Aerobic stabilisation criteria for BNR biosolids

A research program was undertaken to establish the stability of waste activated sludge generated from several activated sludge treatment plants, both nutrient removal and conventional, and determine what further treatment is required to produce a substantially stabilised (ie. non-odorous) sludge. It has been previously thought that waste activated sludge from extended aeration plants (sludge age of approximately 25 days) was sufficiently stabilised to permit dewatering and stockpiling without odour generation. However, experience at a number of treatment plants with large unaerated mass fractions for biological removal of nitrogen and phosphorus has demonstrated that these sludges are generally odorous. With the increasing requirement for on-site storage of sludge to remove pathogens prior to sludge re-use, odour generation from secondary sludges has the potential to pose significant environmental problems for many treatment plants. The objective of the research program was to quantify the degree of stabilisation achieved in various activated sludge treatment plants, what additional aerobic treatment is required to achieve a stabilised sludge and what are the readily identified characteristics of a stabilised sludge, including volatile solids content, specific oxygen uptake rate and pathogen destruction. The phosphorus leaching characteristics were also compared between various sludges and between continuous and intermittent aerobic digestion processes.