the surface of the
liquid varied for a flow of 150 m2/hour between 0.05-0.1 m/s at the corners and 0.5 m/s
at the center.
To increase evaporation efficienpy In this case it is essential to increase the area of
the liquid in contact with the drying medium. This can either be done by blowing air into
the liquid or by wetting a fixed medium in contact with the air flow.
TWo tests of this kind are shown in figure 5. During one run air was Introduced into the
liquid with a submerged coarse diffuser, approximately 15 mm below the surf ace. During
the other a small flow of liquid was wetting a plastic medium with a high surface area per
unit of volume, thus increasing the air-liquid area.
In the first run the air-liquid area was Increased by a factor of l&-104 , In the second
the area was increased to 2 rd.
- -SUMMED DIFFUSER
-- PLASTIC MEDIA

950-

940
0 244 48 72
HOURS

Figure 5. Rates of ewparation with air flow through a wetted

plastic medium and a submerged coarse diffuser.
 Dewatering of sludge by natural methods 245

The increased air-liquid surface in the plastic medium increased the rate, with 100%
increased area giving about double the rate of evaporation. Per unit of area the rate was
585 grans/m°'hur, increasing the evaporating efficiency slightly to 21%. When it comes to
the submerged diffuser, the total rate was 791 grams/hour. As the air flow was reduced to
55 12/h becauge of head loss in the submerged section, the evaporation efficienqy reached
over 95%.
Sludge drying experiments, bed I.
The sludge sample used in the experiment was analyzed for total solids (TS), volatile
solids and pH. Drainage water was analyzed for unfiltered COD and suspended solids. Sludge
used in the experiment was waste activated slnrige from a WTP unit using ferrous sulfate.
The undigested abiage was gravity thickened before use in the experiment. The initial ana-
lysis showed a total solid ocntent (TS) of 6.2% and a volatile solid content of 687
grams/1000 gram of TS. The pH value averaged 7.4.
In the experiment inlet air was divided, with 50% of the flow to the roofing section and
50% to the drain pipe. The initial sludge tempera-bare was between 1 and 2°C. Pefore the
sludge was put on the sand layer, the volume of sand was wetted and drained with filtrated
water from the biological sedimentation tank.
1200
'U0001
5 800 / Figure 6. Rate of evaporation with waste
g ,r 600 .1 activated sludge. Inlet air
temperature and relative humidity
e e 400 //
I* ware 20-28°C and 18-29%.
g i 200 ./
0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
mnsuEcageff 31
All drainage water was collected within 48 hours. Totally 26100 grams or 29% of the water
content was drained from the sludge. During the constant rate period the mean evaporation
rate was 826 grams/m2'h. As figure 6 shows,the rate starts to decline at a moisture
content of between 500 and 600% (14-17% TS). The lowest measured rate was <200 grams/M'h.
At a moisture content of 345% the mean sludge height was between 70 and 80 mm with a
shrunk surface layer exposing 25-35 mm of the battxxx wetted layers at the outer edges.
At this point the layer could be separated into two parts. The surface layer had a dry
content of 57% and an approximate thickness of 10 mm, whereas the bottom layer had a dry
content of 17%.
Sludge drying experiments, beds II.
Three outdoor drying studies were performed from the end of June .until the beginning of
October. The two beds were tested with sludge fram the WTP unit mentioned above, but with
lower dry solid contents. As mentioned above the beds could either be used with a transpa-
rent roof, or as conventional open drying beds.
Two evaporation results with roofing are Shown below, figure 7. One Uiest started on 23rd
June, the other on 31st August.
1200
1000
800.
"‘ 600 -
A 400
M 200 -
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
MOISTURE CONTENT (13
Figure 7. Evaporation rabe for outdcxxc tests as a function of
moisture orntent.
246 S. MARKLUND

During one run the mean rate during the constant rate period was 504 grams/m2 1-1, with the
rate declining at a moisture content of 1000%. During the dpiclining rate period the mean
rate was 55 grams/MI-1. The other run had a constant rate of 641 gramsW/h, with falling
rates below a moisture content of 1100%. In this case the mean value for the falling rate
period was 126 grams/m2 11.
The formation of a hard surface layer was ciovirnsly a factor When it comes to the di:served
decline In eve:4)oration rates below certain moisture levels. During the June experiment it
could be Observed that a sudden formation of small cracks In the surface layer was
followed by a Sharp increase in evaporation rate.
During the last run one of the roofs was removed. This had a negative influence, with pre-
cipitation wetting the sludge and slowing down the evaporation process. The final dry
solid content in the bed with roofing was 22% compared with 11% for the uncovered bed.
The total dewatering times for final dry solid contents between 18 and 27% varied from 34
days in June-July to 55 days in September-Octbber.
CONCLUSICte

Evaporation of potable water in small volumes with a surface area/volume ratio of 0.5 and
with air temperatures and humidities in the range of 20-60° C and 18-28% RH (at 200 C) gives
the following results:
* Evaporation rates between 571 and 865 grams/m2 11.
* Evaporation efficiency ranging between 11 and 20%.
Evaporation with increased air-liquid areas increases the total evaporation rapa,-ity.
With submerged diffusers the efficiency exceeds 95%.
Evaporation from sludge shows fairly similar rates compared to Lee water surfares, down
to moisture contents between 600 and 1100%. The forming of thin surface layers with high
dry contents prevents rapid drying of the remaining sludi-J. volume.
(XiLi experiments with covered drying beds showed maximum evaporation rates of between
504 and 641 grams/m2- h. During the falling rate period rates were reduced to values as
1ow as <50 yiewa...W h.
Transparent roofing prevents precipitation from wetting the silicify. and probably irrzreases
season length.
Further work Should be directed towards full-sra1e tests with covered drying beds. Points
of Interest are air flow and humidity patterns over the bed area, fauLurs affecting the
falling rate period, methods to improve evaporation with a dry sludge surface layer
and two-face drying. The beds should also be evaluated as a combined dewatering system
with sludge freeze-drying in winter and slndry drying in summer.
REFER1ENCES

Adrian, D.D., (1978). Sludge dewatering and drying on sand beds. E2A-600/2-78-141. August
1978.
Bengtson, L., Eneris, J., (1977). Istillväxt i sjöar analyserade med graddagarsmetoden.
Luleå University of Technology. WREL 1977. In Swedish.
Harlin, M.J., El-Hattab, I., (1966). FoicLos., affecting the dewatering of sludge. J. Inst.
Public Health Eng. (G.R.)66, (1987).
Hernebring, C., Lagesson, E., (1986) Konditionering av slam genom naturlig frysning. In
Swedish. Luleä University of Technology Research Report Tulea 1986:11. English
translation available.
Mattel, C. J., (1987). Developing a thawing LLdel for slorigir> freezing beds. Proc. of V Int.
Conf. on Permafrost. Tronoleim, Norway, vol 2, p 1426-1429.
Petårsm, F., (1984). Psychrtmetri odh luftbähandling. Kompendium 11:2. Royal University
of TeChnology. In Swedish.
Quon, .LE., Ward, G.B., (1965). Convective drying of sewage sludge. Int. J. Air Wat. Poll.
pp.311-322. vol. 9 (1965).
Reed, S., Bouzoun, J., Madding, W., (1985). A rational method for aludey> dewatering via
freezing. 58th An. Cont. WPCF, Kansas City, Nb 1985.
 Pergamon War. Sci. Tech. Vol. 28, No. 10, pp. 65-72,1993.
Copyright (6) 1994 IAWQ
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved.
0273-1223/93 57-00 + 0-00

DEWATERING OF DRYING BEDS-

COMBINED BIOLOGICAL-CHEMICAL
SLUDGE BEHAVIOUR

S. Marklund
Division of Sanitary Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, S-97I 87 Luleå,
Sweden

ABSTRACT

Aerobically digested sludge from a small wastewater treatment plant was dewatered on five sand drying
pilot beds and four small drainage beds. The experiment was conducted in a controlled environment with
constant air humidity and temperature. A total of between 147 and 263 kg of a combined biological-
chemical sludge was used on each of the sand drying beds. Initial sludge total solids (TS) content was 4.6 -
5.5 %.

