scholarly journals Conversion of Sewage Sludge and Other Biodegradable Waste into High-Value Soil Amendment within a Circular Bioeconomy Perspective

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 6953
Author(s):  
Ewa Neczaj ◽  
Anna Grosser ◽  
Anna Grobelak ◽  
Piotr Celary ◽  
Bal Ram Singh
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Biodegradable Waste ◽  
Digestion Process

Resource recovery from biodegradable waste is essential in order to reach the goals of zero circular economy waste generation and zero greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector. Waste whose management is a real challenge is sewage sludge, mainly because of high concentrations of heavy metals. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of material stabilization during aerobic stabilization of two feedstocks with sewage sludge obtained from different sources, namely, digestate from a municipal wastewater treatment plant and digestate from a co-digestion process. Moreover, the goal of the experiment was to assess the quality of compost in terms of remediation potential. The composting process was carried out for four different mixtures consisting of the mentioned digestates, municipal solid waste, and grass. A better composting efficiency with digestate from the co-digestion process was observed. In that case, a higher temperature in the thermophilic phase (>55 °C) and a higher organic matter loss ratio (60%) were obtained as compared to the process with digestate from wastewater treatment plant. Taking into account the fertilizing properties and the concentration of heavy metals, all obtained composts met the requirements set out in the Polish Regulation for organic fertilizers. Only the content of Helminth eggs in the composts produced with the digestate from the wastewater treatment plant was above the acceptable level. The research also proved that the produced composts can be used in the phytoremediation process of the degraded area. It was found that all composts caused a significant increase in fescue biomass. The highest yield was achieved for compost produced from a mixture with the addition of 30% sewage sludge from the co-digestion process.

scholarly journals From laboratory experiment to large scale application: case studies of the phytoremediation of chemical agents of agents of the sludge fields at Kharkiv wastewater treatment plant, Ukraine

2007 ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
Nataliia Suchkova ◽  
Yuri Vergeles
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Heavy Metal Accumulation ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
In Situ Experiments

The contamination of the sewage sludge fields of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by heavy metals, hydrocarbons or other pollutants is a major environmental problem. Sludge can retain up to 96% of all the metals entering the WWTPs in sewage, therefore, when it is disposed to land, heavy metals will be accumulated in the soil. Effects of heavy metal accumulation are long lasting and even permanent. Phytotoxicity is the main problem, although metals can be transferred directly to man via vegetables and other crops or indirectly via animals, primarily cattle, eating herbage (zootoxic). The common metals in sludge are Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cr, and Cd which are generally the most toxic metal found in high concentration.Conventional treatment techniques of contaminated territory suffer from serious shortcomings which limit their applicability and efficiency. These include high cost and maintenance requirements, the need to transfer the contamination from one medium to another, and the extended duration of the operation. Alternatives to these treatments lie in in­situ phytoremediation. Plants are among the most tolerant organisms to pollution, which emphasizes their utility for the detoxification or degradation of pollutants. The concept of phytoremediation was inspired by the discovery of hyper-accumulators, most of which belong to the botanical families Brassicaceae, Poaceae, Papilionaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Asteraceae, which provide most of the candidates for heavy metal phytoremediation. Two other families are important - the Salicaceae with the genera Salix and Populus, which are effective against a range of pollutants; and the Betaceae which contribute species effective against salt ions and small (few rings) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Some Asteraceae species have been shown to be good phytoremediants of radionuclide pollution [ I ].This paper summarizes the results obtained from laboratory, as well as from in-situ experiments (sludge fields at Kharkiv's WWTP, total area is approx. 126 ha) which focused on phytoremediation methodologies for the removal of heavy metals from sewage sludge.

Studies on the cytotoxicity of filtrates obtained from sewage sludge from the municipal wastewater treatment plant

2020 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 29-38
Author(s):  
Agata Jabłońska-Trypuć ◽  
Urszula Wydro ◽  
Lluis Serra-Majem ◽  
Andrzej Butarewicz ◽  
Elżbieta Wołejko
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

Can a wastewater treatment plant be a powerplant? A case study

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 1555-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Schwarzenbeck ◽  
W. Pfeiffer ◽  
E. Bomball
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Organic Substrates ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

Today wastewater treatment plants are evaluated not only in terms of their treatment efficiency but also concerning their energy efficiency. Increasing energy efficiency can be realized either through operational optimisation or by realising an already existing potential for energy generation on-site. The main source of energy at a municipal wastewater treatment plant is the biogas produced in the anaerobic sludge digester. Studies indicate excess digester capacities of about 20% in Germany available for co-fermentation of organic substrates other than sewage sludge. This paper presents an example of a municipal wastewater treatment plant going towards an energy self-sufficient operation and even a surplus energy production as the result of an increasing co-fermentation of sludge from grease skimming tanks. In 2005 on average 113% of the electricity consumed for plant operation was generated on-site in gas engines. Co-fermentation of about 30% (related to the total dry residue input) of grease interceptor sludge in the presented case does not only effect a 4-times increased gas yield, but also an intensified 20% higher anaerobic degradation of the organic matter of the sewage sludge and thus having a positive influence not only on the energy and financial balance but also on the anaerobic sludge stabilisation with respect to the degradation degree of the organic fraction.

scholarly journals Assessment of Microplastics in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant with Tertiary Treatment: Removal Efficiencies and Loading per Day into the Environment

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1339
Author(s):  
Javier Bayo ◽  
Sonia Olmos ◽  
Joaquín López-Castellanos
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Source Control ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Tertiary Treatment ◽  
Stable Performance ◽  
Wastewater Samples

This study investigates the removal of microplastics from wastewater in an urban wastewater treatment plant located in Southeast Spain, including an oxidation ditch, rapid sand filtration, and ultraviolet disinfection. A total of 146.73 L of wastewater samples from influent and effluent were processed, following a density separation methodology, visual classification under a stereomicroscope, and FTIR analysis for polymer identification. Microplastics proved to be 72.41% of total microparticles collected, with a global removal rate of 64.26% after the tertiary treatment and within the average retention for European WWTPs. Three different shapes were identified: i.e., microfiber (79.65%), film (11.26%), and fragment (9.09%), without the identification of microbeads despite the proximity to a plastic compounding factory. Fibers were less efficiently removed (56.16%) than particulate microplastics (90.03%), suggesting that tertiary treatments clearly discriminate between forms, and reporting a daily emission of 1.6 × 107 microplastics to the environment. Year variability in microplastic burden was cushioned at the effluent, reporting a stable performance of the sewage plant. Eight different polymer families were identified, LDPE film being the most abundant form, with 10 different colors and sizes mainly between 1–2 mm. Future efforts should be dedicated to source control, plastic waste management, improvement of legislation, and specific microplastic-targeted treatment units, especially for microfiber removal.

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