New sludge dewatering centrifuge
A GEA-Westfalia sludge dewatering centrifuge was purchased and activated in 2016. The centrifuge is designed to dewater 60 m3/hr of digested sludge. During the dewatering process, the level of solids in the sludge increases from about 2% to about 20% and the volume of sludge produced is reduced to about 6 m³. Reduction in sludge volume by 90% provides a considerable savings in shipping costs of the sludge to the composting site. In addition, a system was acquired for dissolving polymers. These polymers are used as a flocculent that improves the dewatering process. The polymer dissolution system has double redundancy and can be used in the future for feeding polymer to an additional centrifuge. The new centrifuge was supplied with an optimization system designed to save costs in polymer use. This is the fifth centrifuge installed at the treatment plant. Sludge dewatering machines of the belt filter press type are very old and are currently being used only as a reserve for the centrifuge array. The centrifuges are preferred over belt filter press type dewatering machines due to their sludge dewatering capability.