Biogas production from municipal sewage sludge (MSS)

Biogas is produced by anaerobic (oxygen free) digestion of organic materials such as sewage sludge, animal waste, and municipal solid wastes (MSW). As sustainable clean energy carrier biogas is an important source of energy in heat and electricity generation, it is one of the most promising renewable energy sources in the world. Biogas is produced from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic matter, such as manure, MSW, sewage sludge, biodegradable wastes, and agricultural slurry, under anaerobic conditions with the help of microorganism. Biogas is composed of methane (55–75%), carbon dioxide (25–45%), nitrogen (0–5%), hydrogen (0–1%), hydrogen sulfide (0–1%), and oxygen (0–2%). The sewage sludge contains mainly proteins, sugars, detergents, phenols, and lipids. Sewage sludge also includes toxic and hazardous organic and inorganic pollutants sources. The digestion of municipal sewage sludge (MSS) occurs in three basic steps: acidogen, methanogens, and methanogens. During a 30-day digestion period, 80–85% of the biogas is produced in the first 15–18 days. Higher yields were observed within the temperature range of 30–60°C and pH range of 5.5–8.5. The MSS contains low nitrogen and has carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratios of around 40–70. The optimal C/N ratio for the AD should be between 25 and 35. C/N ratio of sludge in small-scale sewage plants is often low, so nitrogen can be added in an inorganic form (ammonia or in organic form) such as livestock manure, urea, or food wastes. Potential production capacity of a biogas plant with a digestion chamber size of 500 m³ was estimated as 20–36 × 10³ Nm³ biogas production per year.     

Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge with switchgrass: Experimental and kinetic evaluation

Sewage sludge removal via anaerobic digestion provides energy production in addition to waste minimization. Several strategies, such as anaerobic co-digestion, were developed to increase energy production from sewage sludge by improving C/N balance. In this study, anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge with an energy crop, namely switchgrass, was evaluated. As a result of studies implemented at different mixing ratios, maximum methane production was measured as 272.06 mLCH₄/gVS at the mixing ratio of 0.4:0.6 (sewage sludge:switchgrass). According to modified kinetic models used for interpretation of synergetic and/or antagonistic effects, anaerobic co-digestion has a synergetic effect on biogas production from both biomass.     

Enhanced methane fermentation of municipal sewage sludge by microbial electrochemical systems integrated with anaerobic digestion

Sewage sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant was fed into a microbial electrochemical system, combined with an anaerobic digester (MES-AD), for enhanced methane production and sludge stabilization. The effect of thermally pretreating the sewage sludge on MES-AD performance was investigated. These results were compared to those obtained from control operations, in which the sludge was not pretreated or MES integration was absent. The soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in the raw sewage sludge after pretreatment was 31% higher than the SCOD in untreated sludge (5804.85 mg/L vs. 4441.46 mg/mL). The methane yield and proportion of methane in biogas generated by the MES-AD were higher than those of the control systems, regardless of the pretreatment process. The maximum methane yield (0.28 L CH₄/g COD) and methane production (1139 mL) were obtained with the MES inoculated with pretreated sewage sludge. Methane yield and production with this system using pretreated sewage were 47% and 56% higher, respectively, than those of the control (0.19 L CH₄/g COD, 730 mL). Additionally, the maximum SCOD removal (89%) and current generation were obtained with the MES inoculated with a pretreated substrate. These results suggested that sewage sludge could be efficiently stabilized with enhanced methane production by synergistic combination of MES-AD system with pretreatment process.     

Roles of calcium-containing alkali materials on dark fermentation and anaerobic digestion: A systematic review

The accelerated chemical-industry has caused a rapid increase of calcium-containing alkali wastes, containing a large amount of calcium, magnesium, aluminum, and iron ions and caused a great risk to environment. Anaerobic digestion or dark fermentation is one of the most promising technologies to recover biogas, such as methane and hydrogen. Nevertheless, the hydrolysis processes of lignocellulosic biomass and waste activated sludge were the rate-limiting step of the biochemical reactions, which focused on pretreatment to improve the biodegradability of substrate. In addition, when some easily acidified wastes, such as kitchen residue, fruit and vegetable waste, and high concentration organic wastewater, are used as substrate to produce hydrogen and methane, volatile fatty acid accumulation often occurs, causing the process instability. Thus, this paper reviewed the main roles of calcium-based alkali materials such as calcium oxide, calcium peroxide and calcium hydroxide on the substrate pretreatment for obtaining high biodegradability, while others (e.g. calcium carbonate, lime and red muds) used as additives for maintaining process stability, thereby increasing biogas yield from anaerobic digestion and dark fermentation.     

