Steady Rheological Properties of Rotating Biological Contactor (RBC) Sludge

Abstract

The rheological characterization of sewage sludge at different steps of wastewater treatment is important since it allows predicting and estimating sludge behavior when submitted to almost all treatment and disposal operations. Rotating biological contactor (RBC) is being widely used for wastewater treatment, which is a biological treatment process following primary treatment. The rheological characterization of RBC sludge at different solid contents (TSS = 32.2 g/L–50.2 g/L) and temperatures (5–40 °C) was carried out using a rotational viscometer. The RBC sludge showed a shear-thinning behavior, where the apparent viscosity decreased rapidly with the shear rate reaching the limiting viscosity (n) at the infinite shear rate. An exponential relationship described the evolution of the limiting viscosity with the sludge TSS content. In addition, a dramatic increase in the limiting viscosity beyond a TSS concentration of 42.4 g/L has been observed. On the other hand, Bingham model described well the non-Newtonian behavior of sludge suspensions. It was clear that the yield stress is more sensitive than the Bingham viscosity for the variation in temperature and solid content. However, the rheological results revealed that both the limiting and Bingham viscosities have the same behavior with the TSS content and with the temperature.