Sludge drainage was completed within 28 days, and the thinner sludge layers were drained within 16 days.
The sludge evaporation phase, prior to equilibrium with air moisture, lasted a maximum of 84 days and
resulted in a final TS content of 88 - 92 %. The drying time to achieve 30% TS was 35-50 days, depending
on initial sludge thickness. Sludge cracking behaviour or rate did not control the drying rate at less than
30% TS.

KEYWORDS

Wastewater sludge dewatering; natural drying on sand beds; small scale.

INTRODUCTION

In spite of the fact that Sweden is a sparsely populated country with ca. 19 people per km2, natural methods
for water and wastewater sludge dewatering are not widespread. Wastewater sludge produced at small
facilities is usually transported by road to larger town treatment works and mechanically dewatered, while
waterworks sludge is commonly piped to the nearest wastewater treatment plant. Increased environmental
concern and rising problems resulting from mixed dewatered sludge and community solid waste at
community solid waste dumps have raised the need for local sludge dewatering and its subsequent
beneficial use.

A simple sludge dewatering method utilises open or covered sand beds (17VEF, 1983). Until now, only a
few sand drying beds have been operated, usually treating lime precipitated sludge. One reason for
avoiding this simple alternative is the lack of design guidelines for latitudes at or above N 550. The cold
climate prevailing in the northern latitudes favours open bed sludge freezing, as described by many authors
(Reed, 1988; Hemebring and Lagesson, 1984). In order to cope with a year-round production of waste
sludge, a method suitable for summer treatment has to be incorporated. The technical similarity between
drying and freezing methods favours a cyclic use of open beds for both winter freeze dewatering and
65
66 S. MARKLUND
summer air drying. The work described below focuses on the dewatering of a type of sludge found at many
domestic small scale wastewater treatment plants, using sand beds.

Large scale sand bed dewatering is practised in both Europe and the USA. Practical guidelines and design
criteria are described in many publications (WEF, 1983; Tchobanoglous, 1991). These publications
concentrate on results obtained using the dominant type of wastewater sludge: combined mechanical-
biological waste sludge, often anaerobically treated in a sludge digestor. The dominant type of mixed
domestic mechanical-biological-chemical sludge from wastewater plants, in which suspended solids as well
as soluble organics and phosphorus are removed, may have sand bed dewatering properties far from those
shown in the above publications (Marklund, 1990). This is confirmed by the fact that most middle sized
and small plants do not incorporate anaerobic sludge digestion. If sludge treatment, in excess of gravity
thickening, is available, aerobic sludge digestion is commonly used. As anaerobically digested sludge is
known to be more easily dewatered than sludge treated by aerobic means, sand bed drainage of aerobic
sludge is likely to take longer and result in a reduced final moisture removal.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

An in-door study of drying rates with different loads of a combined biological-chemical sludge was
conducted. The overall aims of the study were:

- to evaluate the drainage and evaporation rates at different solid loads

- to determine the influence of the rate of surface cracking on evaporation rate.

Results presented in this paper are based on a preliminary evaluation prior to a subsequent detailed
evaluation. The conclusions are limited to sludge drying behaviour in a controlled environment with no
solar radiation. The environment was chosen to exclude the irregular influence of the solar flux.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Constant climate room

The experiments were conducted in a room with a floor area of ca. 45 m2 and a volume of ca. 180 m3 (Fig.
1). Air temperature and humidity were kept at predetermined values by the use of a Munther dehumidifier,
an electrical heating unit and a separate fan with an air flow of 1300 m3/h. Basic ventilation of the room
was kept at ca. 0.5 exchanges per hour. The room air temperature and humidity was controlled by a single
heat / humidity sensor connected to a four channel chart recorder and a control unit. The air was kept at 24 -
270 C and humidity at 30 - 40 % during the test run. It was not possible to either lower the air temperature
below ambient or (if necessary) increase humidity above the set value.

.Sludgt_dzing_unb
The sludge samples were kept in five pilot sludge drying units (Figure 2), each with a horizontal
evaporation area of 0.786 m2. The outer containers housing the sludge samples were made of water resistant
plywood. A drainage pipe in the bottom section was covered with a depth of 200 mm of filter sand
(effective grain size 0.6 - 0.8 mm). The inner containers were made of corrosion resistant steel, with a
drainable bottom consisting of 20 nun of filter sand on top of a geotextile lying on a perforated steel sheet.
The inner container was placed on top of the sand layer of the outer housing, allowing a maximum sludge
depth of 290 mm.

A sixth unit of the same design as the five pilot sludge drying units was used as a control for the
measurement of evaporation from a free water surface. The unit was filled with tap water to an inside level
corresponding to the mean initial sludge surface level in the five experimental units. Evaporation was
measured using a fixed, mechanical surface level meter.
 Dewatering of drying beds 67
Sludge drainage units

Sludge drainage samples were kept in four pilot sludge dewatering units (Fig. 2), in which evaporation was
prevented. The units comprised 4 plastic pipes with a cylindrical inner diameter of 300 mm. The design of
the bottom of the dewatering units was the same as the drying units described above. The top was covered
to inhibit sludge surface evaporation. Pairs of units were filled with approximately the same sludge weights
(1a=lb, 2a=2b), with one duplicate in each pair equipped with a small air pipe for the removal of air
bubbles in the sand layer. Removal of these bubbles was expected to increase the initial drainage rate.

TemperatureMoisture
Munthe rotating control unit and recorder
dehumidifier (5 kW) Unit 6 Units

Electronic weight
converter

Humidity/Temperature
sensor
Movable balance

Electrical fan
and heating tmit (3 kW)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4

/Units la - 2b
Fig. 1. Constant climate room configuration.

Sludge drying unit Sludge drainage unit

Top cover

Inner container

Sludge layer

Filter sand

Outer container

Drainage pipe
Fig. 2. Design of drying and drainage units.

Dewatering cycle measurements

The sludge was taken from a nearby small scale wastewater treatment plant that treated the effluent from a
village with ca. 200 people. The wastewater treatment sequence consisted of primary fine screening,
followed by an activated sludge stage and a chemical (aluminium-sulphate) precipitation step. Activated
and chemical sludge waste was pumped to a gravity thickener and then to an aerobic digestor.

The drainage and evaporation rate from each drying unit was determined by measurements of the liquid
drainage volume produced and total unit weight loss. The liquid outflow through each drainage pipe was
measured by a self emptying bucket device connected to an event counter. The total unit weights were
measured using a movable balance. As soon as it was practically possible, only the weight of the inner
68 S. MARKLUND

containers was measured. Prior to the end of the drainage period, disturbance of the sand-metal base
interface and the relatively fluid sludge was thus avoided.

At start of the experiment, the individual weight of sludge in each unit was determined by calculating the
difference between total unit weight and the known initial empty bed weight. After termination of
drainage, the sludge weight was determined by weighting the inner container only and deducting the known
weight of the empty inner container of each unit. Two of the units, nos. 3 and 5, were prevented from
increased drying at the edges due to sludge shrinking, by the use of an attached plastic film. In this way all
moisture flux moved through the initial horizontal sludge surface. The surface of units 1, 2 and 4 were cut
into 9 (Nos. 1 and 2) and 36 (No. 4) squares to ensure a final specific sludge cracking pattern. These
surface cuts were repeated as the sludge dried until cracks continued all the way to the bottom sand layer.
Two of the sludge samples were therefore dried with a moisture flux through a vertical surface with few
cracks. The remaining samples were dried with a fine or extremely fine cracking pattern, compared with
spontaneous cracking due to sludge shrinkage.

