Development of high-throughput dewatering test (HTDT) for sludge processing

本研究的目的是提高废水处理系统的运行性能，该系统使用厌氧消化从可降解废物流中产生生物气体，这是一种可再生能源。这些系统的关键操作挑战是如何去除与生物气一起沿着产生的残余污泥材料中的大部分水。 增稠和脱水过程本身依赖于添加化学混凝剂和聚合物絮凝剂;这是相当复杂的，因此需要进行广泛的测试，以确定从技术和经济角度来看的最佳操作条件。 然而，目前的测试方法是劳动密集型和耗时的，因此不适合工艺优化。

The objective of this research is to improve the operational performance of wastewater treatment systems that use anaerobic digestion to produce bio-gas, a renewable source of energy, from degradable waste streams. A key operational challenge for these systems is how to remove a large proportion of the water within the residual sludge material that is produced along with the bio-gas. The thickening and dewatering process itself relies on the addition of chemical coagulants and polymer flocculants; it is quite complex and thus extensive testing is required to determine the optimal operating conditions from both technical and economic perspectives. However the current testing methods are labour intensive and time consuming and thus poorly suited for process optimization.