Notice of RetractionOptimization on the solubilization of thickened waste activated sludge using uniform design method

Notice of Retraction

After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE´s Publication Principles.

We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.

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In order to optimize target temperature, holding time and NaOH dose on solubilization degree of thickened waste activated sludge, a combined NaOH-microwave pretreatment process was studied on the basis of uniform design method. The results indicated that the variables markedly affected the solubilization degree of chemical oxygen demand (COD). The optimal conditions were determined and two-dimensional and tri-dimensional response surfaces were plotted according to the mathematical models. Within the design boundaries, the predicted maximum solubilization ratio of COD (80%) occurred at target temperature of 210°C, holding time of 51min, and NaOH dose of 0.23g-NaOH/g-TSS. Under the optimal conditions, the experimental solubilization ratio of COD (82%) was in agreement with predicted value with 2.5% deviation.