Optimization of Micro Processes in Fine Particle Agglomeration by Pelleting Flocculation

Effective management of waste sludges and slurries produced from many industrial processes such as water and wastewater treatment, mineral processing, food processing etc. is very important from an environmental and economic perspective. Improvement in sludge processing can serve as a tool for improving the environmental quality, as well as natural resource conservation through water re-use, nutrient recycling and biomass utilization. Nowadays, a large proportion of sludge management cost goes into the solid-liquid separation and dewatering prior to eventual disposal or utilization.

Solid-liquid separation is an important unit operation either upstream or downstream of the aforementioned processes and it involves the aggregation or agglomeration of particles in suspension or slurries using a variety of techniques. Despite advances in colloidal science, progress in process engineering with respect to equipment design and development for residuals management has only been incremental but not revolutionary.

This book intends to contribute to scholarly discourse by providing fundamental and theoretical background of the above-subject matter and as well as an overview of recent advances especially in the ancillary fields of colloidal science, water chemistry, hydrodynamics and micro-process engineering. It will also build on previous studies on turbulence-induced flocculation and its application to solid-liquid separation as it has been reported as one of the most promising solid-liquid separation techniques by reporting results of bench-scale testing of a patented pre-treatment device.

Finally, the book will set the stage for future research in this field by discussing scale-up options and potentials for industrial applications.