scholarly journals Improving anaerobic conversion of pulp mill secondary sludge to biogas by pretreatment

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 16-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS WOOD ◽  
HONGHI TRAN ◽  
EMMA MASTER

We examined the effectiveness of thermal, caustic, and sonication pretreatment methods in improving anaerobic conversion to biogas of secondary sludge samples obtained from a kraft mill and a sulfite mill. All three methods improved the anaerobic digestion rate and the biogas yield of the sludge samples. Thermal pretreatment was the most effective, followed closely by caustic pretreatment, and sonication the least. The total biogas productions per unit of chemical oxygen demand of sulfite sludge and kraft sludge samples were respectively 1.2 and 3 times higher with pretreatments than without. Also, the biogas production from the untreated sulfite mill sludge was 4 times higher than that from the untreated kraft mill sludge.

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Dębowski ◽  
Marcin Zieliński ◽  
Marta Kisielewska ◽  
Joanna Kazimierowicz

The aim of this study was the performance evaluation of anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater in a multi-section horizontal flow reactor (HFAR) equipped with microwave and ultrasonic generators to stimulate biochemical processes. The effects of increasing organic loading rate (OLR) ranging from 1.0 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L·d to 4.0 g COD/L·d on treatment performance, biogas production, and percentage of methane yield were determined. The highest organic compounds removals (about 85% as COD and total organic carbon—TOC) were obtained at OLR of 1.0–2.0 g COD/L·d. The highest biogas yield of 0.33 ± 0.03 L/g COD removed and methane content in biogas of 68.1 ± 5.8% were recorded at OLR of 1.0 g COD/L·d, while at OLR of 2.0 g COD/L·d it was 0.31 ± 0.02 L/COD removed and 66.3 ± 5.7%, respectively. Increasing of the OLR led to a reduction in biogas productivity as well as a decrease in methane content in biogas. The best technological effects were recorded in series with an operating mode of ultrasonic generators of 2 min work/28 min break. More intensive sonication reduced the efficiency of anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater as well as biogas production. A low nutrient removal efficiency was observed in all tested series of the experiment, which ranged from 2.04 ± 0.38 to 4.59 ± 0.68% for phosphorus and from 9.67 ± 3.36 to 20.36 ± 0.32% for nitrogen. The effects obtained in the study (referring to the efficiency of wastewater treatment, biogas production, as well as to the results of economic analysis) proved that the HFAR can be competitive to existing industrial technologies for food wastewater treatment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samer Dahahda

The rapid depletion of natural resources and the environmental concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels as the main source of global energy is leading to an increased interest in alternative and renewable energy sources. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant source of organic materials that can be utilized as an energy source. Anaerobic digestion has been proven to be an effective technology for converting organic material into energy products such as biogas. However, the nature of lignocellulosic materials hinders the ability of microorganisms in an anaerobic digestion process to degrade and convert organic material to biogas. Therefore, a pretreatment step is necessary to improve the degradability of lignocellulosic materials and achieve higher biogas yield. Several pretreatment methods have been studied over the past few years including physical, thermal, chemical and biological pretreatment. This paper reviews biological and thermal pretreatment as two main promising methods used to improve biogas production from lignocelluloses. A greater focus is given on enzymatic pretreatment which is one of the promising yet under-researched biological pretreatment method. The paper addresses challenges in degrading lignocellulosic materials and the current status of research to improve biogas yield from lignocelluloses through biological and thermal pretreatment.


2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dibyendu Debnath ◽  
Mayur M. Kale ◽  
Kripa S. Singh

Anaerobic degradation showed potential as the disposal solution for pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) from the dissolving pulp industries. This PHL contained pentose and hexose carbohydrates as monomeric (14.5 g/L) and oligomeric (39.7 g/L) forms along with acetic acid (10.38 g/L), furfural (1.14 g/L) and lignin (11.08 g/L). The average chemical oxygen demand (COD) value of the PHL was around 100 g/L with a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) value of 55 g/L. Respirometric studies at 35 °C showed a decrease in methane production with increasing concentration of PHL in the feed. Presence of slowly biodegradable substrates (furfural and lignin) in the feed was suspected to cause such behavior. Therefore, PHL was introduced to a master culture reactor to acclimatize the seed sludge to PHL as substrate. The seed microbes were able to adapt to furfural, but not to the entire lignin present in PHL feed. Lignin concentration going over a threshold value (approximately 7 g/L) was suspected to cause reactor failure. This anaerobic treatability study reflects on the potential of applying anaerobic digestion for PHL waste stream disposal and biogas production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Xu ◽  
Hongjian Lin ◽  
Kuichuan Sheng

