Low pH anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge for enhanced phosphorous release (original) (raw)
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Principles and potential of the anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge
Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 2008
When treating municipal wastewater, the disposal of sludge is a problem of growing importance, representing up to 50% of the current operating costs of a wastewater treatment plant. Although different disposal routes are possible, anaerobic digestion plays an important role for its abilities to further transform organic matter into biogas (60-70 vol% of methane, CH 4 ), as thereby it also reduces the amount of final sludge solids for disposal whilst destroying most of the pathogens present in the sludge and limiting odour problems associated with residual putrescible matter. Anaerobic digestion thus optimises WWTP costs, its environmental footprint and is considered a major and essential part of a modern WWTP. The potential of using the biogas as energy source has long been widely recognised and current techniques are being developed to upgrade quality and to enhance energy use. The present paper extensively reviews the principles of anaerobic digestion, the process parameters and their interaction, the design methods, the biogas utilisation, the possible problems and potential pro-active cures, and the recent developments to reduce the impact of the problems. After having reviewed the basic principles and techniques of the anaerobic digestion process, modelling concepts will be assessed to delineate the dominant parameters. Hydrolysis is recognised as rate-limiting step in the complex digestion process. The microbiology of anaerobic digestion is complex and delicate, involving several bacterial groups, each of them having their own optimum working conditions. As will be shown, these groups are sensitive to and possibly inhibited by several process parameters such as pH, alkalinity, concentration of free ammonia, hydrogen, sodium, potassium, heavy metals, volatile fatty acids and others. To accelerate the digestion and enhance the production of biogas, various pre-treatments can be used to improve the rate-limiting hydrolysis. These treatments include mechanical, thermal, chemical and biological interventions to the feedstock. All pre-treatments result in a lysis or disintegration of sludge cells, thus releasing and solubilising intracellular material into the water phase and transforming refractory organic material into biodegradable species. Possible techniques to upgrade the biogas formed by removing CO 2 , H 2 S and excess moisture will be summarised. Special attention will be paid to the problems associated with siloxanes (SX) possibly present in the sludge and biogas, together with the techniques to either reduce their concentration in sludge by preventive actions such as peroxidation, or eliminate the SX from the biogas by adsorption or other techniques. The reader will finally be guided to extensive publications concerning the operation, control, maintenance and troubleshooting of anaerobic digestion plants.
Biological Phosphorus Removal During High-Rate, Low-Temperature, Anaerobic Digestion of Wastewater
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2016
We report, for the first time, extensive biologically mediated phosphate removal from wastewater during high-rate anaerobic digestion (AD). A hybrid sludge bed/fixed-film (packed pumice stone) reactor was employed for low-temperature (12 • C) anaerobic treatment of synthetic sewage wastewater. Successful phosphate removal from the wastewater (up to 78% of influent phosphate) was observed, mediated by biofilms in the reactor. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis revealed the accumulation of elemental phosphorus (∼2%) within the sludge bed and fixed-film biofilms. 4 , 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining indicated phosphorus accumulation was biological in nature and mediated through the formation of intracellular inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) granules within these biofilms. DAPI staining further indicated that polyP accumulation was rarely associated with free cells. Efficient and consistent chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was recorded, throughout the 732day trial, at applied organic loading rates between 0.4 and 1.5 kg COD m −3 d −1 and hydraulic retention times of 8-24 h, while phosphate removal efficiency ranged from 28 to 78% on average per phase. Analysis of protein hydrolysis kinetics and the methanogenic activity profiles of the biomass revealed the development, at 12 • C, of active hydrolytic and methanogenic populations. Temporal microbial changes were monitored using Illumina MiSeq analysis of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences. The dominant bacterial phyla present in the biomass at the conclusion of the trial were the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes and the dominant archaeal genus was Methanosaeta. Trichococcus and Flavobacterium populations, previously associated with low temperature protein degradation, developed in the reactor biomass. The presence of previously characterized polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) such as Rhodocyclus, Chromatiales, Actinobacter, and Acinetobacter was recorded at low numbers. However, it is unknown as yet if these were responsible for the luxury polyP uptake observed in this system. The possibility of efficient phosphate removal and recovery from wastewater during AD would represent a major advance in the scope for widespread application of anaerobic wastewater treatment technologies.
