ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1544-7596
Current Organisation
RMIT University
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In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Wastewater Treatment Processes | Chemical Engineering | Rheology | Environmental Science and Management | Environmental Management | Sustainable Agricultural Development | Crop and Pasture Nutrition |
Urban and Industrial Water Management | Expanding Knowledge in Engineering | Biofuel (Biomass) Energy | Management of Solid Waste from Plant Production | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Environments | Industrial Energy Conservation and Efficiency | Industrial Chemicals and Related Products not elsewhere classified
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2012.09.048
Abstract: Over the last few decades, municipal and industrial wastewater treatment activities have been confronted with a dramatically increasing flow of sewage sludge. To improve treatment efficiency, process and material parameters are needed but engineers are dealing with vast quantities of fundamentally poorly understood and unpredictable material Thus, accurate prediction of critically important, but analytically elusive process parameters is unattainable and is a matter of grave concern. Because engineers need reliable flow properties to simulate the process, this work is an attempt to approach sludge rheological behaviour with well-known materials which have similar characteristics. Sludge liquid-like behaviour is already well documented so, we have focused mainly on the solid-like behaviour of both raw and digested sludge by performing oscillatory measurements in the linear and non-linear regimes. We have shown that the viscoelastic behaviour of sludge presents strong similarities with soft-glassy materials but differences can be observed between raw and digested sludge. Finally, we confirm that colloidal glasses and emulsions may be used to model the rheological behaviour of raw and anaerobic digested sludge.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 07-06-2017
Publisher: IEEE
Date: 12-2012
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 05-01-2019
Abstract: Millions of tonnes of leftover biosolids are increasingly stockpiled every year around the globe. Biosolids are a product of the wastewater sludge treatment process. Stockpiles necessitate the use of large areas of increasingly valuable land. Biosolids have many beneficial uses and are currently utilised in agricultural and land rehabilitation applications. However, it is estimated that 30% of biosolids are unused and stockpiled. A second and seemingly unrelated environmental issue is the massive excavation of virgin soil for brick production. The annual production of 1500 billion bricks globally requires over 3.13 billion cubic metres of clay soil—equivalent to over 1000 soccer fields dug 440 m deep or to a depth greater than three times the height of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This paper investigates and proposes a practical solution for the utilisation of the world’s excess biosolids in fired–clay bricks. The physical, chemical and mechanical properties of fired–clay bricks incorporating 25%, 20%, 15% and 10% biosolids have been tested. Bricks were produced from three different biosolids s les collected at Melbourne’s Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP 22) and the Western Treatment Plant (WTP 10 & WTP 17–29). Compressive strength testing indicated results ranging between 35.5 MPa and 12.04 MPa for the biosolids-amended bricks. Leachate analysis was conducted on the bricks before and after firing, and the results demonstrate that between 43 and 99% of the heavy metals tested were immobilised inside the fired bricks compared to the heavy metals tested in the raw mixture. All leachate concentrations were found to be insignificant for the biosolids-incorporated bricks tested in this study. Biosolids can have significantly different chemical characteristics depending on the origin of the wastewater and the treatment procedure. Suitable leachate analysis should be undertaken on biosolids and test bricks before large-scale production is approved. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images illustrate that biosolids-amended bricks have a higher porosity than the control bricks, which corresponds to the lower thermal conductivity values recorded for biosolids-amended bricks. In addition, brick firing energy demands are estimated to decrease by up to 48.6% for bricks incorporating 25% WTP 17–29 biosolids due to the higher organic content of the mixture containing biosolids. The emissions study and comparative Life Cycle Assessment results show that the incorporation of biosolids into bricks is a positive and sustainable alternative approach with respect to all environmental impacts arising from the stockpiling of biosolids and brick manufacturing. Based on the results found in this comprehensive study, this paper proposes the inclusion of a minimum of 15% biosolids content into 15% of brick production in order to completely recycle all the approximately 5 million tonnes of annual leftover biosolids production in Australia, New Zealand, the EU, the USA and Canada. This is a practical and sustainable proposal for recycling all the leftover biosolids worldwide. Utilisation of only 15% of biosolids in brick production would reduce the carbon footprint of brick manufacturing whilst satisfying all the environmental and engineering requirements for bricks.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2018.07.041
