In-situ generation of iron activated percarbonate for sustainable sludge dewatering

Chengjian Li; Yu Zhang; Jingsai Ren; Zhihua Mo; Jialin Liang; Maoyou Ye; Wenzhi Ou; Shuiyu Sun; Suiyi Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171235

In-situ generation of iron activated percarbonate for sustainable sludge dewatering

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Apr 20:922:171235. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171235. Epub 2024 Feb 27.

Authors

Chengjian Li¹, Yu Zhang¹, Jingsai Ren¹, Zhihua Mo², Jialin Liang³, Maoyou Ye¹, Wenzhi Ou¹, Shuiyu Sun², Suiyi Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Resources and Environment, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ College of Resources and Environment, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China. Electronic address: jialin.liang@zhku.edu.cn.

PMID: 38417502
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171235

Abstract

Effective dewatering of sewage sludge could potentially address the issues of high energy consumption and large carbon footprint inherent in the sludge treatment process, advancing toward carbon neutrality in environmental remediation. Yet, the surface hydrophilic characteristics and water-holding interfacial affinity in sludge led to dwindled sludge-water separation performance. Here, the integration of in-situ generation of iron from zero-valent scrap iron (ZVSI) and sodium percarbonate (SPC) was attempted to attenuate the water-retaining interfacial affinity within sludge, thus achieving superior sludge dewatering performance. Results showed that under the optimal conditions, the ZVSI + SPC system led to a remarkable decline of 76.09 % in the specific resistance to filtration of the sludge, accompanied by a notable decline of 34.96 % in the water content. Moreover, the utilization of ZVSI + SPC system could be a viable alternative to the traditional strategies in terms of enhanced sludge dewaterability, offering application potential with stable operating performance, economic feasibility, and reduced carbon emissions. Investigation into dewatering mechanism revealed that ZVSI could maintain the Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ in a stable dynamic cycle and continuously in-situ generate Fe²⁺, thereby efficaciously fostering the SPC activation for the ceaseless yield of reactive oxygen species. The predominant •OH and ¹O₂ efficiently decomposed the hydrophilic biopolymers, therefore minimizing the hydrophilic protein secondary structures, along with the hydrogen and disulfide bonds within proteins. Subsequently, the water-holding interfacial affinity was profoundly diminished, leading to intensified hydrophobicity, self-flocculation, and dewaterability. These findings have important implications for the advancement of efficacious ZVSI + SPC conditioning techniques toward sustainable energy and low-carbon prospects.

Keywords: Reactive oxygen species; Sludge-water separation performance; Sodium percarbonate-based advanced oxidation technologies; Water-holding interfacial affinity; Zero-valent scrap iron.