Sludge management in semidecentralized wastewater treatment
Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and
Biotechnology Aerobic biological wastewater treatment regularly
produces primary sludge from mechanical pretreatment and excess
sludge from nitrification and denitrification that has to be
removed from the system and disposed of. Removal and reduction
of sludge volume determine the sludge storage volume required,
and thus the sludge disposal costs, which are a significant
factor in the overall operating costs of a wastewater treatment
plant. In the semi-decentralized wastewater treatment concept
developed by the Fraunhofer IGB, the sludge storage volume can
be optimally utilized through the introduction of a sludge
management system. This is of especial interest for small sewage
plants such as membrane sewage plants. The sludge management
system is essentially based on - the automated separation of the
primary sludge by a solid sensor as well as - the automated
concentration and separation of the e