Ultrasonic sludge disintegration for enhanced methane production in anaerobic digestion: effects of sludge hydrolysis efficiency and hydraulic retention time

Hydrolysis of waste activated sludge (WAS) has been regarded as the rate limiting step of anaerobic sludge digestion. Therefore, in this study, the effect of ultrasound and hydraulic residence time during sludge hydrolysis was investigated with the goal of enhancing methane production from anaerobic digestion (AD). WAS was ultrasonically disintegrated for hydrolysis, and it was semi-continuously fed to an anaerobic digesters at various hydraulic retention times (HRTs). The results of these experiments showed that the solids and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies when using ultrasonically disintegrated sludge were higher during AD than the control sludge. The longer the HRT, the higher the removal efficiencies of solids and COD, while methane production increased with lower HRT. Sludge with 30% hydrolysis produced 7 × more methane production than the control sludge. The highest methane yields were 0.350 m(3)/kg volatile solids (VS)(add) and 0.301 m(3)/kg COD(con) for 16 and 30% hydrolyzed sludge, respectively. In addition, we found that excess ultrasound irradiation may inhibit AD since the 50% hydrolyzed sludge produced lower methane yields than 16 and 30% hydrolyzed sludge.     

添加厨余垃圾对剩余污泥厌氧消化产沼气过程的影响

为提高剩余污泥厌氧消化的沼气产量和甲烷含量,研究了厨余垃圾的不同添加量对剩余污泥厌氧消化性能的影响。结果表明,在35℃下,随着剩余污泥中厨余垃圾添加量的增加,厌氧消化系统中碳氮质量比（C／N）、胞外多聚物（EPS）等生理生化指标均有不同程度的改善。其中当剩余污泥与厨余垃圾质量比为2：1时,混合有机废弃物中沼气产量和甲烷含量均达到最大值,每克挥发性固体（VS）产生了156．56mL沼气,甲烷体积分数为67．52％,分别比剩余污泥单独厌氧消化时的产气量提高了5倍和1．5倍。     

Enhanced anaerobic gas production of waste activated sludge pretreated by pulse power technique

An electric pulse-power reactor consisting of one coaxial electrode and multiple ring electrodes was developed to solubilize waste activated sludge (WAS) prior to anaerobic digestion. By pretreatment of WAS, the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD)/total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) ratio and exocelluar polymers (ECP) content of WAS increased 4.5 times and 6.5 times, respectively. SEM images clearly showed that pulse-power pretreatment of WAS was found to result in destruction of sludge cells. Batch-anaerobic digestion of pulse-power treated sludge showed 2.5 times higher gas production than that of untreated sludge. Solubilized sludge cells by pulse-power pretreatment would be readily utilized for anaerobic microorganisms to produce anaerobically-digested gas. Slow or lagged gas production in the initial anaerobic digestion stage of pulse-power pretreated sludge implied that the methane-forming stage of anaerobic digestion would be the rate-limiting step for anaerobic digestion of pulse-power pretreated sludge.     

Enhancement of proteolytic enzyme activity excreted from Bacillus stearothermophilus for a thermophilic aerobic digestion process

Proteolysis is one of the main enzymatic reactions involved in waste activated sludge (WAS) digestion. In this study, proteases excreted from Bacillus stearothermophilus (ATCC 31197) were classified, and an enhancement of protease activity was achieved using economical chemical additives for WAS digestion. Proteases excreted from B. stearothermophilus were classified into two families: serine and metallo-proteases. Various metal ions were investigated as additives which could potentially enhance protease activity. It was observed that Ca2+ and Fe2+ could markedly activate these enzymes. These results were applied to thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) of industrial WAS using B. stearothermophilus. The addition of these divalent ions enhanced the degradation performance of the TAD process in terms of reducing the total suspended solids (TSSs), the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content, and the intracellular and extracellular protein concentrations. The best result, with respect to protein reduction in a digestion experiment, was obtained by the addition of 2 mM Ca2+. Therefore, a proposed TAD process activated by calcium addition can be successfully used for industrial and municipal WAS digestion to the upgrading of TAD process performance.     

