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Research Progress on the Utilization of Energy Substances in Sludge...
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Research Progress on the Utilization of Energy Substances in Sludge from Urban Sewage Treatment Plants

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2025) | Viewed by 1611

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mawuli Dzakpasu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China
Interests: sustainable water management; alternative water resources technologies; environmental systems analysis; water resources and quality forecasting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yaqian Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China
2. School of Civil Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Interests: constructed wetland; wastewater treatment; emerging pollutants, adsorption
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasing urbanization and industrialization have led to the generation of vast amounts of sewage sludge, posing significant environmental and management challenges. This Special Issue, "Research Progress on the Utilization of Energy Substances in Sludge from Urban Sewage Treatment," aims to explore innovative and sustainable approaches to harness the energy potential within sewage sludge. With advancements in technologies such as anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and gasification, sewage sludge can be transformed into valuable energy resources like biogas, bio-oil, and syngas. These processes not only mitigate the environmental burden associated with sludge disposal but also contribute to renewable energy production and resource recovery. This Special Issue will cover cutting-edge research on the characterization of energy substances in sludge, the optimization of energy recovery processes, and the integration of these technologies into existing urban sewage treatment frameworks. By addressing both technological and environmental aspects, this collection of articles aspires to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state and future prospects of energy utilization in sewage sludge, fostering a circular economy approach in urban waste management.

Dr. Mawuli Dzakpasu
Prof. Dr. Yaqian Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sewage sludge
  • energy recovery
  • anaerobic digestion
  • pyrolysis
  • gasification
  • biogas production
  • urban waste management
  • bio-oil
  • syngas
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 4842 KB  
Article
Applying Mechanical Sludge Dewatering with Wood Chips to Foster Sustainability in Wastewater Treatment Plants
by Alaa Rabea, Ibrahim El Kersh, Dimitrios E. Alexakis, Mohamed A. Salem, Khaled A. Abd El-Rahem, Moustafa Gamal Snousy and Abeer El Shahawy
Water 2026, 18(3), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18030360 - 30 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1092
Abstract
The rising volume of sludge production poses significant environmental threats. Sludge has a high moisture content (MC), which increases its disposal and transport expenses. On the other hand, sludge has low dewaterability due to its high concentration of soluble organic compounds. To reduce [...] Read more.
The rising volume of sludge production poses significant environmental threats. Sludge has a high moisture content (MC), which increases its disposal and transport expenses. On the other hand, sludge has low dewaterability due to its high concentration of soluble organic compounds. To reduce sludge production, understanding and improving preconditioning and mechanical dewatering are crucial for breakthroughs in advanced sludge dewatering. The sludge samples used in this analysis were obtained from the Sarabium municipal wastewater treatment plant, with a moisture content of 97% and a specific filtration resistance (SRF) of 9.15463 × 1015 m/kg. Sludge dewatering was enhanced by treating the samples chemically with ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate, Moringa olifera, and cationic polyacrylamide CPAM and physically with wood chips, slag, rice husk, and wheat straw. The experiments examined the sludge’s initial characterization (specific resistance to filtration (SRF) and time to filtrate (TTF)). To verify the structural characteristics (density), elemental composition, and the presence of various functional groups, a characterization investigation was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that chemical conditioning with ferric chloride is better than aluminum sulfate and Moringa. Wood chips also provide better results for physical conditioning than rice husk, wheat straw, and slag. The reaction occurred at the carbonyl group, where FTIR showed more activated sites during SEM analysis, as evidenced by the FTIR results. Still, when CPAM was added to conditioned sludge, there was no difference in sludge dewatering performance, and the activated sites remained unchanged. Hence, this research found that mechanical sludge dewatering was improved by conditioning with ferric chloride (pH of 6 and dose of 0.12 g/g of dry solid) and wood chips (dose of 1.5 g/g of dry solid), which reduced sludge volume after dewatering by 82.5% under low pressure, which in turn minimizes transportation, energy, and handling costs. This study supports SDG 3 and SDG 6 by improving sludge dewatering efficiency and promoting sustainable wastewater management using natural wood chips. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress on the Utilization of Energy Substances in Sludge from Urban Sewage Treatment Plants)
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