Proper disposal and utilization of dead pig carcasses are problems of public concern. The combination of hydrothermal pretreatment (HTP) and anaerobic digestion is a promising method to treat these wastes, provided that digestion inhibition is reduced. For this reason, the aim of this work was to investigate the optimal HTP temperature (140–180°C) for biogas production during anaerobic digestion of dead pigs in batch systems. In addition, the effects of hydrochar addition (6 g/L) on anaerobic digestion of pork products after HTP in continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR) were determined. According to the results, 90% of lipids and 10% of proteins present in the pork were decomposed by HTP. In addition, the highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration in liquid products (LP) reached 192.6 g/L, and it was obtained after 170°C HTP. The biogas potential from the solid residue (SR) and LP was up to 478 mL/g-VS and 398 mL/g-COD, respectively. A temperature of 170°C was suitable for pork HTP, which promoted the practical biogas yield because of the synergistic effect between proteins and lipids. Ammonia inhibition was reduced by the addition of hydrochar to the CSTR during co-digestion of SR and LP, maximum ammonia concentration tolerated by methanogens increased from 2.68 to 3.38 g/L. This improved total biogas yield and degradation rate of substrates, reaching values of 28.62 and 36.06%, respectively. The acetate content in volatile fatty acids (VFA) may be used as an index that reflects the degree of methanogenesis of the system. The results of the present work may also provide guidance for the digestion of feedstock with high protein and lipid content.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samer Dahahda

The rapid depletion of natural resources and the environmental concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels as the main source of global energy is leading to an increased interest in alternative and renewable energy sources. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant source of organic materials that can be utilized as an energy source. Anaerobic digestion has been proven to be an effective technology for converting organic material into energy products such as biogas. However, the nature of lignocellulosic materials hinders the ability of microorganisms in an anaerobic digestion process to degrade and convert organic material to biogas. Therefore, a pretreatment step is necessary to improve the degradability of lignocellulosic materials and achieve higher biogas yield. Several pretreatment methods have been studied over the past few years including physical, thermal, chemical and biological pretreatment. This paper reviews biological and thermal pretreatment as two main promising methods used to improve biogas production from lignocelluloses. A greater focus is given on enzymatic pretreatment which is one of the promising yet under-researched biological pretreatment method. The paper addresses challenges in degrading lignocellulosic materials and the current status of research to improve biogas yield from lignocelluloses through biological and thermal pretreatment.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Djaafri ◽  
Slimane Kalloum ◽  
Ahmed Elamine Soulimani ◽  
Mostefa Khelafi

This work aimed to study anaerobic digestion of a new substrate made from the waste of Algerian date palm (Phoenix dactyliferaL.) in order to evaluate its biogas production capacity. The lignocellulosic component biodegradability and the process stability were also tested. Two reactors were launched with the same concentration of 20g total solid (TS)/L. A physical pre-treatment (grinding) of dried leaves lowered the substrate size below 2 mm. The theoretical methane yield (499 - 538 mL CH4/g of Volatile Solids (VS)) indicated a high substrate methanogen potential. The tested methane and biogas yield reached 130±6 mL CH4/gVS and 197±6 mL/g VS respectively. The biodegradability through the volatiles solid reduction was 29%. The total alkalinity (TA) value increased from the beginning to the end, due to the substrate nature which gave a high buffering capacity of the medium. During the stable process, a higher Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal was reached with a value of 77.58%. The majority of the biogas yield was generated during the same period, which confirmed that the anaerobic digestion process stability is indispensable. Finally, this study was an opportunity to better exploit local by-products for the bioenergy production.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1363-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. I. Pérez-Elvira ◽  
L. C. Ferreira ◽  
A. Donoso-Bravo ◽  
M. Fdz-Polanco ◽  
F. Fdz-Polanco

