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

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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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Gonzalez & Hongxiao Guo & Oscar Ortega-Ibáñez & Coert Petri & Jules B. van Lier & Merle de Kreuk & Alexander Hendriks, 2020. "Mild Thermal Pre-Treatment of Waste Activated Sludge to Increase Loading Capacity, Biogas Production, and Solids’ Degradation: A Pilot-Scale Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:22:p:6059-:d:447796
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Akgul, Deniz & Cella, Monica Angela & Eskicioglu, Cigdem, 2017. "Influences of low-energy input microwave and ultrasonic pretreatments on single-stage and temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) of municipal wastewater sludge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 271-282.
    2. Ghasimi, Dara S.M. & de Kreuk, Merle & Maeng, Sung Kyu & Zandvoort, Marcel H. & van Lier, Jules B., 2016. "High-rate thermophilic bio-methanation of the fine sieved fraction from Dutch municipal raw sewage: Cost-effective potentials for on-site energy recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 569-582.
    3. Ruffino, Barbara & Cerutti, Alberto & Campo, Giuseppe & Scibilia, Gerardo & Lorenzi, Eugenio & Zanetti, Mariachiara, 2019. "Improvement of energy recovery from the digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) through intermediate treatments: The effect of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the first-stage digestion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 191-204.
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