Abstract: Aeration process in the waste activated sludge treatment accounts for 75% of total energy consumption of the treatment plant. The main purpose of the aeration process is to enhance the biodegradation of the liquid waste. Gas bubbles, rising through the liquid, improves mixing, reduces inhomogeneities in the treatment tank and enhances biological reactions. Thus aeration intensity and several physicochemical properties of feed such as viscosity, total suspended solids, and surface charge play a significant role in the biological reaction. This paper examines the impact of the gas injection rate on some physicochemical properties of waste activated sludge namely rheological properties, suspended solids, soluble COD (sCOD), surface tension, and zeta potential. The impact of four different gas flow rates on four different concentrations of waste activated sludge properties was analysed. The results showed that in linear viscoelastic regime the viscous and elastic modulus decreases linearly with an increase in gas flow rate. The amount of stress imposed by gas injection also showed a direct relationship with gas velocity. Gas injection also showed a substantial impact on soluble COD, suspended solids, and zeta potential. Additionally, a linear relationship was observed between the percentage change in the above mentioned physical properties and stress imposed by gas injection. These results confirm that gas injection produces additional shear impacting sludge physicochemical properties and therefore changes its rheological behaviour. The extra stress induced by gas injection can be predicted using a simple model based on sludge concentration and gas velocity.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-03-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-020-62008-9
Abstract: In this study, actual swage waste activated sludge in batch reactors was employed to assess the synergistic effect of free nitrous acid and Fenton pre-treatments on enhancing methane production in the anaerobic digestion process. In addition to methane enhancement, the mechanisms driving the enhancement were also investigated via measuring enzymes activity and solubilisation of organic matter. This study revealed that the combined pre-treatments solubilised organic matter significantly more than the bioreactors pre-treated with in idual FNA and Fenton. For understanding the influence of pre-treatments on solubilisation of organic matter, soluble protein, soluble polysaccharide and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) were measured before and after the treatments and it was shown that they respectively increased by 973%, 33% and 353% after the treatments. Protease and cellulase activity, as the key constituents of the microbial community in activated sludge, decreased considerably after the combined pre-treatments 42% and 32% respectively, which resulted in considerable methane enhancement. The results corroborate the synergy of the combined FNA and Fenton pre-treatment in degrading the organic and microbial constituents in waste activated sludge, paving the way for the big-scale implementation of these technologies.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2022.118903
Abstract: Due to the non-homogeneous and multiphase nature of anaerobic lagoon constituents, CFD modelling for process optimisation requires continuous functions for shear and solid-liquid separation properties across a large range of solids concentrations. Unfortunately, measurement of existing material properties of anaerobic sludges is limited to only shear or solid-liquid separation, or to a limited solids concentration. In this work, the shear properties of an anaerobic sludge were measured from 0.4 to 12.5 vol%, which corresponds to the solids concentrations seen in lagoons. The sludge showed Newtonian behaviour at 0.4 vol% and Herschel-Bulkley yield stress fluid behaviour for higher concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 12 vol%. We compared multiple approaches to determine relationships between the model fitting parameters of consistency, k, flow index, n, and shear yield stress, τ
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2017.03.020
Abstract: In this study, laboratory tests of both low temperature (60-90 °C) and high temperature (120-180 °C) thermal hydrolysis (LTHP and HTHP) were performed on mechanically dewatered high-solid sludges (at total solid of 14.2 wt% and 18.2 wt%) to evaluate the extent of organic solubilization through rheological measurements. The effects of treatment temperature and duration on organic solubilization and viscoelastic behavior of the sludge were comprehensively investigated. The results indicated that the organic solubilization contents including soluble chemical oxygen demand, soluble protein, and soluble polysaccharides increased logarithmically with the treatment time. Protein solubilized considerably faster than polysaccharides during thermal hydrolysis. The rheological curves exhibited the Payne effect in the litude sweep oscillation test. The elastic modulus in linear viscoelastic regime decreased logarithmically with treatment time. The viscoelastic behavior of sludge was well modeled by the Kaye-Bernstein-Kearsly-Zapas (KBKZ) model with paralleled Maxwell elements to describe the frequency dependence of elastic modulus and viscous modulus. With respect to the relaxation spectrum, the relaxation modulus first decreased with relaxation time and then increased. The relaxation modulus in each Maxwell element decreased with the treatment temperature and duration. Furthermore, in the HTHP, the influence of treatment temperature on enhancing organic solubilization and decreasing viscoelasticity exceeded the influence of treatment duration. In contrast, the treatment duration played a more important role than temperature in the LTHP. The content of organic matters was linearly related and logarithmically related to the elastic modulus in the LTHP and in the HTHP, respectively. The rheology analyses demonstrated that viscoelastic properties could be used as indicators to estimate the extent of organic matter solubilization in thermal hydrolysis process. The developed viscoelastic model provided insights for future research in numerically simulating the fluid dynamics of sludge.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2020
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.171037
Abstract: Submerged recirculating jet mixing systems are an efficient and economical method of agitating large tanks with a high hydraulic residence time. Much work has been carried out in developing design correlations to aid the predictions of the mixing time in such systems, with the first such correlation being developed nearly 70 years ago. In most of these correlations, the mixing time depends directly on the volume of the vessel and inversely on the injection velocity of the submerged jet. This work demonstrates, for the first time, that the distance between the injection and suction nozzles also significantly affects the mixing time and can be used to control this time scale. The study introduces a non-dimensional quantity that can be used as an adjustable parameter in systems where such control is desired.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.WASMAN.2017.10.003
