Effect of Orifice Induced Hydrodynamic Cavitation on the Properties of Waste Activated Sludge

Exploring alternative methods to reduce the quantity of wastewater sludge and improve its characteristics is among the prioritized subjects in the field of sludge management. Hydrodynamic cavitation, commonly employed for water and wastewater treatment, also holds the potential for utilization as a pre-treatment method for sludge. In the presented study, the excess sludge obtained from the wastewater treatment facility of a food and beverage manufacturing factory was collected and disintegrated with a orifice-induced hydrodynamic cavitation unit. According to the data obtained, the highest cavitation performance was achieved under the condition where the cavitation number was set to 0.3. In addition, hydrodynamic cavitation performed under the optimum operating conditions, significantly increased the solubility of waste activated sludge. The results showed that the soluble chemical oxygen demand concentration, which was initially determined as 382 mg/l, reached 3,068 mg/l end of the cavitation. 64% of the total Kjeldahl nitrogen and 60% of the total phosphorus of waste-activated sludge were converted into soluble forms by the effects of hydrodynamic cavitation. Moreover, the results of the microbial study indicated that removal rates of indicator bacteria varied between 94% and 99%.