Effect of electric field strength on electro-dewatering efficiency for river sediments by horizontal electric field.

A series of electro-dewatering experiments were conducted to explore the effect of sediment cake thickness (1-5 cm) and electric field strength (2-50 V cm). The final dry solids content, energy consumption and dewatering productivity were modeled and the validity of the model was tested. It was demonstrated that the electric field strength determines final dry solids content and the power utilization is an exponential function of electric field strength. It was also found that a relatively low electric field strength (<10 V cm) significantly decreased energy consumption while maintaining an acceptable dry solids content. These findings are beneficial to practical applications of electro-dewatering.