The use of ultrasound as pre-treatment to improve anaerobic digestion of secondary sludge has been established as a promising technology. There are great differences between lab scale and full-scale devices, regarding the relationship between the disintegration achieved and the energy supplied. Based on economic aspects, most of the full-scale plants use partial-stream instead of the full-stream sonication, which affects biogas production and digestate dewatering characteristics. A laboratory scale operation combining ultrasound and anaerobic digestion (batch tests) has been performed, determining the relationship between the ratio of sonicated sludge fed and the methane production, SCOD removal and capillary suction time after 20-day anaerobic biodegradation, in order to check the possible benefits of part-stream versus full-stream sonication. Additional incubation was also evaluated, searching for an optimum process combining ultrasound and 24-h incubation pretreatment. Results showed that by sonicating fresh WAS at 25,700 kJ/kg TS biogas yield increased linearly with the percentage of sonicated WAS in the substrate, from 248 (control reactor) to 349 mL CH4/g VS (41% increase in full-stream sonication). By incubation (24 h, 55°C), 325 mL CH4/g VS were obtained (31% increase), but the digestion of the soluble compounds generated during incubation of sonicated sludge appeared to be less degradable compared to those solubilised by ultrasound or incubation alone, which showed no benefit in combining both treatments. Post-digestion dewatering deteriorated for both part-stream and full-stream sonication, and CST values were constant (74% higher than the control digestate) from 30% to 100% sonicated sludge.


Author(s):  
Kai Schumüller ◽  
Dirk Weichgrebe ◽  
Stephan Köster

AbstractTo tap the organic waste generated onboard cruise ships is a very promising approach to reduce their adverse impact on the maritime environment. Biogas produced by means of onboard anaerobic digestion offers a complementary energy source for ships’ operation. This report comprises a detailed presentation of the results gained from comprehensive investigations on the gas yield from onboard substrates such as food waste, sewage sludge and screening solids. Each person onboard generates a total average of about 9 kg of organic waste per day. The performed analyses of substrates and anaerobic digestion tests revealed an accumulated methane yield of around 159 L per person per day. The anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and food waste (50:50 VS) emerged as particularly effective and led to an increased biogas yield by 24%, compared to the mono-fermentation. In the best case, onboard biogas production can provide an energetic output of 82 W/P, on average covering 3.3 to 4.1% of the total energy demand of a cruise ship.


2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Michalska ◽  
Stanisław Ledakowicz

AbstractThis work studies the influence of the alkali pre-treatment of Sorghum Moench — a representative of energy crops used in biogas production. Solutions containing various concentrations of sodium hydroxide were used to achieve the highest degradation of lignocellulosic structures. The results obtained after chemical pre-treatment indicate that the use of NaOH leads to the removal of almost all lignin (over 99 % in the case of 5 mass % NaOH) from the biomass, which is a prerequisite for efficient anaerobic digestion. Several parameters, such as chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, total phenolic content, volatile fatty acids, and general nitrogen were determined in the hydrolysates thus obtained in order to define the most favourable conditions. The best results were obtained for the Sorghum treated with 5 mass % NaOH at 121°C for 30 min The hydrolysate thus achieved consisted of high total phenolic compounds concentration (ca. 4.7 g L−1) and chemical oxygen demand value (ca. 45 g L−1). Although single alkali hydrolysis causes total degradation of glucose, a combined chemical and enzymatic pre-treatment of Sorghum leads to the release of large amounts of this monosaccharide into the supernatant. This indicates that alkali pre-treatment does not lead to complete cellulose destruction. The high degradation of lignin structure in the first step of the pre-treatment rendered the remainder of the biomass available for enzymatic action. A comparison of the efficiency of biogas production from untreated Sorghum and Sorghum treated with the use of NaOH and enzymes shows that chemical hydrolysis improves the anaerobic digestion effectiveness and the combined pre-treatment could have great potential for methane generation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 1772-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyungjun (Brian) Jo ◽  
Wayne Parker ◽  
Peiman Kianmehr

Abstract A range of thermal pretreatment conditions were used to evaluate the impact of high pressure thermal hydrolysis on the biodegradability of waste activated sludge (WAS) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. It was found that pretreatment did not increase the overall extent to which WAS could be aerobically biodegraded. Thermal pretreatment transformed the biodegradable fraction of WAS (XH) to readily biodegradable chemical oxygen demand (COD) (SB) (16.5–34.6%) and slowly biodegradable COD (XB) (45.8–63.6%). The impact of pretreatment temperature and duration on WAS COD fractionation did not follow a consistent pattern as changes in COD solubilization did not correspond to the observed generation of SB through pretreatment. The pretreated WAS (PWAS) COD fractionations determined from aerobic respirometry were employed in anaerobic modeling and it was concluded that the aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability of PWAS differed. It was found that thermal pretreatment resulted in as much as 50% of the endogenous decay products becoming biodegradable in anaerobic digestion. Overall, it was concluded that the COD fractionation that was developed based upon the aerobic respirometry was valid. However, it was necessary to implement a first-order decay process that reflected changes in the anaerobic biodegradability of the endogenous products through pretreatment.


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