The stench hit Li Wei’s nostrils before he even entered the sludge storage area. As plant manager at Singapore’s Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, he faced a Sisyphean task: processing 350 tons/day of 82% moisture sludge while environmental fines loomed. “We’re drowning in our own waste,” he told his team, eyeing the cracked lining of their 1990s-era rotary dryer.
The Drying Dilemma-Municipal sludge management battles three demons:
Fuel Gluttony: Old dryers consume 14-18L diesel/ton
Clogging Calamity: Manual drum cleaning every 6 hours
Moisture Rollercoaster: Output swings between 9-15%
A Game-Changing Demo
At IFAT Munich, Wei witnessed SENTAI’s counterflow dryer transforming black sludge into bone-dry granules in 22 minutes. “Black magic? ” he joked, until lab tests confirmed 3.3% moisture.
Sentai’s Triple-Axis Innovation
Airflow-3D-optimized gas paths increase thermal transfer by 39%
Achieves 0.5% moisture uniformity (±0.2%)
Self-Cleaning Delta Flights
316L stainless steel with 50° helical design
“It scrapes sludge off the drum like a snowplow.”
Heat Loop-Recycles 41% exhaust heat to preheat incoming sludge
Quantified Success
Post-retrofit metrics at Tuas WWTP:
Diesel Use: 5.7L/ton (from 15.4L)
Downtime: 4 hours/week (from 28 hours)
Revenue: Sold 12,000 tons/year as Class A biosolids
Wei’s Perspective: “What was a 1.2M/yearliabilitybecamea420k profit stream.The dryer paid for itself in 14 months.”
The Bigger Picture
SENTAI’s dryers don’t just remove water—they vaporize financial and environmental liabilities. With 80% lower NOx emissions and compatibility with biogas/waste heat, We’re rewriting the rules of industrial drying.