The overlooked impact of polyether defoamer on sludge dewatering after anaerobic digestion.
Chemical defoamers are universally dosed to mitigate foaming in anaerobic digestion (AD) systems, yet their residual impacts on downstream sludge dewaterability remain a black box. This study reveals that a ubiquitous polyether defoamer (PD) profoundly deteriorates AD sludge dewaterability. With 0.3% (v/v) PD addition,...