1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Conditioning and dewatering of sludge from a Bangkok waterworks

AuthorTeerawat Luangurai
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.EV-90-8
Subject(s)Sewage--Purification--Activated sludge process
NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the use of sand-drying beds in dewatering sludges generated from the Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority(MWA) ,Thailand. The combined sludges from the clarifiers and filter backwashing were collected and transported to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) for analysis and experiments. The Buchner funnel tests revealed the optimum dosages of lime, Magnafloc LT26 and ferric chloride to be 16, 0.06 and 8 % TS, respectively. With these dosages, the above conditioners yielded the maximum sludge solids of 11.81, 14.81 and 4.31 kg/(m2 .h) respectively, while the ·nonconditioned sludges had the maximum sludge solids yield of 2.83 kg/(m2 .h). Rainfalls did not appear to significantly affect the performance of the sand-drying beds in dewatering the non-conditioned and conditioned sludges. This was due to the rapid development of cracks in the sludge cakes within one day of dewatering, where the rai~ water could pass through and became the filtrate. The experiments on sand-drying beds suggested that Magnafloc LT26 was a better conditioner than lime and ferric chloride in dewatering this sludge on sand-drying beds. The optimum sludge loading rate for the Magnafloc LT26 conditioned sludge was found to be 3. 27 kg/ (m2 . d), while for the non-conditioned , lime conditioned and ferric chloride conditioned sludge, the optimum solid loading rates were 2.73, 2.14 and 2.57 kg/(m2 .d), respectively. A comparison between the cost of using sand-drying beds and sludge lagoons (which are presently employed at the Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant) for dewatering indicated that it was more expensive to use sludge lagoons than sand-drying beds. For a comparison between the cost of non-conditioned and Magnafloc conditioned sludges on sand-drying beds, the Magnafloc LT26- conditioned sludge required less capital cost but more operation and maintenance cost than that of the non-conditioned sludge.
Year1990
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
DepartmentOther Field of Studies (No Department)
Academic Program/FoSEnvironmental Engineering (EV)
Chairperson(s)Chongrak Polprasert
Examination Committee(s)Vigneswaran, Saravanamuthu ;Kiran Bhattarai
Scholarship Donor(s)Government of Australia
DegreeThesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1990


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