Bio-Methane Potential Test for Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Faecal Sludge and Sewage Sludge
Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology
Faecal sludge (FS) samples taken in Hanoi urban area had COD values ranging from 2.83 g/L to 83.83 g/L,TN values from 0.18 g/L to 3.95 g/L, and VS/TS ratio from 47.5 % to 87.7 %. Sewage sludge (SS) samples taken from sewage treatment plants in Hanoi had COD values ranging from 2.22 g/L to 24.97 g/L, TN from 0.16 g/L to 1.24 g/L, VS/TS ratio from 53.5 % to 69.5 %. Bio-methane potential (BMP) tests at mesophilic anaerobic condition (35 oC) provided results of methane production from FS, primary sewage sludge (PSS), waste activated sludge (WAS1 and WAS2) and mixture of primary and secondary sewage sludge at sludge thickener (WAS) as much as 242.3 NmL/gVS, 310.5 NmL/gVS, 294 NmL/gVS, 228.2 NmL/gVS and 282.3 NmL/gVS, respectively. Co-digestion of FS and WAS at different mixing ratios provided from 269.3 NmL to 294.8 NmL CH4 per gram of fed substrate VS. The values of methane yield have shown promising sludge-to-energy option with FS-SS co-digestion. FS-SS co-digestion in anaerobic digest...
One of the techniques used for the stabilization of sewage sludge is anaerobic digestion. The effluent from anaerobic digesters usually requires further treatment since they contain high concentrations of N and P as a result of volatile solids destruction. In this study, a control was developed over the nutrient ions within the anaerobic digester by using substrate enriched in Mg 2+ ion. The amount of Mg 2+ ion added was determined based on the release rate of N and composition of magnesium ammonium phosphate. The results showed 50% removal of NH 4 + and PO 4 3can be achieved without compromising the performance of the reactor in COD and VSS removal and biogas formation. The stability of the digesters was checked by investigating the distribution of the most sensitive two main anaerobic genera: Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina. The numbers of Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina in the samples did not show a significant difference indicating that Mg 2+ ion did not affect the microbial diversity during the period of operation.
Anaerobic mesophilic digestion of sludge with extra-thermophilic and high ph pre-treatment
Linnaeus Eco-Tech
In this study different methods of sludge pre-treatment with elevated temperatures andpH have been selected for investigation. Five sets of sludge samples were pretreated asfollows: heating at 70°C for 30 min, at 80°C for 20 min, at 90°C for 10 min, at 100°C forWWTP5 min and NaOH-treatment (pH 12 for 4 hours). For comparison a sample from Tallinn(3:1 mixture of primary (dry solids 5.2%) and activated sludge (dry solids 0.5%))was used. Extra-thermophilic pre-treatment increased the degree of hydrolyses of sludge,enabling the following anaerobic digestion process to proceed faster than that of rawsludge. However, extra-thermophilic pre-treatment was insufficient for removal ofnitrogen and phosphorous. Nitrogen can be easily solubilized during extra-thermophilicpre-treatment but solubilization of phosphorous occurs only through digestion. Theproduction of biogas during anaerobic digestion was also dependant on the quality of theinput of pre-treated sludge. The highest cumulative volume...
Impact of Alkalization of Surplus Activated Sludge on Biogas Production
Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S, 2013
Large amounts of sludge are produced in biological wastewater treatment plants. Since the sludge is highly contaminated, it has to undergo proper stabilization before it is disposed or utilized in an environmentally safe way. On the whole, the aim of bacterial cell disintegration is the release of cell contents in the form of an aqueous extract. Chemical disintegration of surplus activated sludge by alkalization results in destruction and disruption of the flocs and microorganisms as well as increase concentration of organic matter in supernatant. The mesophilic anaerobic sewage sludge digestion is an established process, most often applied at medium and large municipal sewage treatment plants. Four major steps of anaerobic digestion are distinguished. The first hydrolysis step leads to solubilization of insoluble particulate matter and biological decomposition of organic polymers to monomers or dimers. The hydrolysis step is recognized as the rate-limiting step of the following sec...
