Determination of High Ammonium Loads in Centrate Water

Centrate water is a side product of the thickening process of sewage sludge. It is especially heavy loaded with Ammonium and usually not discharged by the wastewater plant, but fed back into the circulation, thus further increasing the plant’s Nitrogen burden.

In addition, newer process approaches are contemplating the more economic direct degradation of NH4 to Nitrogen (de-ammonification).

In both cases, the exact determination of the NH4 load is essential for an optimal process flow.

This can be done by means of WTW’s (Germany) VARiON Plus 700 IQ ion-selective sensor. It can measure ammonium concentrations of up to 2000 mg/l directly in centrate water as well as in other process water, without needing any chemicals. The especially stable electrodes result in a long service life and easy cleaning.