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Evaluation of the combined effect of sodium persulfate and thermal hydrolysis on sludge dewatering performance

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Abstract

This innovative study makes use of a thermal hydrolysis process (THP) and the conditioner sodium persulfate (SPS) to improve the dewaterability of sewage sludge. The best-operating conditions were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM): 100 mg/g of dry solids (DS) of SPS, 101 min of reaction time of THP, and a temperature of 200 °C. Distribution of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), zeta potential, bound water, and solid characters were analyzed to reveal the mechanisms involved in the dewatering process. These results indicate that the sewage sludge after treatment (SPS combined with THP) had a superior dewaterability. The specific resistance to filtration (SRF) under the best conditions was 0.51 × 1011 m/kg, decreasing by 91.65% compared to the raw sludge (RS) (6.11 × 1011 m/kg). This mechanism could be explained as follows: (1) Aromaticity and hydrophobicity of sludge cake after SPS + THP treatment was increased; (2) sludge flocs were re-flocculated by charge neutralization, giving rise to a loose and porous structure; (3) the structure of extracellular polymeric substances and cells was destroyed, and the bound water was released. Overall, the conditioning by combination of SPS and THP is an effective mean to improve sewage sludge dewaterability.

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Abbreviations

3D-EEM:

Three-dimensional excitation–emission matrix

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

AOPs:

Advanced oxidation processes

BBD:

Box–Behnken design

B-EPS:

Bound fraction of extracellular polymeric substances

D50:

Average median particle size

DS:

Dry solids

DSC:

Differential scanning calorimeter

EPS:

Extracellular polymeric substances

PN:

Protein

PS:

Polysaccharide

RS:

Raw sludge

RSM:

Response surface methodology

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

S-EPS:

Soluble fraction of extracellular polymeric substances

SPS:

Sodium persulfate

SPS/S:

Sludge conditioned by sodium persulfate pretreatment

SPS + THP/S:

Sludge conditioned by sodium persulfate and thermal hydrolysis process

SRF:

Specific resistance to filtration

T-EPS:

Total extracellular polymeric substances

THP:

Thermal hydrolysis process

THP/S:

Sludge conditioned by thermal hydrolysis process

W b :

Bound water content

W t :

Water content

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank reviewers for commenting on this paper.

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51208393 and 51908433), Special fund project to guide the development of local science and technology by the central government (No. 109), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei province-China (No.2019CFB236).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, 430073, China

    Kai Chen, Jingxin Liu, Simian Huang, Meng Mei, Si Chen, Teng Wang & Jinping Li

  2. Engineering Research Centre for Clean Production of Textile Dyeing and Printing, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, 430073, China

    Kai Chen, Jingxin Liu, Simian Huang, Meng Mei, Si Chen, Teng Wang & Jinping Li

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  1. Kai Chen
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Correspondence to Teng Wang or Jinping Li.

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Chen, K., Liu, J., Huang, S. et al. Evaluation of the combined effect of sodium persulfate and thermal hydrolysis on sludge dewatering performance. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 7586–7597 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11123-1

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