Moisture distribution in activated sludges:: a review

The dewatering of residual sludges is a current problem due to the huge production of this waste. Activated sludges are generally hard to dewater, and the design and the control of the separation operations are often quite difficult. In order to better understand this problem, pertinent indices are needed. The knowledge of how water is distributed within activated sludge is an interesting approach. Current literature dealing with this topic is, however, relatively difficult to apply. This work presents a review of the problem of moisture distribution classification and measurement within activated sludge. The main techniques used for this analysis are compared and discussed in detail. The estimation of the water binding energy is also extremely commented upon. Finally, the paper discusses the utility of this type of analysis to examine the conditioning and dewatering of activated sludge. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.