How can sludge dewatering devices be assessed? Development of a new DSS and its application to real case studies

Giorgio Bertanza; Matteo Papa; Matteo Canato; Maria Cristina Collivignarelli; Roberta Pedrazzani

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.02.002

How can sludge dewatering devices be assessed? Development of a new DSS and its application to real case studies

J Environ Manage. 2014 May 1:137:86-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.02.002. Epub 2014 Mar 4.

Authors

Giorgio Bertanza¹, Matteo Papa², Matteo Canato³, Maria Cristina Collivignarelli³, Roberta Pedrazzani⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, I-25123 Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: giorgio.bertanza@ing.unibs.it.
² Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, I-25123 Brescia, Italy.
³ DICAr, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, via Ferrata 1, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.
⁴ DIMI, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, via Branze 38, I-25123 Brescia, Italy.

PMID: 24603031
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.02.002

Abstract

A key issue in biological Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) operation is represented by the sludge management. Mechanical dewatering is a crucial stage for sludge volume reduction; though, being a costly operation, its optimization is required. We developed an original experimental methodology to evaluate the technical (dewatering efficiency) and financial (total treatment costs) performance of dewatering devices, which might be used as a DSS (Decision Support System) for WWTP managers. This tool was then applied to two real case studies for comparing, respectively, three industrial size centrifuges, and two different operation modes of the same machine (fixed installation vs. outsourcing service). In both the cases, the best option was identified, based jointly on economic and (site-specific) technical evaluations.

Keywords: Cost; Decision support systems; Performance; Sewage sludge dewatering; Wastewater.

MeSH terms

Costs and Cost Analysis
Decision Support Techniques*
Sewage / chemistry*
Waste Disposal, Fluid / economics
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods*
Wastewater
Water / chemistry

Substances

Sewage
Waste Water
Water