Application of Distance Covariance in Selection of Nutrients During Dynamic Process of Sewage Sludge Conditioning with Bio-preparation

Authors:

• Tomasz Dariusz Górecki,
• M. Jakubus,
• Mirosław Krzyśko,
• Waldemar Wołyński

Abstract

Abstract: Sewage sludge, the most important by-product of biological wastewater treatment, is considered an important source of secondary pollution in environments. Simultaneously, sewage sludge is rich in nutrients and organic matter, therefore it is proposed for natural use. However, before such an application, sewage sludge should be properly prepared, so that it does not adversely affect on the environment. Apart from various methods commonly applied in sewage sludge conditioning, the utilization of bio-preparations seems to be an attractive alternative. The experiment was conducted in PVC boxes with one sewage sludge and one amendment treatment as Effective Microorganism (EM^TM) preparation applied at two doses dissolved (the water: EM^TM preparation ratio = 1:5) (T1) and concentrated (T2). Sewage sludge without EM^TM preparation was a control treatment (T0). The chemical composition of sewage sludge was recorded at 12 incubation dates. The quantitative changes of macro and micronutrients during incubation sewage sludge were assessed and followed by evaluated by distance covariance which measure both linear and nonlinear relationship between variables. On the base of obtained results, one may state, that the significance of EM^TM preparation in sewage sludge conditioning was minor. The positive effect of the bio-preparation was observed only in the case of carbon and nitrogen, which amounts increased along the incubation time. These conclusions were obtained thanks to the author’s method of selecting variables based on the covariance distance defined for multidimensional functional data. There is no doubt that modern statistical methods based on functional data lead to in-depth conclusions resulting from the conducted experiment. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].