Abstract: Food waste is gaining increasing attention worldwide due to growing concerns over its environmental and economic costs. Understanding the rheological behaviour of food waste is critical for effective processing so rheological measurements were carried out for different food waste compositions at 25, 35 and 45 °C. Food waste s les of various origins (carbohydrates, vegetables & fruits, and meat), anaerobically digested and diluted s les were used in this study. The results showed that food waste exhibits shear-thinning flow behaviour and viscosity of food waste is a function of temperature and composition. The composition of food waste affected the flow properties. Viscosity decreased at a given temperature as the proportion of carbohydrate increased. This may be due to the high water content of vegetable & fruits as the total solids fraction is likely to be a key controlling factor of the rheology. The Herschel-Bulkley model was used successfully to model food waste flow behaviour. Also, a higher strain was needed to break down the structure of the food waste as digestion time increased.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.BIORTECH.2013.04.114
Abstract: The main objective of this study was to investigate the rheology of mixed primary and secondary sludge and its dependency on solid content and temperature. Results of this study showed that the temperature and solid concentration are critical parameters affecting the mixed sludge rheology. It was found that the yield stress increases with an increase in the sludge solid content and decreases with increasing temperature. The rheological behaviour of sludges was modelled using the Herschel-Bulkley model. The results of the model showed a good agreement with experimental data. Depending on the total solid content, the average error varied between 3.25% and 6.22%.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2022.156907
Abstract: The formation of a floating scum layer on the liquid surface of covered anaerobic lagoons prevents optimal and efficient lagoon operation. Scum can reduce hydraulic retention time, inhibit biogas capture and cause damage to lagoon covers. Managing the negative impact of scum requires understanding what scum is, how it forms and how it consolidates. This paper presents measurements of the physical and mechanical properties of scum and sludge s les from two covered anaerobic lagoons that alternatively treat municipal and abattoir waste. Both scum s les consisted of a large proportion of suspended solids that sank once the s le was diluted, degassed and mixed, indicating that sludge flotation and buoyancy due to biogas generation is a major contributor to scum accumulation. Total and soluble chemical oxygen demand and volatile solids in the scum are approximately 90 % higher than in sludge, which indicates that scum has a large proportion of undigested solids. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrates that scum and sludge have similar organic matter, with both including fats, oils, greases, proteins, and polysaccharides. Scum formation due to gas buoyancy implies that scum accumulation is inevitable and controlling fats, oils, and greases at the source of the wastewater is not enough to stop scum formation. Scum accumulation increases due to buoyancy, which drives scum compaction and increases the strength of the scum, as demonstrated by the measurement of scum compressional rheology. Scum management techniques that disturb the scum layer early enough to release the entrapped gas enable the scum to sink and get digested, thus minimising the impact of scum formation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2011.08.035
Abstract: Producing biogas energy from the anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge is one of the most challenging tasks facing engineers, because they are dealing with vast quantities of fundamentally scientifically poorly understood and unpredictable materials while digesters need constant flow properties to operate efficiently. An accurate estimate of sludge rheological properties is required for the design and efficient operation of digestion, including mixing and pumping. In this paper, we have determined the rheological behaviour of digested sludge at different concentrations, and highlighted common features. At low shear stress, digested sludge behaves as a linear viscoelastic solid, but shear banding can occur and modify the apparent behaviour. At very high shear stress, the behaviour fits well to the Bingham model. Finally, we show that the rheological behaviour of digested sludge is qualitatively the same at different solids concentrations, and depends only on the yield stress and Bingham viscosity, both parameters being closely linked to the solids concentration.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-01-2017
DOI: 10.1002/AIC.15640
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2012
Publisher: Desalination Publications
Date: 2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2013.06.027
Abstract: The elastic rheological properties of sludge are complex and evolve with time as a result of ageing and microbial activity. Due to the peculiar nature of sludge, this makes the measurement of physical parameters difficul. The challenge is to identify a reference material that can be used as a proxy for industrial process design or optimization. In this study, respectively the mixtures of 0.5%, 0.7% and 1% glass beads suspension in water have been added to 0.5%, 0.7% and 1% carbopol dissolved in water and neutralized with NaOH to prepare gel, at different ratios. Elastic and loss moduli have been determined for different glass bead suspension ratios in the range of 0%-80%. The results showed that there is a critical glass bead suspension/carbopol ratio at which the elastic properties of the mixture changes dramatically. The elastic properties of these model mixtures of different glass bead/carbopol ratio suspensions are compared with the elastic property of municipal sludge s led from a Melbourne Waste Water Treatment Plant, and similarity established.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2019.03.039
