Effects of Sludge Concentration and Disintegration/Solubilization Pretreatment Methods on Increasing Anaerobic Biodegradation Efficiency and Biogas Production

Jeong-Yoon Ahn and Soon-Woong Chang
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Jeong-Yoon Ahn: Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, College of Creative Engineering, Kyonggi University, 94 San, Suwon-si 16227, Korea
Soon-Woong Chang: Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, College of Creative Engineering, Kyonggi University, 94 San, Suwon-si 16227, Korea

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: It is urgent to determine suitable municipal sludge treatment solutions to simultaneously minimize the environmental negative impacts and achieve sustainable energy benefits. In this study, different sludge pretreatment techniques were applied and investigated to enhance the sludge solubility and, subsequently, facilitate the anaerobic biodegradation performance of the mixed sludge under different sludge concentrations and pretreatment techniques. The sludge characteristics before and after pretreatment and batch experiments of anaerobic digestion of sludge samples under different conditions were analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the mechanical pretreatment method, alone and in combination with low-temperature heat treatment, significantly improved the sludge solubility, with the highest solubility at 39.23%. The maximum biomethane yield achieved was 0.43 m 3 /kg after 10 d of anaerobic digestion of a 3% sludge sample subjected to mechanical and thermal pretreatment prior to anaerobic biodegradation. In comparison, it took more than 28 d to achieve the same biomethane production with the unpretreated sludge sample. Mechanical pretreatment and subsequent heat treatment showed a high ability to dissolve sludge and, subsequently, accelerate anaerobic digestion, thereby providing promising prospects for increasing the treatment capacity of existing and new sludge treatment plants.

Keywords: sewage sludge treatment; sludge solubilization; sludge pretreatment; anaerobic digestion; methane yield; mechanical pretreatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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