Enhanced Sludge Dewatering with Improved Odor Control

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the state-of-the-art in dewatering of industrial and municipal sludges in general and oily sludges in particular. The project will evaluate the use of nanoparticle materials to reduce polymer use and odor potential, increase cake solids, and reduce dewatering costs for oil refinery sludge. The project will use nanoscale materials with different architectures and surface characteristics to address dewatering of oily sludges. The final task in the project, developing plans for a field study with a practical dewatering technology, will be key for proceeding to commercialization. The broader/commercial impacts of the proposed project will be the development of a new class of dewatering aids for oily refinery sludge. The result will be improved efficiency and better odor control for industrial oily sludges. In addition, dewatering using nanoscale additives has the potential to increase the percent solids in the dewatering cake, leading to a lower carbon footprint through lower vehicle emissions.