Abstract: Rheological properties are important in the design and operation of sludge-handling process. Despite this, the rheology of sludge in thermal hydrolysis processes (TH) is not well described. In-situ measurements were performed to characterize the flow behaviour of various concentrations (7-13 wt%) of waste activated sludge (WAS) at TH conditions. Equations were presented for predicting in-situ rheological parameters (high-shear viscosity, η
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2022.118555
Abstract: Sedimentation in waste water is a heavily studied topic, but mainly focused on hindered and compression settling in secondary sludge, a largely monodispersed solids, where bulk sedimentation velocity is effectively described by functions such as double Vesilind (Takacs). However, many waste water solids, including primary sludge and anaerobic digester effluent are polydispersed, for which application of velocity functions is not well understood. These systems are also subject to large concentration gradients, and poor availability of settling velocity functions has limited design and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis of these units. In this work, we assess the use of various sedimentation functions in single and multi-dimensional domains, comparing model results against multiple batch settling tests at a range of high and low concentrations. Both solids concentration and sludge bed height (interface) over time are measured and compared. The method incorporates uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo regression, DIRECT ( iding rectangles), and Newton optimisation. It was identified that a double Vesilind (Takacs) model was most effective in the dilute regime ( 1%v/v) without a substantial (50%) decrease in effective maximum sedimentation velocity (V
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2016.05.045
Abstract: Predicting the flow behaviour, most notably, the apparent viscosity and yield stress of sludge mixtures inside the anaerobic digester is essential because it helps optimize the mixing system in digesters. This paper investigates the rheology of sludge mixtures as a function of digested sludge volume fraction. Sludge mixtures exhibited non-Newtonian, shear thinning, yield stress behaviour. The apparent viscosity and yield stress of sludge mixtures prepared at the same total solids concentration was influenced by the interactions within the digested sludge and increased with the volume fraction of digested sludge - highlighted using shear compliance and shear modulus of sludge mixtures. However, when a thickened primary - secondary sludge mixture was mixed with dilute digested sludge, the apparent viscosity and yield stress decreased with increasing the volume fraction of digested sludge. This was caused by the dilution effect leading to a reduction in the hydrodynamic and non-hydrodynamic interactions when dilute digested sludge was added. Correlations were developed to predict the apparent viscosity and yield stress of the mixtures as a function of the digested sludge volume fraction and total solids concentration of the mixtures. The parameters of correlations can be estimated using pH of sludge. The shear and complex modulus were also modelled and they followed an exponential relationship with increasing digested sludge volume fraction.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-01-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S00449-015-1530-4
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the mixing characteristics of a transparent sludge simulant in a mechanically agitated model digester using flow visualisation technique. Video images of the flow patterns were obtained by recording the progress of an acid-base reaction and analysed to determine the active and inactive volumes as a function of time. The doughnut-shaped inactive region formed above and below the impeller in low concentration simulant decreases in size with time and disappears finally. The 'cavern' shaped active mixing region formed around the impeller in simulant solutions with higher concentrations increases with increasing agitation time and reaches a steady state equilibrium size, which is a function of specific power input. These results indicate that the active volume is jointly determined by simulant rheology and specific power input. A mathematical correlation is proposed to estimate the active volume as a function of simulant concentration in terms of yield Reynolds number.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2013.07.001
Abstract: Sustainable sludge management is becoming a major issue for wastewater treatment plants due to increasing urban populations and tightening environmental regulations for conventional sludge disposal methods. To address this problem, a good understanding of sludge behaviour is vital to improve and optimize the current state of wastewater treatment operations. This paper provides a review of the recent experimental works in order for researchers to be able to develop a reliable characterization technique for measuring the important properties of sludge such as viscosity, yield stress, thixotropy, and viscoelasticity and to better understand the impact of solids concentrations, temperature, and water content on these properties. In this context, choosing the appropriate rheological model and rheometer is also important.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2010
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1252/JCEJ.17WE073
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.BIORTECH.2013.12.066