The measurements started on 1-6-1992 and continued until the end of August.

RESULTS

The total initial mass of sludge in each drying and drainage unit is shown in Table I.

TABLE 1. Initial Sludge Mass Weights and Solids (TS).

Unit number Initial mass, Sludge TS Sludge TS Sludge Volatile TS

kg % kg % of TS
1 146.8 5.32 7.81 46
2 263.4 4.59 12.09 45
3 239.5 5.45 13.05 46
4 230.6 5.35 12.34 47
5 157.9 5.39 8.51 46
la 33.5 5.14 1.72 46
lb 32.7 5.38 1.76 47
2a 10.2 5.40 0.55 45
2b 9.7 5.37 0.52 46

Sludge drainage

Within 30 minutes from sludge loading, drainage water was collected at each unit. Total drainage time and
drainage volume is summarised in Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 indicates that drainage in the thinner initial
sludge layers (ca. 120 mm) was faster and finished after 18 days. A prolonged drainage phase (59 days)
and smaller final drained portion of the initial moisture content occurred in thicker layers (ca. 350 mm).
Drainage of the thinner layers removed 34.5 - 47.0 % of the initial moisture content.

Figure 4 shows the same pattern for the combined drainage and evaporation units, although with a smaller
difference between thin (ca. 190 mm) and thick (ca. 280/350 mm) sludge layers compared with the covered
sludge units. Thin layer drainage was completed after 12 - 16 days, while the thicker layers required a
further two weeks. 30.9 - 34.3 % of the initial moisture was removed from the thinner layers and 19.1 -
33.3 % from the thicker layers. Comparable drying unit drainage rates for the whole period were 169 - 190
g/m2-day for the thinner layers and 91 - 154 gim2.day for the thicker layers.
 Dewatering of drying beds 69

Drainage of initial moisture (%)

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Run time, days

Fig. 3. Drainage volume-time curves for the drainage units.

Drainage of initial moisture (%)

so
45 und I und 0 unit 3 -6- Unit 4 -X- Unit 5
40

35

30

25

20

15

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Run time, days

Fig. 4. Drainage time-volume curves for the drying units.

It should be noted that all the thicker layer solids surface loading were similar (Nos. la, lb, 2, 3 and 4). The
difference in initial sludge height was the result of differential portions of sludge moisture infiltrating into
the sand layer before height measurements were completed.

Sludge drying

As noted above, sludge moisture evaporation was determined by repeated measurements of total unit
weights and the calculation of respective drained moisture volumes. Due to practical difficulties when the
sludge moisture content was near the initial value, all figures shown below are based on results which
occurred on and after day 10 of the experiment. This excluded a more precise evaluation of the evaporation
rate during the first days. Each unit drying rate was measured on 20 occasions. Early measurements,
during which time problems with the sludge sand interface occurred (see above), and a final value from day
84, because the exact end of the drying period was not determined, were excluded.

The resulting specific evaporation rates and moisture contents are shown below, in Figure 5 and 6. Units 3
and 5 were controlled to allow moisture evaporation only through the initial horizontal surface. When the
total surface area was reduced during drying, the distance between the unit side walls and the corners of the
70 S. MARKLUND
sludge layer was covered with a plastic membrane, preventing evaporation from otherwise exposed sludge
layer sides. With this arrangement, initial evaporation rates of 128 - 132 g/m2.day were achieved. The
evaporation rate of unit 5 then slowly declined and at about 100% sludge moisture content was reduced to
25 gimIday, finally decreasing to 0 g/m2-clay, 50 days from start of the experiment. The evaporation of
unit 3 increased marginally until a moisture content of 235 % was achieved. This was followed by a sharp
reduction down to 50 g/m2-day at 204 % moisture content. The sudden increase to 120 g/m2-day at 106 %
moisture content resulted from shrinkage of the sludge layer which caused the middle section to heave ca.
100 min, thus adding some part of the sludge bottom layer to the previous top surface evaporation area.
After this change the whole sludge plate remained warped and dried out after 64 days.
Evaporation rate (g/m211)

120 -
x

80 -

60 -

40 -

20 * U,413 -X- una

rpZy
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
Moisture (%)

Fig. 5. Specific evaporation rate and sludge moisture content, drying units 3 and 5. The evaporation rate
calculation is based on initial sludge surface area.

Evaporation rate (g/m2"h)

r4-

Unit 1 Unit 2 -0- Unit 4

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
Moisture (%)

Fig. 6. Specific evaporation rate and sludge moisture content, drying units 1,2 and 4. The evaporation rate
calculation is based on initial sludge surface area.

Units 1, 2 and 4 were prepared so that the crack pattern described above developed. The evaporation rate of
unit 1, with the thinnest initial sludge layer, decreased from an initial value of 132 g/m2.clay to 79 g/m2day
at a moisture content of 448 %. The latter evaporation rate was steadily reduced to 8 g/m2-day at a
moisture content of 77 %. Unit 1 was dried out after 35 days.

Unit 2, with the same crack pattern as 1, separated into 9 square sludge elements by the end of the
experiment. The initial evaporation rate was 149 g/m2day, increasing to 161 WmZday with lowered
moisture content and starting to decline at a moisture content of 159%. The reduction was not great, as an
 Dewatering of drying hefts 71

evaporation rate of 52 g/m2.clay at 43% moisture content was evident. In this case the sludge was dried
after 50 days, i.e. before the sludge layer warped.

The evaporation rate of unit 4 increased from initially 106 g/m2day to 126 g/m2day at a moisture content
of 171%. A pronounced moisture flux reduction then occurred, followed by a sharp increase at a moisture
content of 106% before the final evaporation reduction down to 19 g/m2-day at 41% sludge moisture
content. A close examination of the sludge crack pattern which development indicated that at ca. 106%
moisture content approximately half of the square cracks reached the bottom sand layer. This probably
exposed the sludge bottom layer moisture to open air, increasing the drying rate. Drying was completed
after 64 days.

The continuous sludge moisture loss caused a sludge shrinkage in both vertical and horizontal directions.
This caused both a reduction in the horizontal sludge surface area and a widening of cut cracks, in addition
to creating spontaneous cracks in the sludge of units 3 and 5. Figure 7 shows the reduction in vertical
surface area, calculated using data from a planimeter and photographic reproductions of the sludge surface.

Horizontal surface area (%)

100

90

80

70

so
50

40

20
Unit1 Unit 2 Unit 3 —0- we 4 ' X Unit 5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Run time, days

Figure 7. Horizontal sludge surface area change with time.

The surface area reduction was initiated first and continued fastest in the thinner sludges of units 1 and 5.
Surface cutting appeared to increase the rate of reduction, as can be seen by comparing unit 1 and 5 after
day 12. The thicker sludges shrunk at a slower rate, resulting in a difference of 10 - 20 % compared with
the thinner layers at day 50. The final remaining horizontal surface area of all sludges was 40 - 50 % of the
initial value. It should be noted that surface area differences between the sludges are much greater if the
drying cycle is terminated earlier, i.e. after 40 days.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated that the amount of sludge moisture that was possible to remove by drainage was
limited. 26 - 29 % of the total moisture drained out of a 350 rnm initial sludge drainage layer and 35 -47 To
from a 120 mm sludge drainage layer. Parallel sludge surface evaporation produced even lower moisture
removal rates. From thin sludge layers (190 mm) the final drainage quantity was 31 - 34 %. Thick layers
(350 mm) produced a final yield of 19 - 27% of the total moisture. In terms of drainage flux, 169-190
g/m2.clay of moisture evaporated from thin sludge layer units and 91-154 g/m2-day from thick sludge layer
units.
72 S. MARKLUND
Initial evaporation from all units resulted in an upwards moisture flux of 109 - 161 g/m2.clay, or 2.6 - 3.9
mm H20/day. This value can be compared with the measured evaporation from the control free water
surface of 3.7 - 3.9 mm H20/day. Thus the initial evaporation rate in the sludge units was between 70 and
100 % of the corresponding free water surface evaporation.

