Mild Thermal Pre-Treatment of Waste Activated Sludge to Increase Loading Capacity, Biogas Production, and Solids’ Degradation: A Pilot-Scale Study

Adrian Gonzalez, Hongxiao Guo, Oscar Ortega-Ibáñez, Coert Petri, Jules B. van Lier, Merle de Kreuk and Alexander Hendriks
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Adrian Gonzalez: Department of Water Management, Sanitary Engineering Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Hongxiao Guo: Department of Water Management, Sanitary Engineering Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Oscar Ortega-Ibáñez: CFEnergia S.A. de C.V. Oil and Gas, Mexico City 06600, Mexico
Coert Petri: Waterschap Rijn en IJssel Waterboard, Postbus 148, 7000 AC Doetinchem, The Netherlands
Jules B. van Lier: Department of Water Management, Sanitary Engineering Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Merle de Kreuk: Department of Water Management, Sanitary Engineering Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Alexander Hendriks: Royal Haskoning DHV Engineering consultancy firm, 6500 AD Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Sludge pre-treatments are emerging as part of the disposal process of solid by-products of wastewater purification. One of their benefits is the increase in methane production rate and/or yield, along with higher loading capacities of existing digesters. In this study, we report the performance of a pilot-scale compartmentalized digester (volume of 18.6 m 3 ) that utilized a mild thermal pre-treatment at 70 °C coupled with hydrogen peroxide dosing. Compared with a reference conventional anaerobic digester, this technique allowed an increased organic loading rate from 1.4 to 4.2 kg volatile solids (VS)/(m 3 d) and an increment in the solids degradation from 40 to 44%. To some extent, these improvements were promoted by the solubilization of the tightly-bound fraction of the extracellular polymeric substances to looser and more accessible fractions without the formation of refractory compounds. In sum, our results suggest that this pre-treatment method could increase the treatment capacity of existing digesters without significant retrofitting.

Keywords: hydrogen peroxide; mild-temperature; pilot-scale; thermal pre-treatment; thermochemical pre-treatment; waste activated sludge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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