Effect of biodegradation on the consolidation properties of a dewatered municipal sewage sludge

The effect of biodegradation on the consolidation characteristics of an anaerobically digested, dewatered municipal sewage sludge was studied. Maintained-load oedometer consolidation tests that included measurement of the pore fluid pressure response were conducted on moderately degraded sludge material and saturated bulk samples that had been stored under static conditions and allowed to anaerobically biodegrade further (simulating what would happen in an actual sewage sludge monofill or lagoon condition). Strongly degraded sludge material was produced after a storage period of 13 years at ambient temperatures of 5–15 °C, with the total volatile solids reducing from initially 70% to 55%. The sludge materials were highly compressible, although impermeable for practical purposes. Primary consolidation generally occurred very slowly, which was attributed to the microstructure of the solid phase, the composition and viscosity of the pore fluid, ongoing biodegradation and the high organic contents. The coefficient of primary consolidation values decreased from initially about 0.35 m2/yr to 0.003–0.03 m2/yr with increasing effective stress ( ). Initially, the strongly degraded sludge material was slightly more permeable, although both the moderately and strongly degraded materials became impermeable for practical purposes (k = 10−9–10−12 m/s) below about 650% and 450% water contents, respectively. Secondary compression became more dominant with increasing effective stress with a mean secondary compression index (Cαe) value of 0.9 measured for both the moderately and strongly degraded materials.