Response Surface Methodology to Optimize Methane Production from Mesophilic Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Oily-Biological Sludge and Sugarcane Bagasse

Aiban Abdulhakim Saeed Ghaleb, Shamsul Rahman Mohamed Kutty, Yeek-Chia Ho, Ahmad Hussaini Jagaba, Azmatullah Noor, Abdulnaser Mohammed Al-Sabaeei and Najib Mohammed Yahya Almahbashi
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Aiban Abdulhakim Saeed Ghaleb: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Shamsul Rahman Mohamed Kutty: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Yeek-Chia Ho: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Ahmad Hussaini Jagaba: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Azmatullah Noor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Abdulnaser Mohammed Al-Sabaeei: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Najib Mohammed Yahya Almahbashi: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Oily-biological sludge (OBS) generated from petroleum refineries has high toxicity. Therefore, it needs an appropriate disposal method to reduce the negative impacts on the environment. The anaerobic co-digestion process is an effective method that manages and converts organic waste to energy. For effective anaerobic digestion, a co-substrate would be required to provide a suitable environment for anaerobic bacteria. In oily-biological sludge, the carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio and volatile solids (VS) content are very low. Therefore, it needs to be digested with organic waste that has a high C/N ratio and high VS content. This study investigates the use of sugarcane bagasse (SB) as an effective co-substrate due to its high C/N ratio and high VS content to improve the anaerobic co-digestion process with oily-biological sludge. The sugarcane bagasse also helps to delay the toxicity effect of the methane bacteria. Batch anaerobic co-digestion of oily-biological sludge was conducted with sugarcane bagasse as a co-substrate in twelve reactors with two-liter capacity, each under mesophilic conditions. The interaction effect of a C/N ratio of 20-30 and a VS co-substrate/VS inoculum ratio of 0.06-0.18 on the methane yield (mL CH 4 /g VS removed ) was investigated. Before the anaerobic digestion, thermochemical pre-treatment of the inoculum and co-substrate was conducted using sodium hydroxide to balance their acidic nature and provide a suitable pH environment for methane bacteria. Design and optimization for the mixing ratios were carried out by central composite design-response surface methodology (CCD-RSM). The highest predicted methane yield was found to be 63.52 mL CH 4 /g VS removed , under optimum conditions (C/N ratio of 30 and co-substrate/inoculum ratio of 0.18).

Keywords: anaerobic co-digestion; oily-biological sludge; sugarcane bagasse; biogas; biomethane; bio-fuels; CCD-RSM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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