Simultaneous enhancement of sludge dewaterability and removal of sludge-borne heavy metals through a novel oxidative leaching induced by nano-CaO.

The production of sewage sludge with the presence of various contaminants has been a serious issue for the operation of wastewater treatment plants on both the economical and environmental sides. To minimize the sludge volume to be handled and limit the potential environmental risk, this study developed a novel oxidative leaching process for enhanced sewage sludge dewatering and simultaneous removal of heavy metals based on nano-CaO. Response surface methodology determined the following optimal conditioning parameters in terms of capillary suction time reduction: 0.0906 g/g dry solid (DS) nano-CaO, 0.9969 mmol/g DS Fe, and pH of 5.59. The speciation partitioning analysis of the heavy metals pre and post nano-CaO peroxidation indicated that the content of organically bound metals decreased and the percentage of soluble fraction increased substantially, which was beneficial for the removal of heavy metals through the dewatering unit. Nano-CaO peroxidation could also induce the transformation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from the tightly bound layers to the loosely bound layers of sewage sludge flocs. Through the decline of the Ryan-Weber constant of fluorescence titration and the pseudo-first-order kinetic constant of complexation, it was verified that the binding capacity of EPS with metal ions could be damaged by nano-CaO peroxidation, which was the primary mechanism behind the substantial reduction of organically bound metals. This study is believed to provide novel insights into the application of nanotechnology in terms of the simultaneous volume and toxicity reduction of sewage sludge. Graphical abstract.