Abstract: With rapid world population growth and strict environmental regulations, increasingly large volumes of sludge are being produced in today's wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with limited disposal routes. Sludge treatment has become an essential process in WWTP, representing 50% of operational costs. Sludge destruction and resource recovery technologies are therefore of great ongoing interest. Hydrothermal processing uses unique characteristics of water at elevated temperatures and pressures to deconstruct organic and inorganic components of sludge. It can be broadly categorized into wet oxidation (oxidative) and thermal hydrolysis (non-oxidative). While wet air oxidation (WAO) can be used for the final sludge destruction and also potentially producing industrially useful by-products such as acetic acid, thermal hydrolysis (TH) is mainly used as a pre-treatment method to improve the efficiency of anaerobic digestion. This paper reviews current hydrothermal technologies, roles of wet air oxidation and thermal hydrolysis in sludge treatment, and challenges faced by these technologies.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2018.02.059
Abstract: Sludge pumps in wastewater treatment plants are often oversized due to uncertainty in calculation of pressure drop. This issue costs millions of dollars for industry to purchase and operate the oversized pumps. Besides costs, higher electricity consumption is associated with extra CO
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2017.09.206
Abstract: Appropriate sewage sludge rheological models are essential for computational fluid dynamic simulation of wastewater treatment processes, in particular aerobic and anaerobic digestions. The liquid-like behaviour of sludge is well documented but the solid-like behaviour remains poorly described despite its importance for dead-zone formation. In this study, classical Kelvin-Voigt model, commonly used for sludge in literature, were compared with fractional derivative Kelvin-Voigt model regarding their predictive ability for describing the solid-like behaviour. Results showed that the fractional Kelvin-Voigt model best fitted the experimental data obtained from creep and frequency sweep tests. Whereas, classical Kelvin-Voigt could not fit the frequency sweep data as this model is not a function of angular velocity. Also, the Kelvin-Voigt model was unable to predict the creep data at low stresses.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2017.02.039
Abstract: Gas injection is known to play a major role on the particle size of the sludge, the oxygen transfer rate, as well as the mixing efficiency of membrane bioreactors and aeration basins in the waste water treatment plants. The rheological characteristics of sludge are closely related to the particle size of the sludge floc. However, particle size of sludge floc depends partly on the shear induced in the sludge and partly on physico-chemical nature of the sludge. The objective of this work is to determine the impact of gas injection on both the apparent viscosity and viscoelastic property of sludge. The apparent viscosity of sludge was investigated by two methods: in-situ and after sparging. Viscosity curves obtained by in-situ measurement showed that the apparent viscosity decreases significantly from 4000 Pa s to 10 Pa s at low shear rate range (below 10 s
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.BIORTECH.2017.12.069
Abstract: This work aims to evaluate the impact of pH and initial organic load (IOL) in terms of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of landfill leachate for the production of value added products during single and two stage anaerobic digestion (AD). It was observed that at an optimal IOL of 48 g/L, acetic acid was dominant at pH 5.5 whereas it was butyric acid at pH of 5.5-6.0 and 10-11. The yield of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) was dependent on IOL and it was in the range of 0.26 to 0.36 g VFA/(g COD removed). Methane was also harvested during single and two stage AD and found that it was varying in the range of 0.21-0.34 L CH
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2017.02.031
Abstract: Hydrothermal processing plays a significant role in sewage sludge treatment. However, the rheological behaviour of sludge during these processes is not fully understood. A better understanding of the sludge rheology under hydrothermal processing conditions can help improve process efficiency. Moreover, sludge rheology is easier to measure than chemical analyses. If a relationship could be established, it provides a possibility of using rheological measurement as a basis for monitoring the performance of hydrothermal processing. The rheological changes in thickened waste activated sludge (7 wt%) was investigated using a pressure cell-equipped rheometer during 60-min thermal hydrolysis (TH) at various temperatures (80-145 °C) and constant pressure (5 bar). Changes in the soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured using a separate reactor with a similar operating condition. The sludge behaved as a shear-thinning fluid and could be described by the Herschel-Bulkley model. At constant temperature, the yield stress and high-shear (600 s
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1002/JEQ2.20439
Abstract: Arsenic (As) contamination is a widespread problem. Continued and concerted effort in exploring sustainable remediation strategies is required, with in situ immobilization emerging as a promising option. This work valorized a waste by‐product from olive ( Olea europaea L.) milling into functional hydrochar (HC). The HC was then transformed into iron oxide–encapsulated carbon with three different iron loading rates (10, 25, and 50% w/w of iron chloride hexahydrate added to the olive mill waste feedstock). The HC and the three iron oxide–encapsulated carbon materials were then tested in a pot trial using a 3% w/w application rate as a means to immobilize As in a mining‐contaminated soil (2,580 ± 110 mg kg −1 As). After a 45‐d incubation period, the effect of adding the amendments on As mobility and bioaccessibility compared with an untreated control was measured using a sequential extraction procedure and in vitro bioaccessibility, respectively. All four treatments resulted in a decrease in mobility and in vitro bioaccessibility as compared with the control. Specifically, As in the mobile phases was up to 35% less than the in control, whereas bioaccessibility was 21.8% in the control and ranged from 17.5 to 12.3% in the treatments. The efficiency of amendments to immobilize As increased with the iron content of the developed materials. This work positions HCs and iron oxide–encapsulated carbon materials produced from olive mill waste as promising options to immobilize As in situ.
