The Belt Thickener is intended for mechanical dewatering of wastewater, as well as water conditioning and purification of sludge and industrial slimes. The thickeners can also be used in a first-stage dewatering role, together with filter presses for filter press productivity improvement with initial sludge. The thickeners are intended for use in wastewater sludge with a pH of 6.0 – 9.0.
Description of the Esmil Belt Thikener
The thickener is manufactured from stainless steel AISI 304.
The thickener features a strained, endless sieve belt with an installed ripper system on it. The flushing unit, sludge feeder and distributor and the filter cake removal device are provided with the filter press.
In the “Comby” version, the thickener is installed onto the frame of the filter press: thickened sludge removal is carried out onto the filter press belt for further dewatering.
Operating principle of Belt Thikener
The thickener operates in continuous mode.
The sludge/flocculent mixture is fed to the moving top sieve belt and distributed all over its operating length. In the movement, the sludge layer is constantly mixed by the ripper system for water outflow improvement. The water drains via gravity feed. The dewatered filter cake is then removed from the belt by polymeric scrapers into the receiving bin. The thickener is flushed by water under pressure in the flushing zone after the filter cake removal.
After dewatering in the thickener, the sludge moisture can be reduced from 98-99% to 90-96% – i.e. decrease of sludge volume of 3-10 times occurs.
Advantages of Esmil Belt Thikener
- high efficiency of sludge thickening due to a special system of rippers
- high corrosion prevention – the case is manufactured from stainless steel AISI 304 and the load-bearing shafts of carbon structural steel that is protected by polymeric covering
- automated control system of the belt and its protection against displacement
Automation of Belt Thikener
The filter presses are provided with drives, belt position-, speed- and tension control system sensors and an air pressure loss protection system. It allows complete automation of the dewatering units on the basis of filter presses to implement.
All electric sensors and drives have a high level of protection against moisture and ambient air corrosive action.
An indication system of normal operation and emergencies is provided.
It is possible to transfer equipment status data to a higher-level automated process control system depending on the client’s requirements.