Biogas Production and Utilization Potential of Wastewater Treatment Sludge

Abstract

Municipal wastewater treatment plants generate sludge as a by-product of the physical, chemical and biological processes used in the treatment of wastewater. Generally, this sludge must be subject to some form of treatment in order to alter its character. By using anaerobic digestion in the treatment of wastewater sludge, methane gas is produced and it is known as biogas. It must not only be seen as a renewable energy source, but even more as one of the promising solutions to the large environmental problem concerning waste handling, water pollution, CO₂ emission, etc. This article presents the biogas generation from wastewater treatment sludge, its energy potential and also its usage in some treatment plants operated in Turkey. Although the estimation of recoverable energy from municipal wastes and sewage is difficult to assess, total recoverable bioenergy potential is estimated as being 16,920 ktoe. Of this, 1,300 ktoe of municipal wastes and sewage whereas biogas production potential is 1.5–2 Mtoe in Turkey.     

Enhancing biomethanation of municipal waste sludge with grease trap waste as a co-substrate

Grease trap waste (GTW) presents a challenge to wastewater treatment processes due to its slow biodegradation kinetics, high oxygen demand, and risks of pipeline blockage. The objective of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of GTW as an organic-rich co-substrate to improve biomethane production in the anaerobic digestion of municipal waste sludge (MWS) from sewage treatment, one of the most abundant feed materials to municipal anaerobic digesters. Waste characterization confirmed the high organic content of GTW at 138 gVS/L, which was 626% higher than that of MWS (19 gVS/L). The methane potential of GTW approximated 145 L_Methane/L_GTW, which was more than 15 times higher than that of MWS (8.9 L_Methane/L_MWS). When GTW was added as a co-substrate in addition to MWS, the high methane potential and organic content of GTW resulted in significant improvement in methane production during the anaerobic co-digestion of MWS, e.g. a 65% increase at the GTW loading of 5.5 gVS/L, representing a less than 4% (vol/vol) addition of GTW. Thus, the operational feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion using GTW as the co-substrate is enhanced by the insignificant volumetric GTW loading required for significant improvements in methane production. Process inhibition and reduction in biogas production, however, occurred with higher GTW loadings, suggesting the importance of proper GTW loading rates for the implementation of anaerobic co-digestion processes effective in improving biomethanation of municipal waste sludge.     

多元原料混合发酵制备沼气技术研究进展

目前,我国沼气的发酵原料主要是禽畜粪便和农作物秸秆,随着厌氧发酵技术的发展,更多种类废弃物也逐步受到人们的关注。有机废弃物沼气化利用在我国生态文明建设中有着重大意义。论文综述了我国生物质资源,如禽畜粪便、农作物秸秆、农产品加工废弃物、市政有机废弃物和能源作物的特性和作为沼气发酵原料的优缺点,比较了这些原料的沼气生产潜力,探讨了混合原料发酵技术及重要的几种沼气发酵外源添加剂。     

餐厨垃圾与污泥厌氧发酵产气动力学特性研究

对餐厨垃圾、污水厂污泥以及餐厨垃圾与污泥混合甲烷发酵的产气能力与动力学特性进行了实验分析,餐厨垃圾在中温和高温发酵的产甲烷潜能分别是400和426 mL CH4?gVS−1,经过120℃、20 min蒸煮除油后的餐厨垃圾在中温和高温发酵的产甲烷潜能分别是418和531 mL CH4?gVS−1。经Gompertz模型计算,除油后餐厨垃圾的最大产甲烷速率Rmax比除油前提高了49.8%（中温）和19.0%（高温）,但餐厨垃圾中固体有机物的产甲烷速率变化不明显。在餐厨垃圾机械破碎匀浆过程中,部分固体有机物被液化,中、高温发酵产气过程的一级动力学呈现两阶段特征,液相有机物在中温发酵的产甲烷速率（速率常数k = 0.1955 d−1）略快于高温（k = 0.1543 d−1）;而固体有机物在高温条件下的产甲烷速率（k = 0.0804 d−1）快于中温（k = 0.0388 d−1）。除油后餐厨垃圾中的固体有机物和污泥高温发酵的产甲烷速率也快于中温发酵,表明高温发酵有利于提高固体有机物的产气速率。污泥的产气潜能较低,产气速率慢,与餐厨垃圾共发酵有助于调节碱度和防止发酵体系的酸化。     

