Bioflocculants as Alternative to Synthetic Polymers to Enhance Wastewater Sludge Dewaterability: A Review

Wissem Mnif and Faouzi Ben Rebah ()
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Wissem Mnif: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences at Bisha, University of Bisha, P.O. Box 199, Bisha 61922, Saudi Arabia
Faouzi Ben Rebah: Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sfax (ISBS), Sfax University, P.O. Box 263, Sfax 3000, Tunisia

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: The dewatering process reduces the water quantity in sludge, allowing the decrease in its volume, which facilitates its storage, transport, stabilization, and improves the post-treatment efficiency. Chemical polymers including aluminum sulphate and polyaluminum chloride were applied as flocculants in the conditioning process in order to prepare sludge for dewatering. However, these synthetic polymers may cause risks for human health, and should be substituted with ecofriendly and safe materials. These materials include plant-based flocculants, animal-based flocculants, and microbial-based flocculants. Sludge dewaterability was evaluated by considering many parameters, such as moisture content (MC), dry solids (DS), specific resistance to filtration (SRF), capillary suction time (CST), and sludge volume index (SVI). The use of microorganisms for sludge dewatering is an available option, since many strains ( R. erythropolis , A. ferrooxidans , P. mirabilis , T. flavus , etc.) demonstrated their ability to produce polymers useful for dewatering sludge from various origins (chemically treated primary sludge, activated sludge, anaerobically digested sludge, etc.). For plant-based flocculants, only okra ( Abelmoschus esculentus ), cactus ( Opuntia ficus Indica ), moringa ( M. oleifera ), and aloe ( A. vera ) plants are examined for sludge dewatering. Compared to synthetic polymers, plant-based flocculants showed a viable alternative to chemicals and a step forward in green sludge treatment technology. Among the animal-based flocculants, chitosan and aminated chitosan were able to reduce the SRF (SRF reduction rate > 80%) of the anaerobically digested sludge. A new strategy using methylated hemoglobin also showed a significant enhancement in cake solid content of sludge (47%) and a decrease in sludge bound water content of 17.30%. Generally, extensive investigations are needed to explore and optimize all the related parameters (operating conditions, preparation procedure, production cost, etc.) and to choose the appropriate materials for large-scale application.

Keywords: bioflocculants; sludge dewatering; microbial-based flocculants; plant-based flocculants; animal-based flocculants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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