Investigation of the Kinetics of the Drying Process of Composite Pellets on a Convective Drying Stand

In Ukraine, the problem of processing and utilization of sludge deposits that are formed during the treatment pro-cess at wastewater treatment plants is relevant. Unprocessed sewage sludge merges into overcrowded sludge sites every year, which leads to a deterioration of the environment and living conditions in Ukraine. Therefore, the aim of the work was to study the processing of sludge, the creation of pellets based on their composition with peat and biomass and their drying. The article presents the studies of drying kinetics of composite pellets based on peat, obsolete sludge and biomass on an experimental convective drying stand. The influence of the proportions of the components of the composition on the drying time was determined and the ratio at which the drying time of the pellets is shorter and the pellets are of better quality was selected. A comparison of the drying time of the sludge-peat composition and its components was performed, which shows that during the drying of the composite pellets, the intensification of the drying process is observed. The study related to the effect of the diameter of the pellets on the duration of drying showed that the duration of drying increases along with diameter. The presented comparison of drying kinetics of two-and three-component pellets shows the same nature of the drying curves and the drying time is in the range of 17-18 minutes. The optimal ratio of components for quality granulation was selected. The effective drying regimes of composite pellets based on silt deposits, peat and biomass were determined.