With the tightening of environmental protection policies, deep dewatering of sludge has become a key link for sewage treatment plants to achieve reduction and harmless treatment. Although traditional chemicals (such as iron salts and lime) can reduce the moisture content of sludge, they have problems such as large dosage of chemicals, severe equipment corrosion, and harsh working environment. In recent years, sludge enhancers, as a new type of chemical conditioner, have achieved efficient concentration and dewatering by modifying the surface structure of sludge and breaking through the dewatering bottleneck.

I. Analysis of the Limitations of Traditional Pharmaceuticals

The cost of adding ‌ chemicals is high ‌

In traditional processes, the combined cost of iron salts (with a dosage of ≥10%) and lime (with a dosage of ≥30%) amounts to 350 yuan per tDS, and all the chemicals are transferred to the mud cakes, resulting in severe occupation of landfill space.

Youdaoplaceholder0 Equipment corrosion and maintenance costs ‌

The strong alkalinity of lime and iron salts causes severe corrosion of equipment such as conditioning tanks and filter presses, increasing the frequency of filter cloth replacement. A certain case shows that after traditional chemical treatment, the metal content in the filtrate exceeds the standard, which is prone to scaling in the pipeline and shortening the service life of the equipment.

Youdaoplaceholder0 risk of secondary pollution ‌

Lime dust pollutes the working environment. If the pH of the mud cake is too high (11-12), it may cause pollution to the landfill leachate. In addition, the amount of solid waste generated by traditional pharmaceuticals has increased, with an additional daily solid waste treatment cost of 5 to 10 tons.

Ii. Technical Principles and Advantages of Sludge Enhancers

Youdaoplaceholder0 multi-component synergistic effect ‌

Sludge enhancers are composed of inorganic compounds, surface structure modifiers, cell wall disruptors, etc. They achieve deep dewatering through the following mechanisms:

Youdaoplaceholder0 Water release agent ‌ : Destroys the bound water in the organic matter of sludge and releases free water;

Youdaoplaceholder0 separator ‌ : Promotes sludge flocculation and agglomeration, and improves the efficiency of sludge-water separation;

Youdaoplaceholder0 liquid skeleton agent ‌ : optimizes the water permeability of filter materials and reduces clogging.

Youdaoplaceholder0 Core advantage ‌

Youdaoplaceholder0 Low dosage and low cost ‌ : the dosage of the reagent is only 1/3 to 1/2 of the traditional solution, and the cost is reduced to 140 yuan per tDS (as in the case of Norgren Environmental Protection);

Youdaoplaceholder0 pH neutralization ‌ : After conditioning, the pH of the mud cake drops to 8.0, reducing ammonia release and equipment corrosion;

Youdaoplaceholder0 High-efficiency reduction ‌ : The moisture content can be reduced from over 90% to 40%-60%, and the volume of the mud cake can be reduced by more than 50%.

Youdaoplaceholder0 Equipment friendliness ‌ : no chloride ions, no lime dust, and the frequency of filter cloth replacement is reduced by 60%.

Iii. Technology Promotion and Industry Impact

Youdaoplaceholder0 application scenarios expansion ‌

Sludge enhancers have been widely applied in municipal, papermaking, printing and dyeing and other industries, and are compatible with equipment such as plate and frame filter presses and belt filter presses.

Youdaoplaceholder0 Policy and market-driven ‌

With the advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, the demand for sludge reduction and resource utilization has soared. Sludge efficiency enhancers reduce carbon emissions by decreasing the use of lime (the CO₂ emissions during the lime production process are high), which is in line with the trend of green and low-carbon development.

Youdaoplaceholder0 industry standardization recommendations ‌

It is suggested that technical specifications for sludge enhancers be formulated, clearly defining indicators such as dosage, pH value, and sludge cake strength, to promote the industry's transformation from "experience-based debugging" to "precise control".

Iv. Conclusion

The sludge enhancer, through chemical modification technology, has broken through the high cost and high pollution bottlenecks of traditional agents, achieving a win-win situation of economic and environmental protection in deep sludge dewatering. In the future, with the advancement of materials science, sludge enhancers will develop in the direction of intelligence and multi-functionality, providing a better solution for the resource utilization of sludge.