Effect of sulphidogenesis on acid-phase digestion of waste activated sludge

This paper reports the influence of sulfate-reducing bacterial activity on acidogenic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS). A series of experiments was conducted by feeding WAS to a 10-l, completely mixed, mesophilic reactor maintained at pH 5.0 under sulfidogenic and non-sulfidogenic conditions. Analyses of volatile fatty acids indicated that the productions of acetic and propionic acids were slightly increased by sulfidogenic activity at 218 mg/l level of sulfate when COD sulfate ratio was 55:1. Higher amounts of methanol, ethanol and hydrogen were observed in the non-sulfidogenic condition, but ammonia was lower than in the moderate sulfidogenic runs. At 0.63 kg VS/m³ d loading rate the hydrolysis was above 90% in both moderate sulfidogenic and non- sulfidogenic runs. The results of these experiments showed the possible influence of moderate sulfidogenesis in the protein degradation of WAS anaerobic digestion. However, the acid-phase digestion was adversely affected by increasing the sulfate concentration to 400 mg/l.     

Ultrasonic pretreatment for thermophilic aerobic digestion in industrial waste activated sludge treatment

In order to enhance the degradation efficiency of waste activated sludge (WAS) by thermophilic aerobic digestion, an ultrasonic pretreatment was examined. It was observed that ultrasonic pretreatment increased the solubilization of organic matter in the WAS and that the solubilization ratio of the organics increased during the first 30 min but did not extensively increase thereafter. Therefore, a pretreatment time of 30 min was determined to be the economical pretreatment time from the experimental results. From the digestion experiments, which was conducted using the WAS collected from an oil refinery plant in Inchon, Korea, investigating the effects of an ultrasonic pretreatment on thermophilic aerobic digestion, it was confirmed that the proposed ultrasonic pretreatment was effective at enhancing the release of the cellular components in WAS and the degradation of released components in the thermophilic aerobic digestion.     

The effect of acid pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion and dewatering of waste activated sludge

Waste activated sludge (WAS) is difficult to degrade in anaerobic digestion systems and pretreatments have been shown to speed up the hydrolysis stage. Here the effects of acid pretreatment (pH 6-1) using HCl on subsequent digestion and dewatering of WAS have been investigated. Optimisation of acid dosing was performed considering digestibility benefits and level of acid required. Pretreatment to pH 2 was concluded to be the most effective. In batch digestion this yielded the same biogas after 13 days as compared to untreated WAS at 21 days digestion. In semi-continuous digestion experiments (12 day hydraulic retention time at 35 °C) it resulted in a 14.3% increase in methane yield compared to untreated WAS, also Salmonella was eradicated in the digestate. Dewatering investigations suggested that the acid pretreated WAS required 40% less cationic polymer addition to achieve the same cake solid content. A cost analysis was also carried out.     

Isolation,identification of sludge-lysing strain and its utilization in thermophilic aerobic digestion for waste activated sludge

A strain of sludge-lysing bacteria was isolated from waste activated sludge (WAS) in this study. The result of 16S rRNA gene analysis demonstrated that it was a species of new genus Brevibacillus (named Brevibacillus sp. KH3). The strain could release the protease with molecule weight of about 40 kDa which could enhance the efficiency of sludge thermophilic aerobic digestion. During the sterilized sludge digestion experiment inoculated with Brevibacillus sp. KH3, the maximum protease activity was 0.41 U/ml at pH 8 and 50 °C, and maximum TSS removal ratio achieved 32.8% after 120 h digestion at pH 8 and 50 °C. In the case of un-sterilized sludge digestion inoculated with Brevibacillus sp. KH3, TSS removal ratio in inoculated-group was 54.8%, increasing at 11.86% compared with un-inoculation (46.2%). The result demonstrated that inoculation of Brevibacillus sp. KH3 could help to degrade the EPS and promote the collapse of cells and inhibit the growth of certain kinds of microorganisms. It indicated that Brevibacillus sp. KH3 strain had a high potential to enhance WAS-degradation efficiency in thermophilic aerobic digestion.     

Pre-treatments to enhance the biodegradability of waste activated sludge: Elucidating the rate limiting step

Pre-treatments for waste activated sludge (WAS) are, in most cases, an attempt to increase the biodegradation and/or improve hydrolysis rate of WAS after anaerobic digestion. This review presents an extensive analysis of WAS pre-treatments effectiveness focusing on increasing the biodegradability. In the first part of the review, WAS is considered as a cluster of organic components: proteins, carbohydrates, humic substances and cells. Based on this breakdown into components, the effect of different pre-treatments on each component (and in combination) is described. Also, possible reasons for the contradictory results frequently found among different studies dealing with the same pre-treatment are included. In the second part, the review describes the effects on volatile solids removal by digestion after pre-treatment and on the dewaterability of the final digestate. The energy balance and potential limiting factors for each pre-treatment are also taken into account. From the published works it is concluded that some pre-treatment techniques, such as thermal hydrolysis, thermal phased anaerobic digestion and low-temperature pre-treatment are effective ways to increase energy production and to improve other sludge properties, such as dewatering. However, these techniques are very energy intensive and require a large capital outlay, so research on milder pre-treatment techniques is valuable.     

Sequential anaerobic/aerobic digestion of waste activated sludge: analysis of the process performance and kinetic study

Sequential anaerobic-aerobic digestion was applied to waste activated sludge (WAS) of a full scale wastewater treatment plant. The study was performed with the objective of testing the sequential digestion process on WAS, which is characterized by worse digestibility in comparison with the mixed sludge. Process performance was evaluated in terms of biogas production, volatile solids (VS) and COD reduction, and patterns of biopolymers (proteins and polysaccharides) in the subsequent digestion stages. VS removal efficiency of 40%, in the anaerobic phase, and an additional removal of 26%, in the aerobic one, were observed. For total COD removal efficiencies of 35% and 25% for anaerobic and aerobic stage respectively, were obtained. Kinetics of VS degradation process was analyzed by assuming a first order equation with respect to VS concentration. Evaluated kinetic parameters were 0.44 ± 0.20 d(-1) and 0.25 ± 0.15 d(-1) for the anaerobic stage and aerobic stage, respectively. With regard to biopolymers, in the anaerobic phase the content of proteins and polysaccharides increased to 50% and 69%, respectively, whereas in the subsequent aerobic phase, a decrease of 71% for proteins and 67% for polysaccharides was observed. The average specific biogas production 0.74 m(3)/(kg VS destroyed), was in the range of values reported in the specialized literature for conventional anaerobic mesophilic WAS digestion.     

Biogas plasticization coupled anaerobic digestion: batch test results

Biogas has unique properties for improving the biodegradability of biomass solids during anaerobic digestion (AD). This report presents batch test results of the first investigation into utilizing biogas plasticization to "condition" organic polymers during active digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS). Preliminary design calculations based on polymer diffusion rate limitation are presented. Analysis of the 20 degrees C batch test data determined the first order (k(1)) COD conversion coefficient to be 0.167 day(-1) with a maximum COD utilization rate of 11.25 g L(-1) day(-1). Comparison of these batch test results to typical conventional AD performance parameters showed orders of magnitude improvement. These results show that biogas plasticization during active AD could greatly improve renewable energy yields from biomass waste materials such as MSW RDF, STP sludges, food wastes, animal manure, green wastes, and agricultural crop residuals.     

Evaluating and modeling biogas production from municipal fat, oil, and grease and synthetic kitchen waste in anaerobic co-digestions

The feasibility of using synthetic kitchen waste (KW) and fat, oil, and grease (FOG) as co-substrates in the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) was investigated using two series of biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests. Ranges of ideal substrate to inoculum (S/I) ratio were determined for the FOG (0.25-0.75) and KW (0.80-1.26) as single substrates in the first experiment. The second experiment, which estimated the methane production performances of FOG and KW as co-substrates for WAS co-digestion, was conducted based on the optimal parameters selected from the results of the first experiment. Results indicated that co-digestions with FOG and KW enhanced methane production from 117±2.02 mL/gTVS (with only WAS) to 418±13.7 mL/gTVS and 324±4.11 mL/gTVS, respectively. FOG exhibited more biogas production than KW as co-substrate. Non-linear regression results showed that co-substrate addition shortened the lag phases of organic biodegradation from 81.8 (with only WAS) to 28.3 h with FOG and 3.90 h with KW.     

污泥厌氧消化产酸发酵过程中乙酸累积机制

[目的]研究污泥厌氧消化产挥发性脂肪酸(VFA)过程中的有机物碳流的转化机制,阐明乙酸累积机理。[方法]研究溴乙烷磺酸盐(BES)和氯仿(CHCl3)抑制模型下中间代谢产物和气体的累积,检测各产乙酸功能菌群数量,推断污泥产酸发酵过程中的有机物碳流方向和乙酸累积机理。[结果]BES模型乙酸浓度达27 mmol/L,fhs基因拷贝数比对照组高2-3倍,产氢产乙酸菌略有下降。CHCl3模型乙酸浓度达22 mmol/L,fhs基因拷贝数比BES组低一个数量级,产氢产乙酸菌下降明显。[结论]BES特异性较高,除产甲烷菌外对其他厌氧产酸细菌没有影响,乙酸浓度增加并且其主要来源于水解发酵产酸以及同型产乙酸过程。氯仿除抑制产甲烷菌外,对同型乙酸菌和产氢产乙酸菌也有强烈的抑制作用。     

Biogas production from anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge: co-substrates and influencing parameters

Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology - Anaerobic digestion is a versatile biotechnology to treat waste activated sludge (WAS), the main by-products of biological wastewater...     

A mechanical pretreatment of waste-activated sludge for HS decrease on anaerobic digestion

To decrease the HS and induce effective anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge (WAS), the micro-organisms concentration within the sludge were ruptured by a mechanical jet stream and smashed under a pressure of 30 bar. Using this procedure, the HS concentration was decreased from 30-50 mg/l of intact WAS to 27-240 g/l.     

Surfactant in the gas mantle of the snail Helix aspersa

Surfactant occurs in cyclically inflating and deflating, gas-holding structures of vertebrates to reduce the surface tension of the inner fluid lining, thereby preventing collapse and decreasing the work of inflation. Here we determined the presence of surfactant in material lavaged from the airspace in the gas mantle of the pulmonate snail Helix aspersa. Surfactant is characterized by the presence of disaturated phospholipid (DSP), especially disaturated phosphatidylcholine (PC), lavaged from the airspace, by the presence of lamellated osmiophilic bodies (LBs) in the airspaces and epithelial tissue, and by the ability of the lavage to reduce surface tension of fluid in a surface balance. Lavage had a DSP/phospholipid (PL) ratio of 0.085, compared to 0.011 in membranes, with the major PL being PC (45.3%). Cholesterol, the primary fluidizer for pulmonary surfactant, was similar in lavage and in lipids extracted from cell homogenates (cholesterol/PL: 0.04 and 0. 03, respectively). LBs were found in the tissues and airspaces. The surface activity of the lavage material is defined as the ability to reduce surface tension under compression to values much lower than that of water. In addition, surface-active lipids will vary surface tension, increasing it upon inspiration as the surface area expands. By these criteria, the surface activity of lavaged material was poor and most similar to that shown by pulmonary lavage of fish and toads. Snail surfactant displays structures, a biochemical PL profile, and biophysical properties similar to surfactant obtained from primitive fish, teleost swim bladders, the lung of the Dipnoan Neoceratodus forsteri, and the amphibian Bufo marinus. However, the cholesterol/PL and cholesterol/DSP ratios are more similar to the amphibian B. marinus than to the fish, and this similarity may indicate a crucial physicochemical relationship for these lipids.     

Stabilization of waste-activated sludge through the anoxic-aerobic digestion process

During the aerobic digestion process, the nitrogen which had been embedded in the activated sludge is solubilized to form ammoniacal and nitric nitrogen which are in turn transferred to the liquor and cause the increase of nitrogen loading in the sewage treatment plant. In this study, the anoxic-aerobic sludge digestion system which is a modified form of the conventional aerobic sludge digestion is made up of aerobic and anoxic tanks and are designed to remove both the volatile suspended solids and the total nitrogen (TN) simultaneously. The removal efficiencies of both VSS and TN were investigated by feeding waste-activated sludge continuously and semicontinuously. The maximum percent reduction of both VSS and TN was achieved at a Q(r)/Q(s) ratio of 2 in the continuous process. The semicontinuous process was used to improve the nitrogen removal efficiency further. In the semicontinuous process, the VSS reduction efficiency as well as the nitrogen removal efficiency increased remarkably under a constant Q(r)/Q(s) ratio of 2. This process also achieved a VSS reduction efficiency higher than the aerobic digestion process (control). It was suggested that the additional anoxic tank enhanced the sludge digestion. Furthermore, the anoxic-aerobic digestion system can be applied to other treatment media like the primary sludge, industrial sludge, animal manure, etc.     

Petroleum coke supplementation for enhanced biogas production and phosphate removal under mesophilic conditions

The use of carbon-based conductive materials has been shown to lead to an increase in biogas and methane yields during anaerobic digestion (AD). The effect of these additives on AD using synthetic substrates has been extensively studied, yet their significance for wastewater sludge digestion has not been adequately investigated. Therefore, the aim of this research was to optimize the concentration of petroleum coke (PC) that is a waste by-product of oil refineries, for the anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge and investigation of phosphate removal in the AD process in the mesophilic temperature range. According to the results of the experiments, supplementing reactors with PC could significantly improve biogas and methane production. Supplementation of reactors with 1.5 g/L PC led to 23.40 ± 0.26% and 42.55 ± 3.97% increase in biogas production and methane generation, respectively. Moreover, the average volatile solids (VS), phosphate, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals were 43.43 ± 0.73, 46.74 ± 0.77%, and 60.40 ± 0.38%, respectively.     

Minimization of excess sludge production by in-situ activated sludge treatment processes — A comprehensive review

The widespread application of conventional activated sludge treatment process has been employed to deal with a variety of municipal and industrial sewage. While the generation of waste activated sludge (WAS) was considerably huge, the management and disposal expenses were substantially costly. A promising process aimed for WAS reduction during the operation process is urgently needed. Thus, increasing attentions emphasizing on the improved or novel sludge reduction processes should be intensively recommended in the future. This review presents the current and emerging technologies for excess sludge minimization within the process of sewage treatment. The ultimate purpose of this paper is to guide or inspire researchers who are seeking feasible and promising technologies (or processes) to tackle the severe WAS problem.     

The role of palmitic acid in pulmonary surfactant: enhancement of surface activity and prevention of inhibition by blood proteins

The surface activity of two surfactant preparations, Lipid Extract Surfactant (LES) and Survanta, was examined during adsorption and dynamic compression using a pulsating bubble surfactometer. At low surfactant phospholipid concentrations (1-2.5 mg/ml), Survanta reduces surface tension at minimum bubble radius faster than LES: however, with continued pulsation LES obtains a lower surface tension. Addition of surfactant-associated protein A (SP-A) to LES significantly reduces the time required to reduce surface tension. Survanta is completely unresponsive to the addition of SP-A in that no further reduction of surface tension is observed. Addition of various blood components has been previously shown to inactivate surfactants in vitro. Addition of fibrinogen to Survanta causes an increase in surface tension when measured in the absence of calcium. When assayed in the presence of calcium, inhibition by fibrinogen is not observed possibly due to aggregation of this protein. Albumin and alpha-globulin strongly inhibit Survanta at physiological serum concentrations both in the presence and absence of calcium. The surface activity of Survanta is also inhibited by lysophosphatidylcholine (lyso-PC). The role of palmitic acid in the surface activity of pulmonary surfactant was examined by adding palmitic acid to LES. At low phospholipid concentrations addition of palmitic acid (10% w/w of the surfactant phospholipid) greatly enhances the surface activity of LES. Maximal enhancement of surface activity and adsorption was observed at or above 7.5% added palmitic acid (w/w of surfactant lipid). LES supplemented with palmitic acid is more resistant to inhibition by fibrinogen, albumin, alpha-globulin and lyso-PC than LES alone, however, the counteraction of blood protein inhibition is not as pronounced as that observed with SP-A.