Every year in Australia, millions of tonnes of municipal and industrial sludge are dewatered at wastewater treatment plants.
This results in the production of about 1.65 million tonnes of dewatered sludge, most of which is trucked off site for re-use in agriculture, composting or disposal via other means.
Dewatering takes place via a variety of methods with the most commonly used being:
- Centrifuges (39 per cent)
- Belt filter presses (24 per cent)
- Drying beds (23 per cent)
However, screw presses are now taking over when it comes to dewatering, according to James Hall, Director of Sales at Hydroflux
“The use of screw presses is being driven by changes in our economy, and concerns over the environment and sustainability, as well as a need to improve the efficiency and reduce operating costs,” Mr Hall said.
“The new generation of Huber Q Press is able to achieve similar results to centrifuges at a fraction of the operating and maintenance cost. On top of that, it achieves a sludge volume reduction up to 97 per cent in a single step.
“If you add to these changes the challenges of odour generation, either around the dewatering process or in the dewatered sludge, noise and other environmental concerns, then the reason for the move away from belt filter presses and centrifuges, and towards screw presses becomes more obvious.
“This, together with major advances in screw press technology in the last 10 years – which have enabled screw presses to not only successfully dewater waste activated sludge but also more difficult industrial sludges – means that screw presses are here to stay.”
This partner content is brought to you by Hydroflux. For more information, visit https://www.hydrofluxindustrial.com.au/product-item/screw-presses/.