Hydrogen production at centralized utilization of agricultural waste

There is a problem of utilization of a large amount of organic waste in the agro-industrial complex. Most of the waste is generated on livestock farms (56%) and crop production (35.6%). Centralized biogas plants are a good solution for efficient processing of agricultural waste and biofuel production. An analysis of the possibilities of cow manure utilizing and dry biomass of amaranth with the subsequent hydrogen production was implemented for Tatarstan Republic. The diagram of five large facilities utilizing waste from 7 to 10 districts included in the region is introduced.The diagram of steam catalytic conversion of biogas is specified. The introduced hydrogen production scheme includes: collection of plant waste and manure of livestock complexes for centralized recycling (the optimal mixture of dry biomass of Amaranthus retroflexus L. leaves and cow manure for organic dry matter is 1:1.5); mixture preparation and ultrasonic treatment at a frequency of 22 kHz and an exposure intensity of 10 W/cm2; anaerobic digestion in the mesophilic mode at a temperature of 310 K, the hydraulic retention time is 12 days; the compressor supplying the resulting biogas into the gasholder for intermediate storage; purification of biogas from carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other impurities in the scrubber; steam methane reforming: the biomethane is compressed by a compressor to a pressure of 15 atm., then fed to the reformer, heated, mixed with steam in the ratio H2O/CH4 = 2.5 and subjected to conversion at a temperature of 1073 K and a pressure of 1 atm., before exiting, the resulting gas is cooled to 573 K; the catalytic reactor for carrying out a water vapor conversion reaction in which a mixture of carbon monoxide and steam is converted, the products are hydrogen and carbon dioxide; purification of the obtained hydrogen to a purity of 99.99% vol. In the short-cycle adsorption system; hydrogen supply to the consumer. It is possible to utilize of 4.4 million tons of waste annually, and also to produce 107,341 kg/day of hydrogen with a purity of 99.99% by volume.     

Biogas production and its application in compressed gas

Nowadays, the world is facing critical problem of energy deficit, global warming, and deterioration of the environment. Under the current scenario, the biogas energy source is the most challenging one to cope up with the scarcity of energy. Biogas is a renewable energy source which can be obtained by fermentation of organic matter also known as biomass. The biomass includes livestock waste (cow dung, manure, and uneaten food), food waste, and residues from meat, fish and dairy processing. The present study is to explore the potential of biogas production from cow dung and its usage through compressed form in a cylinder. This stored biogas can be put in use to the extent where it is required and it also reduces transportation costs, which is a major hurdle in the biogas usage. This paper summarizes an idea that can be carried out for effective biogas production, scrubbing, compression, and bottling process.     

Biogas generation potential by anaerobic digestion for sustainable energy development in India

The potential of biogas generation from anaerobic digestion of different waste biomass in India has been studied. Renewable energy from biomass is one of the most efficient and effective options among the various other alternative sources of energy currently available. The anaerobic digestion of biomass requires less capital investment and per unit production cost as compared to other renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar and wind. Further, renewable energy from biomass is available as a domestic resource in the rural areas, which is not subject to world price fluctuations or the supply uncertainties as of imported and conventional fuels. In India, energy demand from various sectors is increased substantially and the energy supply is not in pace with the demand which resulted in a deficit of 11,436 MW which is equivalent to 12.6% of peak demand in 2006. The total installed capacity of bioenergy generation till 2007 from solid biomass and waste to energy is about 1227 MW against a potential of 25,700 MW. The bioenergy potential from municipal solid waste, crop residue and agricultural waste, wastewater sludge, animal manure, industrial waste which includes distilleries, dairy plants, pulp and paper, poultry, slaughter houses, sugar industries is estimated. The total potential of biogas from all the above sources excluding wastewater has been estimated to be 40,734 Mm³/year.     

