Facing ever-increasing disposal costs, many plant operators seek ways to further reduce their dewatered sludge cake. But equipment like thermal dryers can be costly and inefficient. What other option do operators have? 

The Electro-Osmosis Dehydrator

The Electro-Osmosis Dehydrator (ELODE) might be the best option for a lot of plants. In just three minutes, ELODE dehydrates and reduces cake weight by more than 60%. It’s a compact machine that complements and easily retrofits in line with existing mechanical dewatering equipment like presses (belt, screw, etc.) and centrifuges. 

“Imagine reducing your sludge disposal costs while improving your sludge cake’s landfill acceptance because of its new weight, volume, dryness and compressibility,” an ELODE spokesperson says. “One way is to purchase a costly thermal dryer and boil all the water away using a lot of heat, but a better method could be to use this new dehydrator.”  

ELODE can efficiently reduce cake weight at a lower expense and equipment cost, without using any additional chemicals, polymers, heat or mechanical force. 

No heat energy

This dryer does not use thermal heat energy to pull water away from your sludge cake. Instead, it leverages electrical polarity differences in sludge cake to essentially “shock” and separate the water from the solids. It is so efficient that the sludge cake never gets too hot to touch, according to the spokesperson. With over 100 tests completed, the company confirms that ELODE works with 95% of municipal wastewater treatment plant sludge cakes. 

“Discover all the benefits of ELODE, turning out 15% dry solids cake to 40%, or your 20% dry solids cake to 45% almost instantly,” says the spokesperson. “Ask to see how much your sludge cake could be reduced. It could be far easier than you might think.”