Water Science and Technology, 2006
This paper deals with the performances obtained in full scale anaerobic digesters co-digesting waste activated sludge from biological nutrients removal wastewater treatment plants, together with different types of organic wastes (solid and liquid). Results showed that the biogas production can be increased from 4,000 to some 18,000 m 3 per month when treating some 3-5 tons per day of organic municipal solid waste together with waste activated sludge. On the other hand, the specific biogas production was improved, passing from 0.3 to 0.5 m 3 per kgVS fed the reactor, when treating liquid effluents from cheese factories. The addition of the co-substrates gave minimal increases in the organic loading rate while the hydraulic retention time remained constant. Further, the potentiality of the struvite crystallisation process for treating anaerobic supernatant rich in nitrogen and phosphorus was studied: 80% removal of phosphorus was observed in all the tested conditions. In conclusion, a possible layout is proposed for designing or upgrading wastewater treatment plants for biological nutrients removal process.
International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology
Biochemical methane potential (BMP) is a standard test to assess the biogas (including methane) production from the anaerobic digestion of any organic waste. In many anaerobic digestions of sewage sludge, the inoculum to substrate ratio and mixing were variable to take into consideration for efficient performance. However, the organic content in sewage sludge varied due to the composition of the raw wastewater being treated and the treatment condition. This study is focused on the methane production from the digestion of domestic mixed sewage sludge in the batch reactor at different organic contents. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) was conducted at the inoculum to substrate ratio (I/S) ratio of 2:0, each with different organic content. On the termination day of the BMP assay, the sample from each BMP reactor was tested for pH, and alkalinity to determine the status of the anaerobic process. Results showed that the anaerobic process was stable since the pH remained in the pH range which is suitable for the anaerobic process to take place. The anaerobic process was also confirmed stabled as indicated by low value (< 0.3) of intermediate alkalinity to partial alkalinity ratio (IA/PA). The ultimate methane yield was 588.3 ml CH 4 /g VS at the organic content of 0.52 and 1244.5 ml CH 4 /g VS at the organic content of 0.68 respectively. For the organic content of 0.68, the maximum methane production rate constant was 13.97 mL CH 4 /g VS /hr. For the case of lower organic content, the maximum methane production rate constant was 6.41 mL CH 4 /g VS /hr. However, the lag phase of the methane yield curve for both organic content was less than one (1) day, showing the good biodegradability of domestic mixed sewage sludge.
Water Research, 2020
Because the functions of these water and resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) stretches beyond simply meeting effluent requirements (i.e., also includes optimisation of products to be generated as recovered resources), a high level of accuracy is required in using mathematical models that virtually replicate (hence predict) WRRF system responses to dynamic conditions. The currently developed mathematical models embrace the majority of advances made towards tracking nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) through the entire WRRF, and significant effort has been made towards calibrating them to predict realistic outcomes. This paper presents the stepwise calibration of the PWMSA model (Ikumi et al., 2015) for aerobic (AerD) and anoxic-aerobic digestion (AAD) processes, through predictions of (i) mineral precipitation potential, in isolation to biological reactions (ii) AerD bioprocesses (including nitrification, orthophosphate (OP) release, and endogenous respiration), in isolation to mineral precipitation (iii) predicted interaction of the mineral precipitation and the biological processes of organic removal and nitrification, excluding P accumulating organisms (PAOs) and polyphosphate (PP) release during AerD, (iv) replicated interaction of mineral precipitation and bioprocesses of P release and nitrification kinetics (v) predicted PAO behavioural kinetics of anaerobic OP release with acetate uptake and aerobic PP uptake, in isolation to nitrification and (vi) predicted nitrate denitrification and anoxic OP release. The calibrated kinetic parameters allowed for the model capability of reproducing the data from the key biological, physical and chemical processes occurring in the various environments of sludge treatment (aerobic, anoxic and anaerobic) within satisfactory level of accuracy.