Electrokinetic Remediation for Environmental Security and Sustainability

25Recent Progress on Pressure‐Driven Electro‐Dewatering (PED) of Contaminated Sludge

Bimastyaji Surya Ramadan, Amelinda Dhiya Farhah, Mochtar Hadiwidodo, and Mochamad Arief Budihardjo

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia

25.1 Introduction

In a sludge treatment process, sludge drying is a crucial stage that needs correct practical consideration [1]. This stage is the critical point of sludge treatment since the dried sludge will be burned for further processing or sent to hazardous treatment facilities. Therefore, effective drying is a must for efficient operational costs and energy consumption [2]. Conventionally, sludge drying can be done using freeze‐thaw, centrifugal force, filter‐press, or direct drying under the sun [3]. This process is not easy to handle because sludge has fine, colloidal‐like, and gel‐like particles [1, 4]. To overcome the limitations in the conventional sludge drying process, technologies such as water mineralization in sludge and peroxidation make it possible to reduce the excess water content [5]. Thus, sludge‐dewatering processes, such as mechanical pressure systems [1, 6–8] and filtration [9–11], are commonly used in practical applications. However, when the sludge is saturated after pressure, its colloidal and compressive nature inhibits and slows the drying process [12].

An electro‐dewatering (EDW) system is a cost‐effective method compared to other conventional sludge ...