Wastewater sludge characteristics, treatment techniques and energy production

Abstract

The research presents an overview on sludge types, characteristics, and methods of treatment. Additionally, using the sludge as an energy source for future plans was studied as well. The paper focused mainly on analyzing different sludge characteristics based on the previous studies. Wastewater sludge produced from the primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment processes was analyzed. It was mainly composed of many organic and inorganic materials. Some of the materials were removed by physical and other required chemical or biological processes. Most of the sludge was solid, semi-solid, and muddy with the harmful substances such as proteins, phenols, and hazardous materials. The study explained different methods of energy production as well. At the end, it was concluded that every type of sludge could provide energy and be a basic financial product for the selected area, and keep environment safely and healthy as well. The calculated quantity of dry sludge for 1,000,000 inhabitants in Erbil City, Kurdistan Region-Iraq, was 50,000 kg/d, which produced calorific value of 9.5 · 107 K. cal./day. Furthermore, the essential area for under drain sand bed area was 5,100 m2 .