Development of a Primary Sewage Sludge Pretreatment Strategy Using a Combined Alkaline–Ultrasound Pretreatment for Enhancing Microbial Electrolysis Cell Performance

Hwijin Seo, Anna Joicy, Myoung Eun Lee, Chaeyoung Rhee, Seung Gu Shin, Si-Kyung Cho and Yongtae Ahn ()
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Hwijin Seo: Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 52828, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
Anna Joicy: Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 52828, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
Myoung Eun Lee: Department of Environmental Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 52828, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
Chaeyoung Rhee: Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 52828, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
Seung Gu Shin: Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 52828, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
Si-Kyung Cho: Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Dongguk University, 32 Dongguk-ro, Goyang 10326, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea
Yongtae Ahn: Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 52828, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Ultrasound and combined alkaline–ultrasound pretreatment (AUP) strategies were examined for primary sewage sludge (SS) disintegration and were utilized to evaluate the degree of solubilization (DS). Further, the pretreated primary SS was operated in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) to maximize methane production and thereby improve the reactor performance. The highest DS of 67.2% of primary SS was recorded with the AUP. MEC reactors operated with the AUP showed the highest methane production (240 ± 6.4 mL g VS in −1 ). VS (61.1%) and COD (72.2%) removal in the MEC ALK-US showed the best organic matter removal efficiency. In the modified Gompertz analysis, the substrate with the highest degree of solubilization (AUP) had the shortest lag phase (0.2 ± 0.1 d). This implies that forced hydrolysis via pretreatment could enhance biodegradability, thereby making it easy for microorganisms to consume and leading to improved MEC performances. Microbial analysis implicitly demonstrated that pretreatment expedited the growth of hydrolytic bacteria ( Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes ), and a syntrophic interaction with electroactive microorganisms ( Smithella ) and hydrogenotrophic methanogens ( Methanoculleus ) was enriched in the MECs with AUP sludge. This suggests that the AUP strategy could be useful to enhance anaerobic digestion performance and provide a new perspective on treating primary SS in an economical way.

Keywords: primary sewage sludge; microbial electrolysis cell; combined alkaline–ultrasound pretreatment; hydrolysis; methane production (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: 2023
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