Title: Effect of synthetic cationic surfactants on dewaterability and settleability of activated sludge

Authors: Jiajun Fu, Bo Jiang, Weimin Cai

Addresses: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, PR China. ' School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, PR China. ' School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, PR China

Abstract: Dimeric cationic surfactants with different lengths of carbon chains were synthesised, and then these surfactants were added to the activated sludge samples to evaluate the dewaterability and settleability. The adsorbability of cationic surfactants on activated sludge was also studied. By comparing the dewatering performances of different cationic surfactants, the effect mechanisms of cationic surfactant are elucidated. The dimeric cationic surfactants can not significantly improve the filtration performance of activated sludge, however, they can apparently decrease the moisture content in filtration cake and bound water content.

Keywords: dimeric cationic surfactants; sludge dewatering; dewaterability; activated sludge; settleability; adsorbability; EPS; extracellular polymeric substances; synthetic cationic surfactants; filtration performance; moisture content; waste sludge treatment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2009.024475

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2009 Vol.37 No.1, pp.113 - 131

Published online: 06 Apr 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article