A decline in the evaporation rate from all the sludges (except unit 1) within the moisture content range ca.
100 - 250 %, was evident. This corresponded to TS contents of 29 - 50 To. The constant evaporation rate
period continued for 35 - 50 days from the start of the experiment. A further 15 - 20 days of declining
evaporation rate was required to achieve the removal of 95% of the moisture that was possible to remove,
after which the sludge moisture is then in equilibrium with the ambient air moisture. The total time to
moisture equilibrium was up to 84 days, producing a dried sludge TS content of 88 - 92 %.

The conclusions of this study are summarised as follows.

• Drainage can remove approximately one third of the moisture in sludge with an initial depth of 350 mm.
Larger portions of the moisture (between one half and one third) from thinner sludge layers can be
removed by drainage.

• Total drainage time was extended by 2 - 3 weeks compared with common practice, because of the
chemical nature of the particular sludge used in this study. This time was not a disadvantage for the
process because it is the evaporation time that controls the total run time.

• The evaporation rate of thin or thick sludge layers is independent of sludge surface cracking, until
sludge TS reaches contents of ca. 30% or greater.

• The rate of evaporation from sludge during the constant evaporation rate period is within 70 - 100 % of
the control evaporation from a free water surface.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The project was sponsored by the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development
(NUTEK). The author is grateful to Mr Rolf Engström (Water Research Engineering Laboratory) for
assistance with laboratory equipment and to Mr Christer Stenmark (Division of Sanitary Engineering) for
practical assistance.

REFERENCES

Hemebring, C. and Lagesson, E. (1986). Conditioning of sludge by natural freezing - Full scale dewatering
experiments at three installations in Norrbotten. Report No 27. Div. of Sanitary Engineering, Luleå
University of Technology. TULEA 1986:11.

Marklund, S. (1990). Dewatering of sludge by natural methods. Wat Sci. Tech. Vol 22, No. 3/4, pp 239-
246, 1990.

Reed, S. , Bouzon, J. and Medding W. (1985). A rational method for sludge dewatering via freezing. 58th
Ann. Conf. of the WEF. Oct. 6-10, 1985, Kansas City, MO, USA.

Tchobanoglous, G. ed (1991). Wastewater Engineering, - Treatment, Disposal arid Reuse. Third edition.
Metcalf&Eddy, Inc. McGraw-Hill, Inc. ISBN 0-07-041690-7.

WEF (1983). Sludge Dewatering - Manual of Practice No. 20. Washington 1983. ISBN 0-943244-42-0
 A study of the influence of cracking on wastewater sludge drying behaviour
Sprickbildningens inverkan på slamtorkningsförloppet

S.Marldund!

Division of Sanitary Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, S-97187 Luleå

ABSTRACT

Aerobically digested mixed biological and aluminium precipitated sludge with an initial
total solids content of ca 5 % was tested on 5 pilot sand drying beds indoors. The test
run continued for 84 days in a controlled environment, with a relative humidity of 30-40
% and a temperature of 24-27 °C. The results showed that:
- Dewatering to a final Total Solids content of 50 % could be performed in 5 to 8 weeks
depending on the initial sludge layer thickness.
- Spontaneous or artificial vertical sludge layer cracks down to an 0.15 . 0.15 m grid size
did not increase the rate of evaporation from the horizontal upper sludge layer.
- The specific dewatering rate measured as grams of water per in2 of sludge and day
dewatered to 50 % total solids was constant at initial sludge layer thicknesses between
187 and 335 mm. Thus, optimizing the initial sludge thickness must be based on local
conditions.
- The inner diffusion resistance of the sludge layers was probably of minor importance
during most of the drying time.

SAMMANFATTNING

Ett aerobt stabiliserat blandslam från ett mindre avloppsreningsverk med en initiell torr-
substanshalt på ca 5 % avvattnades i 5 sandtorkbäddar i pilotskala inomhus. Mellan 147
och 263 kg våtslam vardera tillfördes bäddarna, som alla hade en horisontell yta på
0,786 m2. Försöket genomfördes med en relativ fukthalt på 30-40 % och en temperatur
på 24-27 °C i ett slutet utrymme. Resultaten visar att:
- Slammet kunde avvattnas från 5 till 50 % torrsubstanshalt inom 5 till 8 veckor
beroende på slamtjocklek.
-Spontan eller konstgjord vertikal sprickbildning i makroskala, ned till horisontalmåttet
0,15 .0,15 m, påverkade inte evaporationshastigheten från slammets överyta.
-Den specifika avvattningshastigheten räknad som gram vatten per m2 och dygn,
avvattnat till 50 % torrsubstanshalt, påverkades inte av slamtjocklekar mellan 187 och
335 mm. Sålunda är optimal slamtjocklek lokalt beroende.
- Sannolikt hade slammets inre diffusionsmotstånd liten betydelse för evaporationen
under en stor del av torkförloppet.
'Present adress: Tekniska kontoret, Luleå Kommun, 971 85 Luleå. E-mail: stefan.marldundeelcn.lulea.se

1
KEYWORDS

Wastewater sludge, Natural drying, Air drying, Sludge drying

BACKGROUND

The sludge quantity of the Swedish wastewater treatment plants (WTP) is estimated to
be around 1 Mm3 dry tonnes yearly. Of the total costs connected with wastewater puri-
fication ca 30% are connected to sludge treatment. The WTP sludge treatment train
usually consists of some or all of the following operations: primary operation, gravity
thickening, sludge conditioning, stabilization and final mechanical dewatering.

Of these operations thickening and the means of dewatering are essential for lowering
transportation costs, as dewatered sludge cannot usually be used in an acceptable man-
ner at or near the facility. Unthickened mixed sludge usually has a 1-2 % dry solids
content, which means that each person connected to a WTP produces 8-15 litres of wet
sludge daily. By gravity thickening these volumes can be reduced by a factor of 2-3,
thus drastically reducing transportation costs and energy use at plants with no final
dewatering equipment.

As most small plants (i.e. those with less than 1000 people connected) are usually not
equipped with mechanical dewatering facilities, the costs and problems connected to
wet sludge handling mostly concern villages and small municipalities. As an example a
200-person WTP with a one way transportation distance of 30 km to a central sludge
treatment unit uses yearly ca 1 800 litres of vehicle diesel or 22 000 kWh for wet sludge
one-way transport (Municipality of Luleå, statistics 1996). Compared with the total
energy use for wastewater sewer transport and purification, road transportation thus
adds ca 50 % to the wastewater transport and treatment energy use.

By local sludge treatment the amount of energy used can be reduced, especially consi-
dering the possibility of natural sludge treatment. Natural sludge dewatering and stabili-
zation can reduce the capital, operations and maintenance costs to a level that makes
local treatment competitive. Local treatment furthermore makes local reuse of sludge
nutrients possible, avoiding the centralized final treatment of mixed sludge that would
otherwise be necessary.

WTP solids have been declared acceptable as biosolids according to the national three-
part document concering WTP sludge use in farmland production ( National Environ-
mental Protection Agency 1995), as a means to encourage more local farmers to recycle
WTP solids for food crop production. Closely connected in this context are the need for
energy conservation and domestic environmental goals for the 21st century as pointed
out in the Agenda 21 agreement.

Thus there is a need to increase our knowledge of natural sludge dewatering, as perfor-
med on drying beds. The basic research in this area was performed before 1966-68, and
after that only a few researchers continued to work on the subject. A few dissertations in
this field, mostly concentrated on sludge drying theory, have been published during the
last 25 years (Ball 1978, Tang 1969 and Tsang 1989). As of today the basic design of

2
sludge drying beds has been the same for 30 or 40 years, in spite of the general develop-
ment of advanced technology for wastewater treatment during this time.

