[Fractal structure and physicochemical characteristics analysis of aerobic sludge floc in A2/O process]

Image analysis method, free settling test were performed to determine the morphology, particle size distribution, free setting velocity, effective density, porosity and fractal dimensions in different topological spaces of aerobic sludge flocs in A2/O process. Then the physicochemical indices, corresponding to the sludge properties such as: settleability, compressibility, dewaterability and stability, were measured. Besides these, the extra-cellular polymeric substances (EPS) were extracted from sludge and classified as different components. The results showed that the sludge floc with irregular morphology was high porous. The effective densities of these sludge flocs generally increased with the increase of their size, but the porosities within the flocs and their free settling velocities decreased accordingly. The median diameters of the sludge flocs at two different sampling times were 248.81 microm, 332.86 microm, respectively. Their corresponding average effective densities were 0.0040, 0.0072 g x cm(-3), and average free settling velocities were 2.67 mm x s(-1), 4.79 mm x s(-1), and giving the average porosities of0.94, 0.89. The dimensional analysis methods, based on power law correlations between floc perimeter, projected area and maximum length, were used to determine the one- and two-dimensional fractal dimensions (D1 and D2 ) of sludge flocs, giving D1 = 1.03 or 1.19, D2 = 1.64 or 1.84. The mass fractal dimensions (D(f)) of these sludge flocs were determined by the bi-logarithm relations of effective density (based on Logan empirical equation)-maximum diameter which equaled to 1.74 or 2.29. The above results demonstrated that the second sample of sludge flocs was larger and more compact, but smoother than the first sample. Moreover, the results also showed that the sludge flocs in A2/O process with high flocculating ability or high negative surface charge had high values of sludge volume index (SVI) and zone setting velocity (ZSV), and low values of fractal dimensions in 2-D or 3-D spaces of sludge flocs correlated to high shear sensitivity and low floc strength, indicating low sludge stability. The high quantity of extra-cellular substances (EPS) in the sludge was related to poor dewaterability. As same as the conclusion of literature, the protein component in EPS could improve the negative surface charge of sludge flocs.