Analysis of drying from WWTP’s sludge: forced air convection and thermal infrared lamps drying
L. S. Leite1, T. Matsumoto1*
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Campus of Ilha Solteira, Universidade Estadual Paulista (FEIS-UNESP). Ilha Solteira, São Paulo-Brazi
(free)
The management of sludge treatment plants is an activity of great complexity and high cost, which if poorly executed, can compromise the environmental and health benefits expected from this system. It is estimated the sludge production in Brazil is between 150-220,000 tons/year. As the main purpose of sludge treatment is to generate a more stable product with less volume, there is a constant search for knowledge and new technologies to make it happen. This research aimed to analyze experimental sludge drying from WWTP by the processes: forced air convection and thermal drying by infrared lamps and even the combination of both, through of known control parameters such as: energy consumption, drying efficiency (solids evaluation) and sludge physical characteristics. The best drying result occurred with 4 lamps are on, reducing on average 63.17%, but this reflected in a higher energy consumption, about 3,66kWhr for that period. The results showed that the heat sealing has great potential for sludge drying and must be more deeply investigated with different loads (sludge thicknesses)