Publisher: AIP Publishing
Date: 02-2010
DOI: 10.1063/1.3298930
Abstract: We describe the use of single-plane phase retrieval tomography using a laboratory-based x-ray source, under conditions where the retrieval is not formally valid, to present images of the internal structure of an Aerosil granule and a hydrated bentonite gel. The technique provides phase images for s les that interact weakly with the x-ray beam. As the method is less affected by noise than an alternative two-plane phase retrieval method that is otherwise formally valid, object structure can be observed that would not otherwise be seen. We demonstrate our results for phase imaging in tomographic measurements.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2018.11.049
Abstract: Mesophilic batch anaerobic digesters fed by different substrates were set up to identify the role of substrate rheology in anaerobic digestion performance while operating below the toxic level. Five substrates of different rheological behaviour but at the same amount of organic matters were prepared by addition of different amount of an inert material (0, 0.03, 0.07, 0.11, and 0.20 g) per g of waste activated sludge (WAS). To gain a comprehensive insight, the interactive relationship between substrate rheology, physico-chemical properties and biogas production as well as digestate dewaterability was investigated. The results proved that better access of microorganisms to organic matters improved the digester performance and led to 19.29% and 12.5% increase in biogas yield and VS removal efficiency, respectively. Moreover, the statistical analysis showed that consistency index and loss modulus of sludge could be employed as promising indications for biogas yield while yield stress could predict dewaterability of digestate as far as the other physico-chemical properties remained unchanged. During digestion measurement of consistency index and loss modulus of digestate could be performed as a reliable tool to monitor biogas production.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2016.03.002
Abstract: The legal banning of conventional sludge disposal methods such as landfill has led to a global movement towards achieving a sustainable sludge management strategy. Reusing sludge for energy production (biogas production) through the anaerobic digestion of sludge can provide a sustainable solution. However, for the optimum performance of digesters with minimal use of energy input, operating conditions must be regulated in accordance with the rheological characteristics of the sludge. If it is assumed that only secondary sludge enters the anaerobic digesters, an impact of variations to the solids concentration and volume fraction of each sludge type must be investigated to understand how the apparent viscosity and yield stress of the secondary and digested sludge mixture inside the digesters changes. In this study, five different total solids concentration of secondary and digested sludge were mixed at different digested sludge volume fractions ranging from 0 to 1. It was found that if secondary sludge was mixed with digested sludge at the same total solids concentration, the apparent viscosity and the yield stress of the mixture increased exponentially by increasing the volume fraction of digested sludge. However, if secondary sludge was added to digested sludge with a different solids concentration, the apparent viscosity and yield stress of the resulting mixed sludge was controlled by the concentrated sludge regardless of its type. Semi - empirical correlations were proposed to predict the apparent viscosity and yield stress of the mixed digested and secondary sludge. A master curve was also developed to predict the flow behaviour of sludge mixtures regardless of the total solid concentration and volume fraction of each sludge type within the studied solids concentration range of 1.4 and 7%TS. This model can be used for digesters optimization and design by predicting the rheology of sludge mixture inside digester.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2012.03.003
Abstract: Optimising flow processes in wastewater treatment plants requires that designers and operators take into account the flow properties of the sludge. Moreover, due to increasingly more stringent conditions on final disposal avenues such as landfill, composting, incineration etc., practitioners need to produce safer sludge in smaller quantities. Anaerobic digestion is a key treatment process for solids treatment and pathogen reduction. Due to the inherent opacity of sludge, it is impossible to visualise the mixing and flow patterns inside an anaerobic digester. Therefore, choosing an appropriate transparent model fluid which can mimic the rheological behaviour of sludge is imperative for visualisation of the hydrodynamic functioning of an anaerobic digester. Digested sludge is a complex material with time dependent non-Newtonian thixotropic characteristics. In steady state, it can be modelled by a basic power-law. However, for short-time processes the Herschel-Bulkley model can be used to model liquid-like properties. The objective of this study was to identify transparent model fluids which will mimic the behaviour of real sludge. A comparison of three model fluids, Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC), Carbopol gel and Laponite clay revealed that these fluids could each model certain aspects of sludge behaviour. It is concluded that the rheological behaviour of sludge can be modelled using CMC in steady state flow at high shear rates, Carbopol gel for short-time flow processes and Laponite clay suspension where time dependence is dominant.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2018.01.071
