DREDGING AEROBIC DIGESTED BIOSOLIDS INTO GEOTEXTILE TUBES FOR DEWATERING, NEW ORLEANS EAST MUNICIPAL SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT, NEW ORLEANS, LA

摘要

An innovative and economical method for dewatering digested biosolids, dredged material sediments, and industrial solid wastes, fly ash, coal slurry, has been developed using permeable high strength woven geotextile fabrics sewn to form large Geotextile Tubes for gravity dewatering and consolidation of fine grained solids. This technology has been successfully demonstrated at the Waste Water Treatment Plant and Culkin Water Treatment Plant at Vicksburg, MS dewatering sewage and alum sludge and further demonstrated with paper mill waste at Champion Paper, Decatur, AL, and dairy and hog waste at Clemson University, SC and the University of Georgia, GA. This technology has reduced the amount of pore water in the solids thus reducing weight, hauling cost and tipping fee costs at landfills. This method also reduces the storage capacity volume of proposed landfills and/or incineration cost. This paper describes the dredging methods and use of polymers to improve the sedimentation and consolidation time, cost effectiveness and improved storage capacity of the Geotextile Tubes at the New Orleans East Sewage Treatment Plant for period of about three years. The use of Geotextile Tubes and polymers has been successfully demonstrated to be competitive with other forms of dewatering techniques such as centrifuges, belt and plate presses. The dredging, containment and dewatering process was successful in removing accumulated sediments from thirty two aerobic digester chambers, therefore increasing the treatment plant efficiency.