In addition to the initial WTP primary mechanical and secondary biological processes,
the use of chemicals such as aluminium and ferric salt rose from ca 1970. These chemi-
cals were added both for increased primary treatment, i.e. increasing phosphorus and
suspended solids removal, and for combined biological and nutrient treatment. The use
of chemicals increases the total sludge volume and the total sludge solids, and probably
also changes the sludge properties.

Sludge drying on open beds clearly involves different capacities and treatment results at
different geographical locations. This local influence is expected to increase the time
necessary to achieve a desired final dry solids content for a given sludge thickness
(WEF 1983), moving from extremes such as hot and arid to cold and humid areas.

The knowledge of today only permits a design of drying beds based on rather simple
parameters such as geographical latitude, sludge batch thickness and specific total solids
load.

Drying bed sludge dewatering generally generates a two-way liquid flow: a gravity flux
through the permeable bottom layer and an upward evaporated flux. The drainage phase
as stated by American findings (WEF 1983) is usually fmished within a maximum of 3
days, removing anything between 20 and 80 % (usually below 50 %) of the initial slud-
ge moisture. The remaining evaporative drying takes several weeks, at least to achieve a
sludge TS content above 30 or 40 %. Thus the rate of evaporation in general terms cont-
rols the sand drying bed cycle time and the maximum possible solids loading.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of sludge cracking on the speed of
sludge drying by evaporation to open air.

The experiments were conducted in a controlled pilot scale environment, with a prede-
termined air temperature and humidity. During the tests one single batch of mixed slud-
ge was used. Neither direct or indirect solar flux nor precipitation influenced the test
run.

EXPERIMENTS

Constant climate room

The experiments were conducted in a room with a floor area of ca 45 m' and a volume
of ca 180 m' (fig 1). The air temperature and humidity were kept at 24-27 °C and 30-40
%, respectively, by the use of a separate dehumidifier, an electrical heater and an elect-

3
 rical axial fan with a stated air flow of 1 300 m3/h. The basic ventilation of the room
was kept at 0.5 exchanges per hour. The room air temperature and humidity were cont-
rolled by a dual heat/humidity sensor connected to a control unit and a four-channel
chart recorder.

Due to equipment limitations it was not possible to lower the air temperature below the
ambient temperature or increase the humidity above the set values.

9m
MUNTHERSROTATING TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE
DEHUMIFIER (5kW) CONTROL UNIT AND RECORDER
OUTLET
AIR

UNIT LTNIT ELECTRONIC

6 5 WEIGHT
INLET CONVERTER
AIR DEHUMIFIED
AIR
HUMIFIED HUMIDITY +
AIR TEMPERATURE
N SENSOR E
VERTICALLY BLOWING Lr)
ELECTRICAL FAN AND
HEATING UNIT (3 KW) MOVABLE
WEIGHING
SLUDGE DRAINAGE MACHINE
UNITS la-2b
0.9 m

lm UNIT UNIT UNIT UNIT

1 2 3 4

Figure 1. Constant climate room configuration

Sludge drying units

The sludge samples were kept in five pilot drying units (Figure 2), each with a horizon-
tal evaporation area of 0.786 nf. The outer containers housing the sludge samples were
made of water-resistant plywood. A drainage pipe in the bottom section was covered
with a 200 mm deep layer of filter sand (grain size 0.8-1.2 mm). The inner containers
were made of corrosion-resistant steel, with a drainable bottom consisting of 20 mm
filter sand on top of a permeable geotextile placed on the container bottom, which was
made of perforated steel sheet. The inner container was placed on top of the sand layer
inside the outer housing, allowing a maximum inner container sludge depth of 290 mm.

A sixth unit of the same design as the 5 pilot sludge drying units was used as a control
unit for measurement of free water surface evaporation. The unit was filled with tap wa-
ter to an inside level corresponding to the mean initial sludge surface level in the five
experimental units. Evaporation was then measured using a fixed mechanical level
meter.

4
 OUTER CONTAINER
INNER CONTAINER
SLUDGE LAYER
•

44 I I I 1 I I I I I I Pr/

,
20 mm FILTER SAND
rA
NON-WOVVEN
GEO-TEX [ILE

STRAINING SHEET
4C
alim211 11
•• • • ›••• eZS

200 mm FILTER SAND

re
DRAINAGE PIPE SLOPING BOTTOM FLOOR
Figure 2. Design of drying units

Dewatering cycle measurements

The sludge was taken from the WTP of Bensbyn, a small village in Luleå Municipality
with a population of ca 200 people. The wastewater treatment process consisted of
mechanical fine (1 mm) screening followed by activated sludge treatment and final
tertiary chemical (aluminium-sulphate) precipitation. Activated waste and chemical
sludge were separately pumped to a decanting chamber and then to an aerobic digester.
Stabilized sludge was transported by road from time to time to Luleå Municipality's
central wastewater treatment plant for final mechanical dewatering. The sludge used in
this study was taken directly from the aerobic digester.

The drainage and evaporation rates in each drying unit were determined by measure-
ments of the liquid drainage volume produced and the total unit weight loss. The liquid
outflow through each drainage pipe was measured by a tipping bucket device connected
to an event counter. The total unit weights were measured using a movable balance. As
soon as was practically possible, the weight of each inner container only was measured.
This was not carried out during the drainage period, however, as disturbances at the
sand-metal base interface and disturbance of the then relatively fluid sludge itself had to
be avoided.

5
At the start of the experiment, the weight of the sludge in each individual unit was
deter-mined by the difference between the total unit weight and the known initial empty
bed weight. After termination of the drainage, the sludge weight from then on was
determi-ned by weighing the inner container only and subtracting it from the known
initial weight of the inner container of each unit.

In two of the units (nos 3 and 5) increased drying at the edges due to sludge shrinking
was prevented, during some of the operation time, by attaching a plastic film. In this
way all the moisture flux moved through the horizontal sludge surface; passage through
the vertical sides was prevented.

Sludge unit 1 was cut into 9 squares, with a first surface cut on 12 June. Sludge units 2
and 4 were cut into 9 and 36 squares, respectively, with the first surface cut on 16 June.
These cuts were repeated 4-5 times until each crack continued down to the sand layer.
The squares became in this way totally separated from June 22-28 (unit 1), from July 1-
7 (unit 2) and from July 7-13 ( unit 4).

Two of the sludge units (nos 3 and 5) were therefore assumed to be dried basically by a
moisture flux through the horizontal sludge surface with few spontaneous vertical
cracks emerging. The remaining samples were dried with a less dense (nos 1 and 2) or
more dense (no 4) cracking pattern, assumed to add a notable vertical crack area to the
initial horizontal evaporation area.

The measurements started on 1 June 1992 and continued until the end of August in the
same year. Some additional measurements were made in late autum and midwinter.

Measurements of the cracks arisen

The sludge surface of each unit was repeatedly photographed. The photographic slides
acted then as a basis for computer calculation using Auto/ca software(Lantmäteriverket
1996), working with digital polygon technology. The final results were the horizontal
surface area of each sludge unit and sludge square, as well as the upper side length of
each sludge crack. The thickness of the sludge layers and the depth of the cracks were
manually measured at each sludge crack corner and at the middle between square
corners.

Each square crack surface was then calculated by adding the crack angle to the vertical
depth to reach the correct vertical surface depth and multiplying this figure by each cor-
responding side square length. The total vertical crack surface area of each sludge unit
was then obtained by adding all the separate side square surface areas.

RESULTS

Sludge unit surface crack development

6
The sludge in each unit initially acted like a normal liquid, totally filling the space by
gravity and levelling a horizontal sludge surface. By initial drainage and evaporation the
initial surface height was gradually lowered during the first 10-12 days as the shrinkage
of the uppermost sludge layer resulted in a random sludge surface crack between the
sludge piece and the vertical sides of the inner container.