Abstract: Xanthan gum is widely used as a model fluid for sludge to mimic the rheological behaviour under various conditions including impact of gas injection in sludge. However, there is no study to show the influence of gas injection on rheological properties of xanthan gum specifically at the concentrations at which it is used as a model fluid for sludge with solids concentration above 2%. In this paper, the rheological properties of aqueous xanthan gum solutions at different concentrations were measured over a range of gas injection flow rates. The effect of gas injection on both the flow and viscoelastic behaviour of Xanthan gum (using two different methods - a creep test and a time sweep test) was evaluated. The viscosity curve of different solid concentrations of digested sludge and waste activated sludge were compared with different solid concentrations of Xanthan gum and the results showed that Xanthan gum can mimic the flow behaviour of sludge in flow regime. The results in linear viscoelastic regime showed that increasing gas flow rate increases storage modulus (G'), indicating an increase in the intermolecular associations within the material structure leading to an increase in material strength and solid behaviour. Similarly, in creep test an increase in the gas flow rate decreased strain%, signifying that the material has become more resistant to flow. Both observed behaviour is opposite to what occurs in sludge under similar conditions. The results of both the creep test and the time sweep test indicated that choosing Xanthan gum aqueous solution as a transparent model fluid for sludge in viscoelastic regime under similar conditions involving gas injection in a concentration range studied is not feasible. However Xanthan gum can be used as a model material for sludge in flow regime because it shows a similar behaviour to sludge.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 11-07-2016
Abstract: We report a simple method for on-demand continuous processing of composite liquid marbles with the aid of a 3D printed slide platform, which offers the potential for engineering novel functional surfaces for the production of combination drug therapies, particle-based barcode biomarkers and smart membranes, among other applications. Unlike other attempts at producing such liquid marbles, this novel technique not only facilitates controllable and reproducible production of the liquid marbles but also allows the selection of different morphologies such as banded, patchy, and Janus structures by controlling the coalescence conditions, with the possibility for tunable symmetric and asymmetric patterns, the latter by varying the particle species partitioning ratio.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-01-2017
DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2016.1270674
Abstract: In a wastewater treatment process, energy is mainly used in sludge handling and heating, while energy is recovered by biogas production in anaerobic digestion process. Thermal pre-treatment of sludge can change the energy balance in a wastewater treatment process since it reduces the viscosity and yield stress of sludge and increases the biogas production. In this study, a calculation based on a hypothetical wastewater treatment plant is provided to show the possibility of creating a net positive energy wastewater treatment plant as a result of implementing thermal pre-treatment process before the anaerobic digester. The calculations showed a great energy saving in pumping and mixing of the sludge by thermal pre-treatment of sludge before anaerobic digestion process.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2014.02.048
Abstract: This study investigated the partially irreversible effect of thermal treatment on the rheology of digested sludge when it was subjected to temperature change between 20 °C and 80 °C and then cooled down to 20 °C. The yield stress, infinite viscosity and liquor viscosity of sludge were measured at 20 °C for different thermal histories and were compared to the evolution of the solubilised chemical oxygen demand (COD) of sludge liquor. The results showed that thermal history irreversibly affects sludge rheology as the yield stress of sludge which was heated to 80 °C then cooled down to 20 °C was 68% lower than the initial yield stress at 20 °C. This decrease was due to the irreversible solubilisation of solid matter during heating as underlined by soluble COD data which did not reach its original level after thermal treatment. Measured soluble COD of sludge which was heated and cooled down was much higher than the soluble COD of initial sludge. We found a proportionality of the increase of soluble COD with the decrease of the yield stress as well as increase of infinite viscosity.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 27-09-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WASMAN.2022.10.008