厨余和污泥不同混合比例碱处理产氢特性研究

以厨余垃圾和污泥为反应底物,加热预处理的污泥为发酵接种物,考察了碱处理下厨余与污泥不同混合比例的发酵产氢特性。结果表明:不同pH碱液对厨余垃圾进行预处理后,其效果以pH=13时最佳,预处理3h后SCOD和还原糖含量分别为31316.8mg/L和5.54mg/mL;碱预处理后的污泥与厨余联合发酵能够改善物料的营养平衡,缩短反应延迟时间到1h内;当厨余与污泥混和比例为5:1时为本试验最佳的试验条件,其氢气含量、比产氢速率峰值和氢产率分别为52.69%,1.73mL H_2/(h·gVS)和50.27mL H_2/gVS。     

Two-stage anaerobic dry digestion of blue mussel and reed

Blue mussels and reeds were explored as a new biomass type in the Kalmar County of Sweden to improve renewable transport fuel production in the form of biogas. Anaerobic digestion of blue mussels and reeds was performed at a laboratory-scale to evaluate biogas production in a two-stage dry digestion system. The two-stage system consisted of a leach bed reactor and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. The two-stage system was efficient for the digestion of blue mussels, including shells, and a methane yield of 0.33 m³/kg volatile solids (VS) was obtained. The meat fraction of blue mussels was easily solubilised in the leach bed reactor and the soluble organic materials were rapidly converted in the UASB reactor from which 68% of the methane was produced. However, the digestion of mussels including shells gave low production capacity, which may result in a less economically viable biogas process. A low methane potential, 0.22 m³/kg VS, was obtained in the anaerobic two-stage digestion of reeds after 107 days; however, it was comparable to similar types of biomass, such as straw. About 80% of the methane was produced in the leach bed reactor. Hence, only a leach bed reactor (dry digestion) may be needed to digest reed. The two-stage anaerobic digestion of blue mussels and reeds resulted in an energy potential of 16.6 and 10.7 GWh/year, respectively, from the estimated harvest amounts. Two-stage anaerobic digestion of new organic materials such as blue mussels and reeds can be a promising biomass resource as land-based biomass start to be limited and conflict with food resources can be avoided.     

Potential and cost of electricity generation from human and animal waste in Spain

The energy contents of human and animal waste generated in Spain is estimated, as is the electricity that could be potentially generated from such waste. The waste considered is municipal solid waste, sewage sludge and livestock manure; several energy-recovery options are analyzed for the first one, viz the collection of landfill gas, incineration and anaerobic digestion. To estimate the potential, we use geo-referenced statistical human and animal population data disaggregated to the county level. This level of disaggregation allows the implementation of a cost model for the transformation of the waste into electricity, using a variety of technologies. The model considers the cost of transporting the waste to the transformation plant, and takes into account the economies of scale afforded by larger plants for the combined treatment of the waste in the county. The result is a generation-cost curve, which sorts by increasing costs the generation potential in the whole of the territory. The overall limits, in terms of primary energy and without considering alternative uses for the waste are between 725 and 4438 ktoe/y (depending on the energy-recovery method) for municipal solid waste; 142 ktoe/y for sewage sludge; and 1794 ktoe/y for livestock manure. The cost of the electricity generated depends greatly on the type of residue and the technology used for the transformation. Thus, the most economical option is the incineration of municipal solid waste, with an entry cost of around 4 c€/kWh. The generation entry-costs from livestock manure and sewage sludge are on the other hand in excess of 8 c€/kWh.     

Influence of the temperature and hydraulic retention time in bioelectrochemical anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge

At ambient temperature (25 °C), bioelectrochemical anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge was investigated with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days and compared to that at a mesophilic condition (35 °C). The methane production and methane content in the biogas at ambient temperature were 612.8 mL/L·d and 73.3%, respectively, which were not significantly lower than that of the mesophilic condition. Additionally, the VS removal was 54.5% which was similar for both temperature conditions. However, for a HRT of 20 days, the bioelectrochemical anaerobic digestion at ambient temperature became more stable, and the VS removal improved up to 65.0%. For the HRT of 10 days, the net energy production at ambient temperature was about 168 kJ/L·d, which was similar to the mesophilic condition; however, the apparent energy efficiency at ambient temperature was 249.2% which was significantly higher than 197.7% at the mesophilic condition. The bioelectrochemical anaerobic digestion that can save the thermal energy input at ambient temperature is recommended for the treatment of organic waste including sewage sludge in moderate and cold climate regions.     

