INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES USING PROVEN THERMOPHILIC AEROBIC TECHNOLOGY FOR ECONOMICALLY MINIMIZING SLUDGE PRODUCTION FOR INDUSTRIAL WASTE TREATMENT SYSTEMS

Thermophilic aerobic treatment systems offer unique advantages for treatment of high strength organic waste streams and slurries/sludges. These systems combine the best features of conventional aerobic and anaerobic processes that include rapid biodegradation kinetics and low biological solids production, respectively. There are different proven strategies for implementing thermophilic biological treatment systems for minimizing and/or eliminating organic liquids and solids in industrial waste treatment systems. These strategies include:Utilizing thermophilic biological systems to treat high strength organic streams at the source to minimize production of organic sludge that would otherwise occur with mesophilic aerobic systemsUtilizing thermophilic biological systems to treat organic sludge streams directlyUtilizing thermophilic biological systems to treat selected high strength organic streams to off-load existing biological treatment systems and to treat excess biological sludge generated by the existing mesophilic systemThese strategies are further enhanced by utilizing systems that combine thermophilic aerobic processes with an integral chemical treatment step that provides an added boost for facilitating destruction of particulate organics. Application of these processes can result in substantial economic benefit by reducing residuals processing and disposal costs. Included in the paper is a discussion of different industrial case histories that are examples of the various implementation strategies to achieve sludge reduction.