Sludge treatment
Alfa Laval supplies wastewater treatment solutions that cover the entire sludge treatment process, including sludge dewatering, sludge thickening, thermal sludge treatment, sludge post-treatment, and resource recovery. With our long heritage in the water industries, we combine extensive knowledge and expertise with proven IoT solutions, including full range of control systems that reduce polymer and energy use, reduce manpower requirements, and thus effectively optimize operation.
Benefits of our sludge treatment solutions
- Reduce waste disposal by up to 90%, saving on transportation, effluent disposal, storage and drying costs
- Unlock new revenue streams from resource recovery
- Minimize environmental impacts with efficient, sustainable processes
- Lower operating costs through enhanced plant efficiency
- Optimize polymer and energy use to the extent of overall operation to meet stricter standards
On-site sludge thickening and sludge dewatering is a fundamental part of all current wastewater treatment processes to reduce sludge volume, waste disposal cost and meet sustainability requirements. It is also highly relevant for sludge to be used as digester feed for biogas production, thermal processes and composting. To meet every plant's unique need, Alfa Laval offers robust, well-proven technologies from thickening, dewatering to thermal sludge handling, helping you to sharpen your sustainability profile.
Sludge thickening process
In the primary or secondary treatment of wastewater, it has become standard practice to mechanically thicken sludge from clarifiers before it undergoes digestion or dewatering. Managing high water flows and diluted slurries presents significant challenges in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. To achieve cost efficiency and enhanced performance, it is crucial to reduce the hydraulic load and increase slurry concentration before dewatering and digestion.
Alfa Laval offers a wide range of cost-efficient sludge thickening solutions that sustainably reduces the sludge volume for further downstream processing. All our sludge thickening machines have enclosed designs , which requires very low maintenance and odour control:
Gravity belt thickeners
Flocculation sludge thickening, suitable for all municipal or industrial flocculated sludges AS-H Belt Thickeners are integrated with polymer mixing for small to medium capacity.
Decanter centrifuges
Aldec, Aldec G3 or Aldec G3 VecFlow sludge decanters for high performance centrifugal separation and sludge thickening and dewatering with high cake dryness.
Sludge dewatering process
The dryness of sludge from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment significantly impacts transportation, effluent disposal, storage, and drying costs. Alfa Laval offers a range of cost-efficient sludge dewatering technologies that effectively separate liquid phases and achieve high dry solids content, helping customers meet legislative requirements for sustainable sludge disposal.
Depending on the desired dry solids content, available space, and other requirements, customers can choose from several Alfa Laval technologies for efficient sludge dewatering and liquid separation from waste streams:
Belt presses
AS-H belt presses for high volume and solids loading with low polymer and power use.
Filter presses
AS-H plate presses for smaller batches where very high dry cake solids (up to 40%) and solids capture over 99% is required.
Decanter centrifuges
ALDEC G3 and ALDEC G3 VecFlow for very high capacities with very small footprint and low energy consumption. It has up to 5x capacity on the same footprint as a conventional belt press. These are Alfa Laval’s latest generation of sludge dewatering equipment for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.
Some of these can also be used for mud dewatering, mine tailings, pond clean-up and dredging. It can also be used for drinking water, seawater desalination, biogas, biosolids, manure treatment, industrial wastewater treatment from food and bev and energy and industrial production.
Thermal sludge treatment process
Thermal sludge treatment processes, including mesophilic and thermophilic digestion, are essential for breaking down organic matter in wastewater. Mesophilic digestion operates at moderate temperatures, while thermophilic digestion uses higher temperatures to accelerate the process. Both systems rely on key components such as tube-in-tube heat exchangers, sludge-to-water and sludge-to-sludge spirals, and plate heat exchangers (PHE) to optimize heat transfer and digestion conditions. These systems are critical for enhancing the biodegradability of sludge and supporting efficient waste treatment.
Alfa Laval offers a comprehensive range of heat exchangers, including gasketed plate heat exchangers and spiral heat exchangers, designed to maximize the efficiency of thermal sludge treatment. Our systems support processes like sludge hydrolysis, pasteurization, and anaerobic effluent evaporation, which reduce waste volume, recover valuable resources, and ensure compliance with environmental standards. Alfa Laval's technologies also provide solutions for cost savings, heat recovery, and the production of high-quality biogas or compost. For specific industrial applications, such as pharmaceutical waste, pasteurization is essential to ensure pathogen reduction and meet regulatory requirements.
Tube-in-tube heat exchangers
Tube-in-tube heat exchangers designed speficially to handle heating and cooling of sludge containing fibres and particles.
Spiral heat exchangers
Spiral heat exchangers, specifically the ALSHE SW, STW and STS spiral heat exchangers, are intended for sludge/ water applications. The heat exchanger offers unique abilities within sludge treatment applications such as mesophilic digestion, thermophilic digestion, sludge hydrolysis or pasteruisation, pre-heating and heat recovery.
Gasketed plate heat exchangers
For larger duties, we have our classic gasketed plate heat exchangers to handle mesophilic digestion, thermophilic digestion and sludge hydrolys or pasteurization.
Alfa Laval offers tailored testing capabilities to ensure the highest separation efficiency and scalable results
Founded in 1883, Alfa Laval has led the way in centrifugal separation technology with continuous breakthroughs, including our high-performance decanter centrifuge. Leveraging our industry know-how and specialist process experience from around the world, Alfa Laval provides professional guidance throughout the entire testing process to guarantee the best solution for each application, achieving unparalleled cost and sustainability advantages.
From small-scale onsite pilot testing to scalable production, experience the convenience of a compact, modular, plug-and-play skid mounted unit. Watch the video to learn more about our reliable decanter centrifuge equipment, available for purchase or rent.
Service
Your trusted service partner for wastewater treatment solutions
Our dedicated Global Service Network supports you with parts and expertise, wherever you are, whenever you need it. By ensuring greater uptime, availability and optimization, we help bring you peace of mind, and maximize your return on investment. We can work with you to integrate our services into an Alfa Laval Service Agreement for predictable and worry-free operations.
Learn more about our product-related services:
Performance audit for Decanter Centrifuges
Get decanter centrifuge optimization and cost-savings throughout the sludge thickening and dewatering process with Alfa Laval Performance Audit as our global service and support experts help make the most out of your equipment.
Minimize operating cost with Alfa Laval IoT Services
Alfa Laval’s IoT Services is a range of digital services aiming to reduce operating costs and maximize operating reliability in wastewater plants. Our Connectivity Solutions taking advantages of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoTs) technologies help us serve you better in domains such as predictive preventive maintenance, remote control, optimisation and more.
