Dewatering: Centrifuge, Belt Press and Screw Press

What you will learn

Taught by Brad Musick. 11 modules. Worked examples use a fictional 8.0 MGD design plant.

1. What dewatering does (10 min)Turning dilute sludge into a handleable cake, separating solids from liquid, controlling polymer cost and protecting downstream processes.
2. A worked design example (15 min)An 8.0 MGD plant with two decanter centrifuges, its rated capacity, typical feed, cake solids and capture targets.
3. Comparing the main technologies (20 min)Decanter centrifuge, belt filter press, screw press, plate-and-frame filter press and rotary drum thickener: how each works and what each is good at.
4. Decanter centrifuge: functional sequence (15 min)Feed, separation by G-force, conveying by the scroll, clarifying and control.
5. Belt filter press: functional sequence (15 min)Conditioning, the gravity zone, the wedge zone and the pressure zone.
6. Screw press: functional sequence (15 min)Feed and floc, conveying, compressing, filtrate and discharge.
7. Thickening and filter press: functional sequence (15 min)The rotary drum thickener (polymer conditioning, drum tumbling, filtrate through the screen, wash sprays) and the plate-and-frame press (fill, squeeze and hold, core blow, open and drop the cake, and why you never open it under pressure).
8. Polymer math (20 min)Dry solids, active polymer, neat emulsion, volume and hourly feed, worked from design day numbers.
9. Key operating levers (15 min)Polymer dose and mix, feed rate, differential speed and torque, and what each does to cake and capture.
10. Troubleshooting (15 min)Centrifuge symptoms (wet cake, dirty centrate, high torque and vibration), and belt press and screw press problems such as tracking and blinded belts or screens.
11. Safety, housekeeping and tools (10 min)Lockout and tagout, noise, slick floors and chemicals, plus a plant configuration sheet, polymer dose and capture and cake calculators and a daily dewatering log.

See how it works