An Introduction to Sludge Handling, Treatment and Disposal

J. Paul Guyer, P.E., R.A., Fellow ASCE, Fellow AEI

Course Outline

1.  General considerations
2.  Sludge pumping
3.  Sludge thickening
4.  Sludge conditioning
5.  Sludge dewatering
6.  Sludge digestion
7.  Sludge storage
8.  Bibliography

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Learn the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the four primary types of sludge pumps;
• Learn recommended pump types for primary, chemical precipitated, trickling-filter, activated, thickened and concentrated sludges;
• Learn about gravity and flotation thickening of sludges;
• Learn the mass loading guidelines for gravity thickeners;
• Learn operational parameters for flotation thickening of sludges;
• Learn how chemical conditioning is used to improve sludge dewaterability;
• Learn how heat can improve dewaterability of sludge;
• Learn about sludge dewatering using a belt filtration press;
• Learn the advantages, disadvantages, shortcomings and solutions to problems that may arise with belt filter presses;
• Learn design guidelines for sludge drying beds;
• Learn sludge moisture reduction using vacuum filtration;
• Learn about sludge dewatering using basket centrifuges;
• Learn about sludge dewatering using solid bowl centrifuges;
• Learn the advantages, disadvantages, shortcomings and solutions to problems that may arise with solid bowl decanter centrifuges;
• Learn about plate-and-frame filter presses;
• Learn about manual, semi-automatic and automatic controls for filter presses;
• Learn about continuous and intermittent batch aerobic sludge digestion;
• Learn about anaerobic sludge digestion;
• Learn design parameters for aerobic digestion using air; and
• Learn design parameters for standard- and high-rate anaerobic digesters.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for civil and environmental engineers, technicians and construction professionals wanting an introduction to handling, treatment and disposal of sludge generated by wastewater treatment plants.

Benefit for Attendee

This course will give civil and environmental engineers, technicians and construction professionals an introduction to handling, treatment and disposal of wastewater treatment sludge.

Course Introduction

This is an introduction to processes and equipment for handling, treating and disposing of wastewater treatment process sludge.

About Course Author

Paul Guyer is a registered mechanical engineer, civil engineer, fire protection engineer and architect with over 35 years experience in the design of buildings and related infrastructure.  For an additional 9 years he was a senior-level advisor to the California Legislature on infrastructure and capital outlay issues.  He has designed and supervised the design of hundreds of construction projects requiring the preparation of detailed working drawings and specifications for federal, state and local public agencies and private companies.  He is a graduate of Stanford University and has held numerous national, state and local positions with the American Society of Civil Engineers and National Society of Professional Engineers.

Course Content

The course content is contained in the following PDF file:

An Introduction to Sludge Handling, Treatment and Disposal

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

This course will give you an introduction to handling, treatment and disposition of wastewater treatment sludge.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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