sludge

sludge

1. any deposit or sediment

2. a surface layer of ice that has a slushy appearance

3. (in sewage disposal) the solid constituents of sewage that precipitate during treatment and are removed for subsequent purification

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sludge

[sləj]

(chemical engineering)

Residue left after acid treatment of petroleum oils.

Any semisolid waste from a chemical process.

(civil engineering)

sewage sludge

(engineering)

Mud from a drill hole in boring.

Sediment in a steam boiler.

A precipitate from petroleum oils or liquid fuels, for example, the insoluble degradation products formed during the operation of an internal combustion engine.

An amorphous deposit that has accumulated on the surface of a tube in a heat exchanger or of an evaporating device, but is not bonded to the fouled surface.

slime

(geology)

A soft or muddy bottom deposit as on tideland or in a stream bed.

(oceanography)

A dense, soupy accumulation of new sea ice consisting of incoherent floating frazil crystals. Also known as cream ice; sludge ice; slush.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

sludge

1. Refuse from various operations, as the waste material produced in the wet grinding of terrazzo.

2. In a paint spray booth whose walls are washed continuously with water, the paint which accumulates in the water reservoir, sometimes reworked to make another paint.

3. The accumulated, settled solids which are deposited from sewage and contain more or less water to form a semiliquid mass.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

sludge

A heavy contaminant that forms in an aircraft engine lubricating oil. This is caused by oxidation and the chemical decomposition of oil as a part of normal usage.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved