scholarly journals Process Optimization of Waste Activated Sludge in Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production by Electrochemical Pre-Treatment Using Ruthenium Oxide Coated Titanium Electrodes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4874
Author(s):  
Gan Chin Heng ◽  
Mohamed Hasnain Isa ◽  
Serene Sow Mun Lock ◽  
Choon Aun Ng
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Chemical Oxygen Demand ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Ruthenium Oxide ◽  
Parameters Optimization ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Capillary Suction ◽  
Pre Treatment

Anaerobic digestion (AD) appears to be a popular unit operation in wastewater treatment plant to treat waste activated sludge (WAS) and the produced methane gas can be harvested as renewable energy. However, WAS could inhibit hydrolysis stage during AD and hence pre-treatment is required to overcome the issue. This paper aimed to study the effect of electrochemical pre-treatment (EP) towards efficiency of AD using titanium coated with ruthenium oxide (Ti/RuO2) electrodes. The investigation has been carried out using in-house laboratory batch-scale mesophilic anaerobic digester, mixed under manipulation of important operating parameters. Optimization was performed on EP using response surface methodology and central composite design to maximize sludge disintegration and dewaterability. By operating at optimal conditions (pH 11.65, total solids 22,000 mg/L, electrolysis time 35 min, current density 6 mA/cm2, and 1000 mg/L of sodium chloride), the pre-treated WAS in terms of mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) removal, soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD), capillary suction time (CST) reduction, and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) were 38%, 4800 mg/L (increased from 935 mg/L), 33%, and 218 mg/L, respectively. Following AD, the volatile solids (VS) removal and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal by EP were enhanced from 40.7% and 54.7% to 47.2% and 61.5%, respectively, at steady-state. The biogas produced from control and electrochemical pre-treated WAS were in the ranges of 0.12 to 0.17 and 0.2 to 0.24 m3/kg VSfed, respectively, and the volume of biogas produced was 44–67% over the control. Based on the results obtained, suitability of EP for WAS prior to AD was confirmed.

A modified anaerobic digestion process with chemical sludge pre-treatment and its modelling

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 2350-2356 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. M. Hai ◽  
S. Sakamoto ◽  
V. C. Le ◽  
H. S. Kim ◽  
R. Goel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Simulation Accuracy ◽  
Volatile Solids ◽  
Pre Treatment

Activated Sludge Models (ASMs) assume an unbiodegradable organic particulate fraction in the activated sludge, which is derived from the decay of active microorganisms in the sludge and/or introduced from wastewater. In this study, a seasonal change of such activated sludge constituents in a municipal wastewater treatment plant was monitored for 1.5 years. The chemical oxygen demand ratio of the unbiodegradable particulates to the sludge showed a sinusoidal pattern ranging from 40 to 65% along with the change of water temperature in the plant that affected the decay rate. The biogas production in a laboratory-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) process was also affected by the unbiodegradable fraction in the activated sludge fed. Based on the results a chemical pre-treatment using H2O2 was conducted on the digestate to convert the unbiodegradable fraction to a biodegradable one. Once the pre-treated digestate was returned to the digester, the methane conversion increased up to 80% which was about 2.4 times as much as that of the conventional AD process, whilst 96% of volatile solids in the activated sludge was digested. From the experiment, the additional route of the organic conversion processes for the inert fraction at the pre-treatment stage was modelled on the ASM platform with reasonable simulation accuracy.

Upgrading of the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge by combining temperature-phased anaerobic digestion and intermediate ozonation

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kobayashi ◽  
Y. Y. Li ◽  
H. Harada ◽  
H. Yasui ◽  
T. Noike
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Flocculation Efficiency ◽  
In Series ◽  
Stage System ◽  
Mesophilic Digestion ◽  
Pre Treatment

Upgrading of the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) by the combination of temperature-phased two-stage digestion and intermediate ozonation was investigated by a continuous experiment with two processes, TM and TOM. The TM process is a temperature-phased two-stage system, which consists of a thermophilic digester and a mesophilic digester in series. The TOM process is a temperature-phased two-stage process with the intermediate ozonation. Two processes were operated at hydraulic retention times of 30 days for over 123 days. Waste activated sludge taken from wastewater treatment plant was fed as a substrate. Microbial community structure in each digester was analysed with molecular tools. Despite of less amount of ozone dose in TOM than ozone pre-treatment process, better effect of ozonation on performance improvement was obtained in TOM. TOM had the highest methane yield and CODCr reduction among comparative processes. Furthermore, flocculation efficiency of TOM followed that of mesophilic digestion. Quality of dewatered supernatant is comparable to mesophilic digestion.

Alkali pre-treatment of Sorghum Moench for biogas production

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Michalska ◽  
Stanisław Ledakowicz
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Chemical Oxygen Demand ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Total Phenolic ◽  
Methane Generation ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Alkali Hydrolysis ◽  
Almost All

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.

scholarly journals Comparison of the impacts of thermal pretreatment on waste activated sludge using aerobic and anaerobic digestion

2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 1772-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyungjun (Brian) Jo ◽  
Wayne Parker ◽  
Peiman Kianmehr
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Thermal Pretreatment ◽  
Decay Products ◽  
Anaerobic Biodegradability ◽  
Pretreatment Conditions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Aerobic And Anaerobic

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.

scholarly journals Enhancement of waste activated sludge anaerobic digestion by a novel chemical free acid/alkaline pretreatment using electrolysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 2827-2831 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Charles ◽  
B. Ng ◽  
R. Cord-Ruwisch ◽  
L. Cheng ◽  
G. Ho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Treatment Time ◽  
Free Acid ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Anode Chamber ◽  
Cathode Chamber ◽  
Exchange Membrane

Anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) is relatively poor due to hydrolysis limitations. Acid and alkaline pretreatments are effective in enhancing hydrolysis leading to higher methane yields. However, chemical costs often prohibit full-scale application. In this study, 12 V two-chamber electrolysis using an anion exchange membrane alters sludge pH without chemical dosing. pH dropped from 6.9 to 2.5 in the anode chamber and increased to 10.1 in the cathode chamber within 15 h. The volatile suspended solids solubilisation of WAS was 31.1% in the anode chamber and 34.0% in the cathode chamber. As a result, dissolved chemical oxygen demand increased from 164 to 1,787 mg/L and 1,256 mg/L in the anode and cathode chambers, respectively. Remixing of sludge from the two chambers brought the pH back to 6.5, hence no chemical neutralisation was required prior to anaerobic digestion. Methane yield during anaerobic digestion at 20 d retention time was 31% higher than that of untreated sludge. An energy balance assessment indicated that the non-optimised process could approximately recover the energy (electricity) expended in the electrolysis process. With suitable optimisation of treatment time and voltages, significant energy savings would be expected in addition to the benefit of decreased sludge volume.

Mesophilic and Thermophilic Digestion of Thickened Waste Activated Sludge: A Comparative Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 113-116 ◽  
pp. 450-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhi Chi ◽  
Yu You Li ◽  
Min Ji ◽  
Hong Qiang ◽  
Heng Wei Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Methane Content ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Digested Sludge ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion Process ◽  
Digestion Process ◽  
Significant Difference

This paper presents an experimental study over 204 days on anaerobic degradation of thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The experiments were conducted under thermophilic (55°C) and mesophilic (35°C) condition, respectively, by using the semi-continuous flow completely mixed reactors. The influent total solids (TS), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading levels were around 4%, 30 days and 1.67 kg-CODCr•m-3•d-1 , respectively. During the opration period, the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process (TADP) and the mesophilic anaerobic digestion process (MADP) were stable and well-functioned without ammonia inhibition. Particulate organic matters reduction of TADP was superior to that of MADP. This result implies that TADP has higher sludge reduction efficiency than MADP. According to the simulated chemical formula of TWAS, C5.85H9.75O3.96N, and the stoichiometric equation, the methane content and the ammonia yield in the anaerobic process could be calculated, which were consistent with the experimental results. The methane yield of TADP was a little higher than that of MADP. The statistical mean values of methane content for TADP and MADP were 60.97% and 62.38%, respectively.According to paired t-test, there was a significant difference in methane content between TADP and MADP(α=0.01, n=62). Compared with the mesophilic digested sludge, the dewaterability of thermophilic digested sludge was lower.

Thermochemical pretreatment in the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tanaka ◽  
K. Kamiyama
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plant ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Sewage ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Anaerobic Digesters ◽  
Thermochemical Pretreatment ◽  
Methane Production Rate

Effects of a thermochemical pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) was investigated by semicontinuously-fed digesters operated at 37¡C. WAS from a return sludge line of a municipal sewage treatment plant was pretreated by autoclaving at 130°C for 5 minutes after adding 0.3g NaOH/g VSS. Solids of WAS were thermochemically solubilized to one half and then 60% or more were in totality solubilized in anaerobic digesters fed with pretreated WAS at 2-8 days of hydraulic retention times (HRT), while only 16-36% were solubilized in digesters fed with raw WAS. The adverse effect of the set temperature (130°C) on the biodegradability of protein was not found. As a result, removal rates of COD in digestion was increased from 38% to 57% at 8 days HRT by the pretreatment. A specific methane production rate in the pretreated process was three times as high as the normal process. The thermochemical pretreatment was found to be very effective to enhance biodegradability as well as solubilization of WAS in anaerobic digestion.

Extracellular polymeric substances and dewaterability of waste activated sludge during anaerobic digestion

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1555-1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fenxia Ye ◽  
Xinwen Liu ◽  
Ying Li
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Extracellular Polymeric Substance ◽  
Extracellular Polymeric Substances ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Sludge Dewatering ◽  
Capillary Suction ◽  
Relationship Analysis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge was conducted to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying change in sludge dewaterability during its anaerobic digestion. Unexpectedly, the results indicated that sludge dewatering properties measured by capillary suction time only deteriorated after 10 days of anaerobic digestion, after which dewaterability recovered and remained stable. The loosely bound extracellular polymeric substance (LB-EPS) content increased three-fold after 20 days of anaerobic digestion, and did not change significantly during the remaining 30 days. The tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) content reduced slightly after 20 days of anaerobic digestion, and stabilized during the last 30 days. Polysaccharides (PS) and proteins (PN) content in LB-EPS increased after 10 days of anaerobic digestion. However, PS and PN contents in TB-EPS decreased slightly. The relationship analysis showed that only LB-EPS correlated with dewaterability of the sludge during anaerobic digestion.

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