Ternary consolidation stage in consolidation dewatering of sludges

This work investigates the constant-pressure consolidation characteristics of three different sludge samples, with particular emphasis on the ternary consolida. The Terzaghi-Voigt rheological model modified by Chang and Lee (1998) is also applied to interpret the data and, in doing so, to evaluate the model parameters. Experimental results indicate that the ternary consolidation stage commonly found in sludge contains a large amount of bound water. In addition, consolidation pressure and polymer conditioning markedly affects the moisture distribution. Results obtained from conventional analysis are also compared with those of the modified model.