Aggregate characterisation by using the FlocFormer system to improve sludge dewatering

In this paper, the influence of the polymer-induced flocculation on undigested sludge dewatering is investigated by image analysis. The mixing of flocculants in a so-called rapid-mixer and the subsequent forming of aggregates is carried out by the FlocFormer system, a new sludge conditioning system. For the mechanical dewatering a decanter device is used. To evaluate the efficiency of the dewatering process, the total solid content (TS) of the dewatered sludge is analysed. The results of this study show that this type of flocculation represents an alternative to improve sludge dewatering of undigested sludge. Compared with the standard conditioning (T-mixer), the FlocFormer leads to a better improvement (1.37 to 3.46%-points) in terms of TS while the rapid-mixer improves the dewatering efficiency only by 0.50 to 1.73%-points. Additionally, by using the FlocFormer conditioning, an optimal polymer dose of 5 g/kg TS has been detected. By increasing the polymer consumption (4–20% above the optimal dose) the dewatering efficiency remains practically constant (TS≈26.5%).