Effect of Digestion Temperature on the Solid-Liquid Separation Characteristics of Anaerobically Digested Municipal Sewage Sludge
Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of digestion temperature on the settleability and dewaterability of anaerobically digested sludge. The digesters were operated at a hydraulic retention time of 20 days with a loading rate of 0.63~0.66kg volatile solids per cubic meter per day at the temperature of $35^{\circ}C$ and $55^{\circ}C$. A mixed primary and secondary municipal sludge was used as a feed. The interface height of the sludge during settling test was recorded to identify settleability. As a measure of dewaterability of the sludge, specific resistance and capillary suction time were also measured with and without chemical conditioning. Higher digestion efficiency was obtained at $55^{\circ}C$ than $35^{\circ}C$. However, the settleability and dewaterability of the sludge at $35^{\circ}C$ were quite higher than those of the sludge digested at $55^{\circ}C$. The optimum dosages of ferric chloride for sludge conditioning were 0.4% and 0.6% at $35^{\circ}C$ and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. The filtrate COD of the sludge digested at $55^{\circ}C$ was higher than at $35^{\circ}C$, which means that poor dewaterability of the sludge result in high filtrate COD.