Sludge Dewatering in Poultry Slaughterhouses – a Screw Press Case Study

Background

With ever increasing sludge disposal costs and tightened restrictions on spreading sludge on land (particularly over the summer months), HUBER were approached to provide dewatering of the sludge on three poultry slaughterhouses. The sites had identified the potential for savings and wanted to evaluate treatment options. Since the three sites operate similar processes, a single trial was conducted to evaluate the screw press performance.

HUBER were able to offer an on-site trial using a containerised HUBER Screw Press S-PRESS unit, which was operated by site over the course of a month. This allowed the sites to confidently assess not only the performance of the machine but the ease of operation and minimal amount of time required from site operatives. Following the trial, the client was issued with a detailed report, so that they could evaluate both capital and operating costs.
 

Solution

Although the Screw Press and polymer batching plant supplied to each site was the same, each site had slightly different considerations for installation of the Screw Press on their site, including:

• Area available and layout of existing treatment plant, including location of sludge holding tank
• Size of skip/trailer to be used for cake disposalExisting buildings/structures

HUBER have experience of operating Screw Presses mounted in containers, inside buildings, and on top of gantries with cake either dropping into a skip directly or using a screw conveyor to transport & distribute the cake across a long trailer. The customers were able to draw upon this knowledge to ensure that each installation was as practical as possible and cost effective, while being the right decision for that particular site.
 

HUBER provided the full equipment scope for the client to incorporate into their installation, including:

• HUBER Screw Press S-PRESS I sludge dewatering screw press
• Automated polymer batching plant to flocculate the sludge
• Feed sludge and chemical dosing pumps
• In-line polymer injection and sludge mixingto mix sludge and polymer within an enclosed, small footprint
• Pre-programmed control panel to automate operation of the plant
   

As a result of the three installations, the clients are have been able to significantly reduce their sludge disposal costs. In addition, vehicle movements are minimised, since the water removed from the sludge now goes to drain (after being processed by the on-site ETPs) rather than being transported away by costly road tankers.
  

Key figures:

• Sludge @ 3.3% DS
• Dewatered Cake @ 23% DS
• Polymer usage 10 kg/tDS

  
For more information please contact +44 1249765000, email rotamat@huber.co.uk