Sludge treatment is an important task in environmental protection engineering, involving urban sewage treatment, industrial wastewater treatment and other fields. Sludge dewatering is the key link of sludge treatment, which can effectively reduce the moisture content of sludge and reduce the cost of sludge treatment, transportation and disposal. Sludge conditioner, as a kind of agent to improve sludge dewatering efficiency, has attracted more and more attention. In this paper, the basic principle of sludge conditioner and its function in sludge dewatering process will be introduced in detail.
1. The basic principle of sludge conditioner is an agent that improves the properties of sludge and promotes the solid-liquid separation of sludge. Its principle of action can be summarized as follows:
(1) Neutralization: sludge conditioner can adjust the charge in the sludge, so that the repulsive force between the particles in the sludge is reduced, thereby increasing the contact opportunity between the particles of the sludge, which is conducive to the condensation and dehydration of the sludge.
(2) Bridging action: Some polymer sludge conditioner has a long chain structure, which can form a bridge with the particles in the sludge, promote the combination between the sludge particles, and form a larger flocculent, which is conducive to solid-liquid separation.
(3) Flocculation: the sludge conditioner can promote the fine particles in the sludge to aggregate into larger flocculent, increase the sedimentation rate of the sludge particles, and improve the solid-liquid separation efficiency.
2. The role of sludge conditioner in sludge dewatering
2.1 Improve dehydration efficiency
By adjusting the properties of the sludge, the sludge conditioner can effectively reduce the viscosity of the sludge, reduce the impermeability of the sludge, and improve the dehydration efficiency. In practical application, the appropriate sludge conditioner can significantly improve the processing capacity of sludge dewatering equipment and shorten the dewatering time.
2.2 Improving the quality of decentable cake
The sludge conditioner can make the dehydrated mud cake more compact and dry, and reduce the moisture content of the mud cake, thus reducing the burden of subsequent treatment, transportation and disposal. In addition, the quality improvement of mud cake also contributes to the utilization of sludge resources, such as biomass energy, organic fertilizer and so on.
2.3 Reduce processing costs
By increasing the efficiency of sludge dewatering and improving the quality of mud cake, sludge conditioner can reduce the total cost of sludge treatment, including energy consumption, equipment maintenance, labor costs and so on. In addition, the use of sludge conditioner also helps to improve the operational stability of sludge dewatering equipment and reduce the failure rate.
2.4 Reduce the environmental impact of sludge treatment
The use of sludge conditioner can reduce the amount of wastewater and pollutant discharge in the process of sludge dewatering, and reduce the impact on the environment. At the same time, because the sludge conditioner can improve the efficiency of sludge resource utilization, help to reduce the disposal pressure of sludge and reduce the burden on the environment.