Classification and Effects of Sludge Disintegration Technologies Integrated Into Sludge Handling Units: An Overview

The sludge disintegration technologies integrated into sludge handling units are pretreatment processes that reduce the sludge mass or to improve the sludge characteristics. The sludge disintegration technologies developed to reduce excess sludge are classified as mechanical disintegration, thermal disintegration, chemical or thermo-chemical disintegration, and biological disintegration. The integration of lab/pilot/full-scale applications of these technologies into sludge handling units have been shown to significantly minimize sludge. The sludge disintegration technologies are considered to be environmentally safe because these technologies produce no environmentally harmful additional waste. Therefore, sludge minimization has received steadily increasing attention in the last few decades. Here, an overview is presented of the most widely known sludge disintegration technologies that can be integrated into sludge handling units for sludge minimization. The latest applications of sludge disintegration technologies that have been reported in the literature are comprehensively evaluated in terms of sludge solubilization, dewaterability, pathogen removal, and sludge digestibility.