Selection of hydrothermal pre-treatment conditions of waste sludge destruction using multicriteria decision-making

The effectiveness of hydrothermal treatment for the destruction of the organic content of sludge waste was investigated. The sludge sampled in this study contained approximately 2% solids. The experimental program consisted of hydrothermal treatment experiments conducted in a batch reactor at temperatures between 100 and 250 °C, with the addition of an oxidant (hydrogen peroxide) in the range of 0–150% with reference to TCOD, and reaction times of up to 60 min. The results suggested that the availability of oxidant, reaction temperature and reaction time were the determining factors for COD removal. A significant fraction of the COD remaining after treatment consisted of the dissolved COD. The results confirmed that hydrothermal treatment proceeds through hydrolysis resulting in the production of dissolved organic products followed by COD removal through oxidation. DM chemometrics methods, PROMETHEE and GAIA, were applied to process the large data matrix so as to facilitate the selection of the most suitable hydrothermal conditions for sludge destruction. Two possible scenarios were produced from this analysis—one depended on the use of high temperatures and no oxidant, while the second offered a choice of compromise solutions at lower temperatures but with the use of at least some oxidant. Thus, for the final choice of operating conditions, the decision maker needs local knowledge of the costs and available infrastructure. In principle, such information could be added as further criteria to the data matrix and new rankings obtained.