STUDY ON THE STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE DURING CONVECTIVE DRYING

The structure of the sludge sample continues changing during drying as a result of the shrinkage phenomenon. Then the exchange area becomes smaller and the drying rate decreases. The sludge collected in a wastewater treatment plant (Grosses Battes WWTP, Belgium) was chosen for both lab-scale experiment and pilot-scale experiment. X-ray macrotomography (resolution: 0.36 mm per pixel) and X-ray microtomography (resolution: 41 μm per pixel) were used to explore the structure evolution of the sludge bed and the single extrudate respectively. 2D cross-sections of the sludge bed and the single extrudate were acquired, which supply a convenient way to investigate the evolution of the structure. The results show that the structure of both the sludge bed and the single extrudate distinctly changes during the drying process.