Mr. Kade has a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee WI. Master’s research was focused on enhanced anaerobic digestion using TPAD for the City of Janesville WI. Mr. Kade has almost 20 years of experience working for technology manufacturers in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment such as Siemens/Evoqua, Parkson, and EOSi. Mr. Kade’s expertise includes Biological Nutrient Removal processes and Biosolids Management.

Traditional aerobic digestion uses diffused aeration to both deliver oxygen and mix; a seemingly simple approach to achieve EPA 40 CFR Part 503 Class B Solids using a single technology. Aerobic digestion is frequently mixing limited, especially in long sludge age or extended aeration processes. When excessive oxygen is delivered, the result is wasted energy, process foaming, depleted alkalinity, dewatering challenges, and costly polymer dosage. Decoupling aeration from mixing is the next innovation, whereby compressed gas mixing provides the necessary mixing intensity, sludge uniformity, and orientation to work with, not against, aeration patterns in an aerobic digester. Data will be presented on the implementation of decoupled aeration from mixing with diffused aeration and compressed gas mixing at the Benton plant including operating aerobic and anoxic cycles, DO/ORP data, and volatile sludge reduction. Other plants that have seen similar benefits will also be highlighted.

Information presented will further establish that, aerobic digestion with decoupled aeration from mixing using diffused aeration and compressed gas mixing: (1) is well suited for thickened sludge applications, (2) provides substantial power savings compared to traditional aerobic digestion and other mixing technologies, (3) is effective in mixing tankage with challenging geometries (4) provides process benefits to the entire treatment process, and (5) creates short payback periods as an alternative to traditional aerobic digestion.