Geo Tubes, a more recent technology, are able to treat anything waste or silt that can be pumped under high pressure through a Geo (polypropylene) fabric without blowing up. Some of the applications include:
· Municipal Sludge
· Industrial Sludge
· Construction Silts
· Farm Sludge
· Fracking Sludge
Though these systems can be applied to a variety of applications, the focus of this discussion will be dewatering municipal and industrial sludge. In this case sludge flows through these textile tubes, holding back the solids while the water passes through similar to what a belt filter press (BFP) does. Much like a BFP, Geo Tubes work better when the sludge has been conditioned with a polymer to help with solids/water separation before going through the unit. This is a case where a good chemical guy would be a lot of help. Too little polymer and the solids don’t bind together (allowing fines to pass through) and too much and you risk “blinding” (plugging the fabric pores – not allowing water to go through) the Geo Tube pores.
One application where Geo Tubes may have one of the biggest benefits is lagoons. Lagoons usually have large volumes of water and minimally thickened sludge at the bottom and in general difficult to deal with. Historically cleaning out these lagoons usually has required disposal of sludge as a liquid and if dewatering, very costly. Geo Tubes produce a largely reduced sludge volume and one that can be disposed of in a landfill with a filtrate that is mostly “clean”.
At the end of the process, the entire Geo Tube with sludge in it can be disposed of in a sanitary landfill, or it can be opened with a utility knife or similar and land applied. Geo Tubes have a lot of applications and are worth a look and consideration when figuring out how to concentrate and dispose of your sludge.