Existing methods of dehydration of sapropel

Abstract

The Russian Federation has large reserves of lake sapropel. In Russia, there are about 50 thousand deposits of sapropel of natural humidity. Sapropel is used in various fields: medicine, construction, animal husbandry and agriculture. So, extracting sapropel, we get not only environmentally friendly raw materials, but also clean lakes that are sources of fresh water and recreational activity. In order to use sapropel, it is necessary to lower its moisture. Difficulties associated with dehydration of sapropel arise due to the high natural humidity of sapropel, which reaches 98 %, as well as due to the fact that sapropel has a fine colloidal structure. This article presents the analysis of existing methods and engineering solutions for sapropel dewatering.

The Effect of Organic Lake Sediments (Sapropel) on the Properties and Biological Resistance of Unfired Clay Bricks

“…The biocolloidal internal links of water and other material complexes are destroyed via the formation of sapropel droplets into snowflake crystals. After melting said crystals, the biocolloidal links do not recover [33]. The dynamics of the freezing of SP allows one to recognize the following stages of physicochemical and texture-forming processes: free water crystallization laws govern texture formation; the forming of an ice skeleton causes the directed growth of ice crystals; thicker ice crystals force units of the organo-mineral skeleton apart, thus deforming and compressing it; the compression of the SP skeleton is accompanied by dehydration; the desiccation of the SP skeleton activates the aggregation and coagulation of the organo-mineral component; and the high content of the organic component showing high adhesive characteristics in SP causes mineral particle binding in organo-mineral aggregates [34].…”