Effect of thermal, chemical and thermo-chemical pre-treatments to enhance methane production

The rise in oil price triggered the exploration and enhancement of various renewable energy sources. Producing biogas from organic waste is not only providing a clean sustainable indigenous fuel to the number of on-farm digesters in Europe, but also reducing the ecological and environmental deterioration. The lignocellulosic substrates are not completely biodegraded in anaerobic digesters operating at commercial scale due to their complex physical and chemical structure, which result in meager energy recovery in terms of methane yield. The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of pre-treatments: thermal, thermo-chemical and chemical pre-treatments on the biogas and methane potential of dewatered pig manure. A laboratory scale batch digester is used for these pre-treatments at different temperature range (25 °C-150 °C). Results showed that thermo-chemical pretreatment has high effect on biogas and methane potential in the temperature range (25–100 °C). Maximum enhancement is observed at 70 °C with increase of 78% biogas and 60% methane production. Thermal pretreatment also showed enhancement in the temperature range (50–10 °C), with maximum enhancement at 100 °C having 28% biogas and 25% methane increase.     

Kinetic and performance study of a batch two-phase anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable wastes

Anaerobic digestion of a simulated organic fraction of the waste of a central market selling fruit and vegetables was carried out in two-phase digesters in the mesophilic range of temperatures. Batch digestion was prolonged until no biogas was produced (33 days). With digested pig manure as inoculum, maximum biogas production was obtained around day 10, and within 3 weeks the digestion was almost complete. A kinetic analysis was carried out using first-order, Monod and Chen-Hashimoto models. The Chen-Hashimoto model represents the best fit, whereas a first-order model was not consistent with the experimental results.     

Economic and environmental assessment on the energetic valorization of organic material for a municipality in Quebec, Canada

Waste-to-energy provides a solution to two problems: waste management and energy generation. An integrated anaerobic waste valorization process is an interesting option, but because of investments cost and low energy value in the province of Quebec, it is hard for a municipality to commit to that solution. This paper investigated the economic possibilities to manage organic material, organic fraction of municipal solid waste, and municipal wastewater sludge by anaerobic digestion for a 150,000 inhabitant municipality, with consideration to energy generation and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Using the biogas to co-generation solution brings a payback time on investment (PBT) of 3.7 years with electricity price at 0.10 $Cdn/kW h. The addition of manure from surrounding farms increases the biogas production by 37%, but increases the PBT to 6.8 years unless the leftover digestate can be used for agronomic valorization; then it becomes economically advantageous. The natural gas purchasing cost is too low to promote the enrichment of biogas into renewable natural gas. However, this scenario has the lowest energetic payback time (3.3 years) and reduces the most greenhouse gas emissions (4261 tCO₂eq/a).     

Bioelectrochemical enhancement of hydrogen and methane production from the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in single-chamber membrane-free microbial electrolysis cells

Batch tests were carried out to investigate the bioelectrochemical enhancement of hydrogen and methane production from the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in single-chamber membrane-free microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) and non-MECs. Hydrogen and methane were produced from the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in all reactors. Compared with controls, hydrogen production was enhanced 1.7–5.2-fold, and methane production 11.4–13.6-fold with Ti/Ru electrodes at applied voltages of 1.4 and 1.8 V, respectively. Most of hydrogen was produced in the first 5 days of digestion and most of methane was generated after 5 days. No oxygen was detected in the biogas and no hydrogen production was detected in the control test with water. The applied voltages can enhance the removal of suspended and volatile suspended solids, increase the transformation of soluble chemical oxygen demand, accelerate the conversion of volatile fatty acids and maintain an optimal pH range for methanogen growth.     

Optimization of bio-methanol production from goat manure in single stage bio-reactor

Most of the previous studies only focused on either the production of biogas or liquid fuel, but this study introduces the production of bio-methane and bio-methanol in a batch bio-reactor. The optimization of the process was conducted via response surface method using Design Expert 6.0.10. Proximate and ultimate analysis of the solid waste from papaya peel, banana peel, vegetable waste, leftover rice, bagasse, pineapple peel, goat manure and poultry waste were conducted. The biogas content was analyzed using a gas chromatograph equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD), while bio-fuel was analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The screening test indicated that waste from goats fed grass and soy pellets was used for the bio-methanol production profiles because this biomass has the highest carbon (36.16%) and volatile solid (12.44 wt%) of the various tested biomass. From the profile analysis, the maximum value of bio-methanol produced is 2.49% with 74.24% of methane. The design of experiments shows that the actual bio-methanol concentration values vary from 0.51 to 5.19 gL^?1, and these values are not significantly different from the values (0.45–4.51 gL^?1) predicted by the model. The optimal conditions for the production of bio-methanol were temperature of 32.72 °C, 11 days of hydraulic retention time and 0.40 g/L cell concentration for the production of 6.80 gL^?1 bio-methanol. The results showed that the goat manure had the most potential for bio-methanol production.