Using boiling for treating waste activated sludge

In this work we investigated the feasibility of using short time, low superheat boiling to treat biological sludge. The treated sludge exhibited reduced filterability and enhanced settleability. The boiling treatment released a large amount of extra-cellular polymers (ECPs) from the solid phase and reduced the microbial density levels of the total coliform bacteria and the heterotrophic bacteria. A diluted sludge is preferable for its high degree of organic hydrolysis and sufficient reduction in microbial density levels.