Treatment of effluent

摘要

A process for the production of fatty acid soaps from sludge, especially sewage sludge, comprises extracting sludge having a solids content of at least 15% by weight with a non-polar solvent to provide an extract containing fatty matter, and subsequently saponifying the fatty matter in the presence of a dipolar aprotic solvent having a dielectric constant of at least 15 to produce fatty acid soaps.