Flocculation and Filtration of Sludge Operational Comparison Between the Wastewater Treatment
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Flocculation and filtration of sludge Operational comparison between the wastewater treatment plants in Garmerwolde and Heerenveen Garmerwolde Heerenveen Marc Meijerink s2022176 Bedumerstraat 23a 9716 BA Groningen 4-7-2013 Supervisor: Prof. Ir. M.W.M Boesten Abstract This report is written in order to get insight in the processes present at the wastewater treatment plants in Garmerwolde and Heerenveen. A literature study is done to make an operational comparison between the two plants. The comparison consists of a description of the hardware present including how is it used and controlled. The comparison is mainly focused on flocculation and filtration. Both processes are used to dewater sludge, which is a side product from the purification of sewage water. The main difference in flocculation between the two plants is the concentration of the added polyelectrolyte (PE) and the mixing of this PE with the sludge stream. Garmerwolde uses a 1 wt% PE solution and a dynamic mixing system. On the other hand Heerenveen uses a 0.15 wt% PE solution and a static mixing system. It is expected that the way of mixing has much influence on the properties of the flakes and therefore the dewatering ability during filtration. In both plants filtration is done by chamber filter presses. The presses are operated in the same way; however Garmerwolde (25.87% DSC) achieves a higher dry solid content of the sludge cake than Heerenveen (23.69% DSC). This is the result of a higher dry solid content of the sludge stream into the presses due to digestion. However, also the efficiency of the chamber filter press is higher in Garmerwolde. In addition, experiments are conducted with a flocculation set-up. This is done to see if the process conditions for flocculation are the optimal conditions. The result for Garmerwolde (145 gram FeCl3/kg D.S.; 12.5 gram PE/kg D.S.) was quite different than the current coagulant and flocculent dosage (65 gram FeCl3/kg D.S.; 7.5 gram PE/kg D.S.), but for Heerenveen the results (75 gram FeCl3/kg D.S.; 7 gram PE/kg D.S.) were almost similar (55 gram FeCl3/kg D.S.; 7 gram PE/kg D.S.). However, the flocculation set-up is a quantitative method and is primarily used to determine the range where coagulation and flocculation occurs. 2 Preface This report is a thesis written for my bachelor assignment. The thesis should reflect the acquired learned skills in the bachelor degree program of Chemical Engineering at the University of Groningen. The project started at 22 April 2013 and it took three months to complete this thesis. Half the time was spend on experiments with a flocculation set-up. The other half was used to gather background information and to do a comparative literature study between wastewater treatment plants in Garmerwolde and Heerenveen. Multiple trips were made to the plants for information from engineers and process operators. I would like to thank Prof. Ir. M.W.M. Boesten for the given guidance and the fundamental for this thesis. Furthermore I would like to thank A. Haijer from Water and Energy Solutions for extra support and for assistance with the equipment and the chemicals. I also want to thank O. Bouius, W.G. Poiesz, D. van der Elst and S. Slump for their information about the WWTP in Garmerwolde and Heerenveen. Without their help, this thesis couldn’t have been written. Marc Meijerink 3 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Preface............................................................................................................................................. 3 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. 7 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 8 1.1 WWTP Garmerwolde....................................................................................................... 8 1.2 WWTP Heerenveen.......................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Previous work................................................................................................................. 10 1.4 Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 11 2. Theory ................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Sludge ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Digestion ........................................................................................................................ 13 2.3 Sludge Conditioning....................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Coagulation .................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Flocculation .................................................................................................................... 16 2.6 Filtration ......................................................................................................................... 17 2.6.1 Theory ..................................................................................................................... 17 2.6.2 Filtration history...................................................................................................... 19 2.6.3 Filtration techniques................................................................................................ 20 3. Process description................................................................................................................ 24 3.1 WWTP Garmerwolde..................................................................................................... 24 3.1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 24 3.1.2 Hardware ................................................................................................................. 24 3.1.3 P&ID ....................................................................................................................... 31 3.1.4 Key numbers ........................................................................................................... 33 3.2 WWTP Heerenveen........................................................................................................ 35 3.2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 35 3.2.2 Hardware ................................................................................................................. 36 3.2.3 P&ID ....................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.4 Key numbers ........................................................................................................... 43 4. Experimental ......................................................................................................................... 46 4 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 46 4.2 Preparations .................................................................................................................... 46 4.2.1 Equipment ............................................................................................................... 46 4.2.2 Chemicals................................................................................................................ 47 4.2.3 Assumptions............................................................................................................ 47 4.2.4 Experimental method .............................................................................................. 47 5. Results and Discussion ......................................................................................................... 49 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 49 5.2 Coagulation and flocculation experiments ..................................................................... 49 5.2.1 Garmerwolde........................................................................................................... 49 5.2.2 Heerenveen.............................................................................................................. 51 5.2.3 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 53 5.3 Main differences between the WWTPs.......................................................................... 54 5.3.1 Water treatment....................................................................................................... 54 5.3.2 Sludge pre-treatment ............................................................................................... 55 5.3.3 Sludge Conditioning ............................................................................................... 56 5.3.4 Filter press..............................................................................................................