The development of the cracking and shrinking pattern of each unit is further shown
below, see Figures 3-7.

June 12 June 22 June 28

L_
7-1
o
f
July 1 July 15 July 28

Figure 3. Sludge unit 1. Shrinkage and cracking development from June 12 - July 28.

The 187 mm initial sludge layer in unit 1 was, together with unit 5, shallower than the
remaining units. As a result the initial cracking pattern could be started early (on June
12) and the cracks went all down to the bottom 10 days later. Sixteen days after the
cracks were initiated the sludge squares were well separated (on June 28), after which
the pieces gradually shrank in volume and were distorted. After July 28 no observations
of change in piece size or appearance could be noted.

7
 _
June 14

r-q _ 11
Hrn
(Li

July 15 July 22 August 23

Figure 4. Sludge unit 2. Shrinkage and cracking development June 14 - August 23.

June 12 July 1 July 7

1 I

C‘.

July 15 July 27 August 23

Figure 5. Sludge unit 3. Shrinkage and cracking development from June 12-August 23.

8
The initial 335 mm sludge layer of unit 2 was first surface-cut into 9 pieces on June 14.
By July 1 the cracks were widened down to the bottom, followed by piece separation
one week later. Further drying resulted finally on July 22 in a rather fixed appearance
with some small piece cracks added later on. These cracks nearly divided piece 1 and 5
into two. As can be noticed some small cracks also emerged from the solids test hole in
piece 8 at the end of the drying period.

Sludge unit 3, with an initial sludge layer thickness of 305 mm, was not surface-cut, in
order to allow it to dry as a single unit. Unit 3 and unit 5 were intended as reference
units for the observation of the natural cracking behaviour of sludge drying. After 12
days the horizontal surface was reduced by the surface shrinkage and tension due to a
somewhat drier surface sludge layer compared with the internal TS contents. The sur-
face was further reduced until June 19, when the outer vertical cracks were protected
from exposure by closing the crack surface with thin plastic sheets. These sheets were
kept at the edge cracks until June 29, when sludge unit warping made closure of the
edge cracks unpractical. A single internal vertical crack due to sludge piece tension de-
veloped by July 15. The crack was unchanged in shape for another 12 days, nearly divi-
ding the single unit by August 23. The sludge unit was by then rather warped with a
100 mm maximum vertical difference.

June 22 July 7 July 13

013E7 C
UZ _JD 88 LIE:3
'17PuE
1E3Li
n Li
DU 3 In

July 15
B
mB'
cG
July 22 July 27
z-EJ. Ff
Figure 6. Sludge unit 4. Shrinkage and cracking development from June 22 - July 27.

9
Unit 4, with an initial sludge depth of 293 mm, was cut into 36 pieces on June 22,
which gave it the most narrow crack pattern of all units. The cracks were repeatedly
widened using the the same method applied in units 1 and 2. The cracks started to reach
the bottom sand by July 7, and the pieces were fully separated on July 22. After that a
gradual reduction of piece volume took place, at the end reducing the noticeable indivi-
dual difference in piece size to a final and rather uniform mean size. This difference in
piece size was clear during the whole test run, and showed an increased speed of mois-
ture reduction in the right side of the unit compared with the left side. No pieces were
cracked during the test.

"•••••,

June 18 June 28 July 5

July 13 July 22 August 23

Figure 7. Sludge unit 5. Shrinkage and cracking development from June 18 - August 23.

The initial sludge thickness of sludge unit 5 was 201 mm, intendent to realize a rather
thin sludge layer, and its drying and shrinking behaviour. The first internal vertical crack
developed June 28 and was rather extended by July 5. So far, all outer vertical cracks
were protected against evaporation by using the same kind of plastic sheets as with slud-
ge unit 3. When the internal crack reached the bottom sand this practice was abandoned.
The inital central crack was followed by another two cracks by July 22 finally dividing
the initial single unit into 3 pieces by August 23.

Horizontal and total surface area change

Due to the gradual shrinkage of the horizontal surfaces, the different unit cracking
pattern and the gradually decreasing sludge thickness, the total primary horizontal area
and total horizontal and vertical crack surface area changed with time.

10
The horizontal surface areas of units no 1-5 were reduced with time in the manner
shown in Figure 8. From the initial 0.786 m2 surface the areas were reduced steadily
until July 15-27, with the initially thick single unit 3 showing the slowest reduction with
time and the thin surface-cut unit 1 the fastest. The remaining three surface-cut units
showed values between these extremes, with units 2 and 4 having similar performance.
After July 27 only a small further area reduction was noted for all sludge units, except
for number 3 which gradually decreased over another four weeks. The surface areas
were reduced to final values between 0.315 and 0.448 m2. The horizontal area change
thus resulted in a final 43-60% area reduction.

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

"5 0.4
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Run time (days)

Figure 8. Horizontal surface area changes. Sludge units 1-5.

The corresponding total area change of each unit is shown in Figure 9. The area deve-
lopment in this case was divided into two natural categories, units 3+5 with
spontaneous cracking and the remaining surface-cut units 1+2+4.

The total area of units 3+5 showed a slight peak ca 5 % above the initial horizontal area
on test days 19-22, before the horizontal surface area shrinkage could no longer be ba-
lanced by the natural outer crack area addition. The area reduction was completed by
July 13 (unit 5) and July 22 (unit 3), with 52 and 63 % of the initial area remaning.

Unit 1 with 9 pieces showed an early total area peak on June 15 with a total area of
1.147 m2 (+46 %), after which followed a fast reduction down below the initial value on
test day 26. The area reduction was finished by July 28 at 51 % of the initial area. Unit 2
with 9 pieces and a thick sludge layer showed a slower response with a maximum recor-
ded total area of 1.295 in2 (+65 %) on July 7, after which came a reduction below the
initial horizontal area 12 days later. The total area reduction of unit 2 was completed by
August 23 resulted in a decrease of 21 % compared with the initial area.

11
Unit 4 with 36 cut pieces showed the most dramatic area change with a peak on 7 July
at 1.832 m2 (+233 %) thereafter steadily decreasing down to initial 0.786 m2 on July 24.
The final total area of unit 4 measured 0.743 m2 ( down 6%) on August 6, thereby
making unit 4 the largest total area dried to a steady state condition.

2.0
/G. • UNIT 1
1.8 — / o UNIT 2
1.6 ii x‘ a UNfT 3
i i o uNrr 4
1.4— i • UNIT 5
if ..0s, i
1.2— //0__ s.
*i
i ,C)
"E 1.0 — ipx
0.8 --a,
--- - ---
, ----------------- o
0.6 '.. ---a--o------_______ -El
0.4 t.
0.2 —

o0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Run time (days)
Figure 9. Total surface area changes. Sludge units 1-5.

Sludge unit evaporation rate change

The sludge unit TS content during the test run gradually increased from an initial value
around 5 % TS to more than 80 % TS.

The bottom sludge layer from the start of the test run was in direct contact with the
underlying sand filter system, thus the loss of moisture to the air was considered to be
close to zero. By closing any emerging horizontal openings between the bottom sludge
layer at piece edges and the underlying filter sand, it was also possible to ensure conti-
nued evaporation only through the upper horizontal and vertical crack surface. This
practice was prolonged in units 3 and 5 until natural cracks were widened all the way
down to the sand layer and unit piece warping made the task impossible.

The basic evaporation measurements of each unit as the difference in weight at different
times thus were related to the corresponding area for each unit and time and calculated
as a specific surface evaporation rate. The corresponding surfaces at any given time
were calculated from the specific surface area measurements for each unit, but as such
were not directly measured at each time in question, but interpolated.

The specific evaporation flux calculated in this way for each unit is shown more in
detail in Figures 10-19. The fluxes correspond to the initial (or nominal) 0.786 in2
horizontal area, to the actual horizontal area measured each time or to the actual total

12
horizontal and vertical crack area measured each time. The figures also show the
measured surface and mean sludge total solids content.

As reproduced in Figure 10, unit I developed a pattern where the specific flux moved
between four maximum and minimum values.

On test days 23-26 the initial thickness was reduced to 35-50 mm with a surface TS of
ca 30 % and mean TS of 25-28 %. Thereafter the TS levels rose to 50-52 % before the
evaporation finally declined. The final TS content was 89 % on test day 57 as both the
surface and the mean value.

350 100
• Nominal
90
300 — o Horizontal
o Total 80
tr)
x 250 70

o 200 60
50
40
30
4.4
* TS-surface 20
50
10 * TS-mean
0 1 0 L
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Run time (days)
Figure 10 Sludge unit 1. Specific evaporation flux.

The evaporation flux development of unit 2, as shown in Figure 11, indicates a pattern
fluctuating between a local 11-16 g/m2.h miminum on June 28-29 and a number of
maximum values.

The initial area flux value stayed at ca 140 g/m2-11, while the horizontal area flux after
the first peak increased from ca 140 to ca 280 g/m21-1 before the final rate reduction. The
final measured TS values were 77 % (surface) and 66 % (mean) on test day 64.

The evaporation values of unit 3, Figure 12, in general showed no decline in the drying
rate during test days 10-55, although the minimum and maximum values fluctuated
between 0 and 290 g/m2.11. After day 64 the rate was generally reduced to below 10 g/
m2.11.

13
Specific evaporation flux (g/m2.11) 400 80

350 — 70

300 —60

250 —50
• Nominal
200 —40
o Horizontal
150 \ o Total —30
I \
100 \ * TS-surface —20
I \ * TS-mean
—10

0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Run time (days)

Figure 11. Sludge unit 2. Specific evaporation flux.

400 70
• Nominal
"5 350 D Horizontal 60
1 o Total
300 50
x
250
40 —
*fe 200 Ii I
t 30 'Ff2
I 'I
* TS-surface
3
i * TS-mean 20
1+
1 10

0 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Run time (days)

Figure 12. Sludge unit 3. Specific evaporation flux.

The evaporation flux of sludge unit 4 showed a pattern similar to unit 3, with widely
fluctuating drying rates, Figure 13. Due to the great number of vertical cuts this unit
showed the largest difference between the specific mean drying rates of all units.

14
 350 90
Specific evaporation flux (g/m2.h) 80
300
70
250
60
200 50

150 40
30
100
20
50 10
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Run time (days)
Figure 13. Sludge unit 4. Specific evaporation flux.

The evaporation rate of sludge unit 5 , Figure 14, showed a pattern with 3 minimums
down to or near zero and 4 peak values. The horizontal area values varied between 120
and 237 g/m2.h. The total area pattern closely followed the horizontal while the initial
area rate with time fell ca 50 % compared with the others.

250 90
• Nominal
o Horizontal 80
E
----
t).0
200 — o Total 70
X
60
r4" 150 * TS-surface
* TS-mean — 50
t'
st 40
100
30
>4,
20
50
10
cn
10 20 30 40 50
Run time (days)

Figure 14. Sludge unit 5. Specific evaporation flux.

15
 Specific evaporation flux (gram/m21)x 103
140
• UNIT 1 .0 ............... -0
120 o UNIT 2
D UNIT 3 ,P.
100 — 0 UNIT 4 P' 00
• UNIT 5
80 fy0-4
60 4

40

20 —

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Run time (days)
Figure 15. Sludge units 1-5. Accumulated evaporation.

The accumulated evaporation of all units developed as shown in Figure 15. In terms of
drying rate, the units can be divided into two categories. Units 1,4 and 5 as one group
recorded a lower and units 2 and 3 as the second group a higher rate of drying. In gene-
ral it can also be noted that unit 1 needed 45 test days while the rest needed between 50-
64 days to conclude the constant drying rate period.

During the test period for unit 1 two changes in the evaporation flux were noticed. On
test day 46 100% or 51 kg of moisture was recorded for the time interval day 10-84.

The accumulated flux of sludge unit 2 was as noticed one of the steeper, with a mean
flux of 130 g/h between test days 10 and 42. The total evaporated water volume for
days 10-84 was 127 kg.

Unit 3 had the highest initial evaporation rate of all units with 183 g/h for test days 10-
16 followed by a stable 103 g/h between days 16 and 42. The total evaporation recorded
for unit 3 for test days 10-84 was 122 kg.

The accumulated figure for sludge unit 4 differed from the other units. The first
accumulated value recorder was 103 g/h, and the rate then decreased somewhat until
test day 31. The total evaporation recorded for unit 4 for days 10-84 was 89 kg.

The accumulated figure for unit 5 is very similar to that for unit 1, except for a more
prolonged drying time and somewhat higher total evaporation. The first 6 test days (day
10-16) recorded 107 g/h, followed by 61 g/h for days 16-40. The total evaporation
recorded for unit 5 for days 10-84 was 59 kg.

16
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

In evaporative sludge drying on sand beds, moisture flux to the air can either pass
through the upper surface, through the combined horizontal and vertical crack surface or
through the bottom surface. As long as there is close contact between the bottom sludge
and the underlying filter sand, the downward flux is very limited. Only moisture
escaping to open air can be replaced with new vapour.

Thus in practice only the upward flux is of interest, at least as long as the bottom sludge
surface is not available for direct evaporation to open air.

The drying area changes in the test period were in a way expectable, with the 2 units
with thin sludge layers showing the fastest area reduction. Of these two it was noted that
the surface-cut unit showed a faster reduction, both with regard to the horizontal and,
after a peak value, the total area. Concerning the remaining 3 units, numbers 2 and 4
showed rather uniform horizontal area changes, with the one-piece unit 3 lagging
behind. This picture is even more apparent when considering the total area change, with
a cut thick-layer area peak on test day 37 and a cut thin-layer area peak for unit 1 on test
day 15.

The total area change with time was not dramatic, as could be expected from the
number of unit pieces. Unit peak values ranged from the lowest for units 3 and 5, +5 %
above the initial area, to the highest, +233 %, for unit 4.

The evaporation fluxes for all units showed rather fluctuating levels, including a number
of minimum values at or near the zero level. These changes are dramatic, even conside-
ring a total test period of nearly three months. All units showed at least 4 peaks and 2
minimum values.

It can be observed that calculations based on either the inital 0.786 ni2 area or the obser-
vable horizontal or total horizontal and vertical crack area for each measuring occasion
resulted in different evaporation rates. The rates for the one-piece units 3 and 5 followed
each other quite closely during the first half of the test period, with the initial area rates
decreasing during the second half. The surface-cut units showed a larger difference. The
inital area evaporation rate for unit 2 was in general terms quite stable until the start of
the final rate reduction, while the horizontal area rate increased with time and the total
area rate decreased with time.

Unit 4 showed a similar pattern with a figure for the mean initial area rate surrounded
by a higher horizontal area rate and a lower total area rate. This pattern was present
from day 16 and onwards, even during the final rate reduction period.

Having the last peak value on test day 33 also meant that unit 1 had the shortest constant
evaporation time of all units.

As a general conclusion it can be stated that, regardless of whether the evaporation

rates were based on the initial sludge surface area or the actual horizontal or total hori-
zontal and vertical area, the corresponding minimum and maximum values for each
calculated specific evaporation flux ended in the same order on all test days.

17
Another point of interest is the relation between the sludge total solids content and rate
of evaporation. With this in mind unit 5 produced the highest TS content before an eva-
poration rate reduction took place, with a calculated 82 % surface TS by the end of the
constant drying period. The unit I value was ca 50 % TS while the TS levels for units 2,
3 and 4 were 53 %, 61 % and 70 % respectively.

One should also note the rather small difference in TS content measured as surface and
mean (vertical sludge layer) values. This difference was naturally expected to diminish
with time and with narrower sludge layers, but could be expected to be noticeable with
continuing sludge evaporation and still rather thick sludge layers. The change in TS
from 38 % to 58 % for unit 3 on test day 46 was the maximum difference for all units.
The surface-mean TS difference of the other units was between 9 and 15 %, usually
recorded at rather high absolute TS sludge contents.

Concerning sludge TS content and the corresponding evaporation rate, it was concluded
that final evaporation rate reduction seems first to be introduced at rather high sludge
TS contents. The small vertical TS difference indicated also that the internal diffusion
resistance, i. e. the sludge layer internal upward flow of moisture to the sludge surface,
was of minor interest when finding mechanisms that regulate the sludge layer evapora-
tion rate.

Another question of interest is the influence of the initial sludge layer thickness and/or
the initial TS content of a sludge layer on total drying bed efficiency. A practical goal
for sand bed drying is the ability to dewater to a point where the dried layer is easy to
remove. This goal is usually achieved with a sludge TS content of 50 % or less. With
this in mind it can be observed that the two thinner sludge layers (units 1 and 5) both
reached 50 % TS within 34 test days while the thicker sludge layers (units 2,3 and 4)
needed 50, 54 and 50 days.

The obvious question is then which sludge layer thickness is most efficient with regard
to the dewatering speed. One way of approaching this problem was to calculate the
daily evaporation rate as grams of moisture evaporated/day from the start of the evapo-
ration measurement period (test day 10) until the test day for 50 % TS. Based on these
condi-tions the results were as follows; unit 1: 2.4 kg/din', unit 2: 3.5 kg/&m2, unit 3:
3.2 kg/d-m2, unit 4: 2.4 kg/dni2 and unit 5: 2.2 kg/d/n2.

Another way of approaching this problem was to calculate the specific dewatering rate
as the mass of water removed during the period, divided by time and area until a mana-
geable sludge of 50 % TS was reached. Including the combined effect of initial draina-
ge and evaporation the results were as follows; unit 1: 4.9 kg/d-m2, unit 2: 5.7 kg/dm2,
unit 3: 5.0 kg/din2, unit 4: 5.2 kg/din2and unit 5: 5.2 kg/&m2. All units showed remar-
kably close rates.

To draw any conclusions concerning sludge layer thickness as a parameter for sand
drying bed design was therefore not easy. As far as these results show, the specific mass
of solids applied to each drying bed unit surface took about the same time to dewater.

18
The dewatering time was of course governed by the type of sludge used, the inital
sludge TS content and the possible range of inital sludge thickness. Thus the optimum
sand drying bed operation becomes a skill where the local treatment plant's sludge
properties play an important role, with regard to the bed area need, the number of yearly
applications, and the initial thickness. Introducing anaerobically digested sludge may
totally change the sludge moisture possible to dewater by drainage, e. g.

CONCLUSIONS

Aerobically digested mixed chemical-biological sludge dewatered from ca 5 to 50 %

total solids content within 5 test weeks with a thin initial sludge layer (0.18 m) and
within 8 weeks with a thicker (0.34 m) sludge layer.

The specific dewatering rate for sludge solids was not enchanced by vertical cracks, at
least not by spontaneous cracking with an internal crack distance of 0.1-0.5 m or by
synthetic cracks dividing the sludge cake into pieces of 0.15 . 0.15 m. Thus, adding as
much as 233 % surface area did not increase the drying speed.

The specific dewatering rate calculated, as the mass of water removed during the period
divided by time and area until a sludge of 50 % TS content was achieved, was very
similar (5-6 kg/did) for all tested units. Thus the dewatering speed was not seriously
affected by the normal initial sludge thickness with the type of sludge used. It can,
however, be noted that thicker sludge layers showed a reduced evaporation rate during
the last part of the drying period, when the final target of 50 % TS was approached.

The surface TS values of all units (except at one single event) were higher than the
mean TS values of the vertical sludge layers. However, the narrow difference indicated
that the internal diffusion resistance of the sludge layers was small compared with other
factors limiting increased evaporation.

FUTURE RESEARCH

To increase our understanding of the basic sludge dewatering properties of drying beds,
further studies in this field should be directed towards sludge surface moisture flux due
to natural air humidity variations, as well as the solar flux influence on sludge surface
properties and energy balance.

With regard to northern latitudes, it is also obvious that the short summer period gives
specific interest to the question of the most efficient initial sludge thickness or solids
load, bearing in mind that a thicker initial sludge layer probably in practice means only
one drying cycle per summer period.

19
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The project was sponsored by the National Board for Industrial and Technical
Developement (NUTEK). The author is also grateful to Mr Rolf Engström (Water
Resources Engineering Laboratory/Luleå University of Technology (LTU)) and Dr
Christer Stenmark (Division of Sanitary Engineering/LTU) for practical assistance.
Finally, Professor Jörgen Hanæus (Division of Sanitary Engineering/LTU) should be
acknowledged for constructive discussions and efforts needed to give the final report
priority.

REFERENCES

Ball, R. 0. (1978). Sludge dewatering. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Delaware.

UMI dissertation service.

Lantmäteriverket (1996). Autoka GIS software systems. Swedish National Surveying

Authority. In Swedish.

Municipality of Luleå (1996). Sanitary Engineering yearly statistics. Technical report. In

Swedish.

National Enviromental Protection Agency /NV (1995). Utilizing wastewater sludge for
agricultural purposes. Report 4418. In Swedish.

Tang N-H (1969). Moisture transport in sludge dewatering and drying on sand beds.
Ph. D. dissertation, Vanderbilt University. UMI dissertation service.

Tsang, K-W R. (1989). Moisture distribution in wastewater sludges. Ph. D. dissertation,

Duke University. UMI dissertation service.

Water Enviroment Federation/WEF (1991). Sludge dewatering. Manual of practice 20.

20
 NR 193?=
LULEÅ ISSN
TEKNISKA
UNIVER.SITET ISRN LL-ru 10 - SE
Institution/Department Upplaga/Number of Copies
Samhällsbygg,nadstelcnik 150
Avdelning/Division Datum/Date
VA-teknik 970404

Titel/Title

Dewatering of Wastewater Sludge by Natural Air Drying

Författare/Author(s)

Stefan Marklund

Uppdragsgivare/Commissioned by Typ/Type
o Doktorsavhandling/Doctoral Thesis
• Licentiatuppsats/Licentiate Thesis
• Forskningsrapport/Research Report
• Teknisk Rapport/Technical Report
E3 Examensarbete/Master Thesis
• övrig rapport/Other report

Språk/Language

fl Svenska/Swedish Engelska/English fl
Sammanfattning, högst 150 ord ' .-lbstract, max 150 words
Sand bed dewatering of wastewater sludge is in northern latitudes hampered by a lack of proven guidelines, in
particular with respect to the local climatic conditions and to the frequent Swedish use of chemicals for
phosphorus removal.
Two test periods with a biological-chemical sludge were accomplished in a controlled indoor environment to
study the moisture drainage and the evaporation characteristics of the sludge. During the first test period the
sludge was dewatered at different temperatures and wind speeds. During the second period, the drainage process
was studied more in detail, as was the influence of cracking on the evaporation.

The results show that the drainage period, during which a minor part of the water was removed, was finished in
about two weeks. Moisture evaporation to 50 % total solids was completed within 5-8 weeks from the start,
depending on the initial sludge layer thickness. Up to this solids content, the evaporation proceeded at a constant
rate level.
The sludge drying appeared not to be sensitive to vertical cracking. The total specific dewatering rate was the
same, independent of the sludge layer thickness tested.

Nyckelord, högst 8/ Keywords, max 8

Wastewater sludge drying, Sand bed drying, Natural drying, Sludge drying

Underskrift av granskare/handledare / Signature of examiner/supervisor

Narcintbrtydligand
-\igrcie,n car.PS