Otimização da operação de decantadores secundários.

Abstract

An experimental investigation was carried out with the aim to optimize the final settlers at CETREL. The investigation was comprised of a practical part that resulted in a more adequate operational strategy and a theoretical part that led to the development of a graphical method to evaluate of a settler is overloaded and, i f so, how of the operational variables must be changed in order to eliminate the overload. It was established that along with the sludge settleability, the values of the sludge concentration, the overflow rate and the sludge recirculation factor are parameters that influence the applicable hydraulic and solids loading rates. In addition to these parameters there are physical limits that impose maximum and minimum values for the operational variables and thus determine the validity range of the developed model. These limits depend on the constructive form and setting of the settles and hence need to be determined in each case.