Abstract: The waste receiving capacity of most municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill sites in India is exhausted, resulting in the formation of larger waste heaps. In the majority of Indian cities, these old waste heaps are prone to frequent smoldering and ignition resulting into fires. In this study, the potential risk of spontaneous ignition of landfilled waste at landfill surface was analyzed based on the physico-chemical characteristics of waste, carbon monoxide (CO) levels, landfill surface temperature (LST). The leachate pollution index was also determined to analyze the leachate quality for three different seasons (monsoon, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon). The regression analysis was carried out to understand the thermal properties (smoldering temperature, smoldering time, ignition temperature etc.) of MSW. The results showed that old waste has a higher tendency to undergo ignition compared to fresh waste. It has also been observed that the lower MC of old waste s les in the range of 3.4% and 18.2% is the most likely cause of early smoldering (106.6-109.5 °C) and ignition (198.6-208.4 °C) of old waste. In pre-monsoon season, CO concentrations for sub-surface (10-30 cm depth) smoldering events (SSE) were observed to be between ∼ 150 to 200 ppm. This CO level substantially dropped to 10 ± 1 ppm in the post-monsoon season. The estimation of the leachate pollution index (LPI) showed an index score of 27.35, 30.47 and 10.71 for pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. The determination of CO levels, increased LST and physico-chemical properties of landfilled waste will greatly assist in the abatement of environmental pollution arising from landfill fires.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2017
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 02-2012
DOI: 10.2166/WST.2012.893
Abstract: Globally, wastewater treatment plants are under pressure to handle high concentration sludge in a sludge treatment line. Unawareness of the non-Newtonian behaviour of the thickened sludge has the potential to cause unexpected problems when the fluid behaviour changes from turbulent to laminar flow. In this study, sludge apparent viscosity was plotted as a function of total suspended solids concentration (TSS) and shear rate. Then, the transition velocity based on several predictive models in the literature was determined. This analysis provides a practical basis for the prediction of the pipe flow behaviour of thickened sludge in troubleshooting and engineering design.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2016
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1039/C3NR00185G
Abstract: Controlled actuation of soft objects with functional surfaces in aqueous environments presents opportunities for liquid phase electronics, novel assembled super-structures and unusual mechanical properties. We show the extraordinary electrochemically induced actuation of liquid metal droplets coated with nanoparticles, so-called "liquid metal marbles". We demonstrate that nanoparticle coatings of these marbles offer an extra dimension for affecting the bipolar electrochemically induced actuation. The nanoparticles can readily migrate along the surface of liquid metals, upon the application of electric fields, altering the capacitive behaviour and surface tension in a highly asymmetric fashion. Surprising actuation behaviours are observed illustrating that nanoparticle coatings can have a strong effect on the movement of these marbles. This significant novel phenomenon, combined with unique properties of liquid metal marbles, represents an exciting platform for enabling erse applications that cannot be achieved using rigid metal beads.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.WASMAN.2018.01.006
Abstract: This paper investigates the five different gas emissions during the firing process of clay bricks and bricks incorporating biosolids. In this study, three different biosolids produced at the Western Treatment Plant and Eastern Treatment Plant, Melbourne, were used as an alternative raw material to the conventional brick soil to produce bricks. Three sets of bricks were manufactured incorporating 25% of biosolids by weight. Initially, three biosolids s les and brick soil were characterised by their chemical and mineral compositions, organic content and particle size distribution. Brick s les were fired in a tube furnace at a temperature of 1050 °C for three hours. Five different gas emissions - SO
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-08-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-11-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2016.08.054
Abstract: The extensive amount of available information on global warming suggests that this issue has become prevalent worldwide. Majority of countries have issued laws and policies in response to this concern by requiring their industrial sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2. Thus, introducing new and more effective treatment methods, such as biological techniques, is crucial to control the emission of greenhouse gases. Many studies have demonstrated CO2 fixation using photo-bioreactors and raceway ponds, but a comprehensive review is yet to be published on biological CO2 fixation. A comprehensive review of CO2 fixation through biological process is presented in this paper as biological processes are ideal to control both organic and inorganic pollutants. This process can also cover the classification of methods, functional mechanisms, designs, and their operational parameters, which are crucial for efficient CO2 fixation. This review also suggests the bio-trickling filter process as an appropriate approach in CO2 fixation to assist in creating a pollution-free environment. Finally, this paper introduces optimum designs, growth rate models, and CO2 fixation of microalgae, functions, and operations in biological CO2 fixation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Start Date: 04-2013
End Date: 03-2016
Amount: $250,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 08-2020
End Date: 07-2024
Amount: $431,842.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 04-2018
End Date: 03-2022
Amount: $315,379.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 08-2020
End Date: 07-2025
Amount: $3,852,568.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity