Final treatments for anaerobically digested piggery slurry effluents

Different final treatments for light fractions from anaerobically digested pig wastes (1 mm) and coarse fractions (> 2 mm or obtained by flocculation) have been carried out. Coarse fractions may be treated in a batch reactor for a long residence time (60 days), at 35°C, in order to produce a significant volume of methane-rich biogas and a semisolid residue suitable to be used as a fertilizer. Final processings for light fractions, flocculation (by means of inorganic additives and organic polymers), aerobic digestion and chemical oxidation were investigated with the aim of improving chemical oxygen demand (COD) elimination. Results of an integral process—consisting of anaerobic digestion of both light fractions in a continuous reactor, and coarse fractions in a batch reactor, followed by a final effluent treatment—are also included, with the double aim of biogas production and COD reduction.     

Biohydrogen production from specified risk materials co-digested with cattle manure

Biohydrogen production from the anaerobic digestion of specified risk materials (SRM) co-digested with cattle manure was assessed in a 3 × 5 factorial design. Total organic loading rates (OLR) of 10, 20, and 40 g L⁻¹ volatile solids (VS) were tested using manure:SRM (wt/wt) mixtures of 100:0 (control), 90:10, 80:20, 60:40, and 50:50 using five 2 L continuously stirred biodigesters operating at 55 °C. Gas samples were taken daily to determine hydrogen production, and slurry samples were analyzed daily for volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), and VS degradation. Hydrogen production (mL g⁻¹ VS fed) varied quadratically according to OLR (P < 0.01), with maximum production at OLR20, while production decreased linearly (P < 0.0001) as SRM concentration increased. Reduced hydrogen production associated with SRM inclusion at >10% VS may be attributed to a rapid increase in TAN (r = −0.55) or other inhibitors such as long chain fatty acids. Reduced hydrogen production (P < 0.01) at OLR40 versus OLR20 may be related to increased rate of VFA accumulation and final VFA concentration (P < 0.001), as well as inhibition due to hydrogen accumulation (P < 0.001). Biohydrogen production from SRM co-digested with cattle manure may not be feasible on an industrial scale due to reduced hydrogen production with increasing levels of SRM.     

Sequential production of hydrogen and methane using hemicellulose hydrolysate from diluted acid pretreatment of sugarcane straw

Sugarcane straw is not effectively used in the industry currently. However, sugarcane straw hemicellulose hydrolyzate (HH) application as raw material for H₂ and CH₄ production is a promising alternative. In this work, the two-stage anaerobic digestion (TS-AD) approach led to 37.86 mL_H2/L.h and 40.12 mL_CH4/L.d, while the single-stage anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) generated 46.11 mL_CH4/L.d. Hence, the two-stage process was energetically favorable than the single-stage by approximately 33%. Additionally, the comparison with standard medium (composed of glucose, xylose, and arabinose) applied as raw material indicated that although hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural from HH were not responsible for the decrease in H₂ production, they extended the adaptive phase of methanogenic archaea during the methanogenesis. Hemicellulose hydrolysate is an attractive raw material for two-stage anaerobic digestion.     

Energy recovery from dairy waste-waters: impacts of biofilm support systems on anaerobic CST reactors

Anaerobic digestion is one of the major steps involved in the treatment of dairy industry waste-waters and many CSTRs (continuously-stirred tank reactors) are functioning for this purpose all over the world. In this paper, the authors describe their attempts to upgrade a CSTR's performance by incorporating a biofilm support system (BSS) within the existing reactor. The focus of the work was to find an inexpensive and easy to install BSS which could significantly enhance the rates of waste treatment and methane recovery. Rolls of nylon mesh (with 1 mm openings), of 5 cm height and 2 cm dia, when incorporated in the CSTR at the biofilm surface (with a digester volume ratio 0.3 cm²/cm³), enabled the CSTR to perform better with > 20% improvement in the methane yield. Such simple BSS devices can significantly improve the performance of a CSTR anaerobic digester treating dairy wastes. The enhancement is due to the development of active biofilms which not only enhance the microorganism-waste contact but also reduce the microbial washout. Such devices are inexpensive and very easy to incorporate — the gains are thus achieved with very little cost and effort.     

Principles and potential of the anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge

When treating municipal wastewater, the disposal of sludge is a problem of growing importance, representing up to 50% of the current operating costs of a wastewater treatment plant. Although different disposal routes are possible, anaerobic digestion plays an important role for its abilities to further transform organic matter into biogas (60–70 vol% of methane, CH₄), as thereby it also reduces the amount of final sludge solids for disposal whilst destroying most of the pathogens present in the sludge and limiting odour problems associated with residual putrescible matter. Anaerobic digestion thus optimises WWTP costs, its environmental footprint and is considered a major and essential part of a modern WWTP. The potential of using the biogas as energy source has long been widely recognised and current techniques are being developed to upgrade quality and to enhance energy use. The present paper extensively reviews the principles of anaerobic digestion, the process parameters and their interaction, the design methods, the biogas utilisation, the possible problems and potential pro-active cures, and the recent developments to reduce the impact of the problems. After having reviewed the basic principles and techniques of the anaerobic digestion process, modelling concepts will be assessed to delineate the dominant parameters. Hydrolysis is recognised as rate-limiting step in the complex digestion process. The microbiology of anaerobic digestion is complex and delicate, involving several bacterial groups, each of them having their own optimum working conditions. As will be shown, these groups are sensitive to and possibly inhibited by several process parameters such as pH, alkalinity, concentration of free ammonia, hydrogen, sodium, potassium, heavy metals, volatile fatty acids and others. To accelerate the digestion and enhance the production of biogas, various pre-treatments can be used to improve the rate-limiting hydrolysis. These treatments include mechanical, thermal, chemical and biological interventions to the feedstock. All pre-treatments result in a lysis or disintegration of sludge cells, thus releasing and solubilising intracellular material into the water phase and transforming refractory organic material into biodegradable species. Possible techniques to upgrade the biogas formed by removing CO₂, H₂S and excess moisture will be summarised. Special attention will be paid to the problems associated with siloxanes (SX) possibly present in the sludge and biogas, together with the techniques to either reduce their concentration in sludge by preventive actions such as peroxidation, or eliminate the SX from the biogas by adsorption or other techniques. The reader will finally be guided to extensive publications concerning the operation, control, maintenance and troubleshooting of anaerobic digestion plants.     

Enhanced biogas production from anaerobic co-digestion of municipal wastewater treatment sludge and fat,oil and grease (FOG) by a modified two-stage thermophilic digester system with selected thermo-chemical pre-treatment

Anaerobic co-digestions with fat, oil and grease (FOG) were investigated in two-stage thermophilic (55 °C) semi-continuous flow co-digestion systems. One two-stage co-digestion system (System I) was modified to incorporate a thermo-chemical pre-treatment of pH = 10 at 55 °C, which was the best pre-treatment condition for FOG co-digestion identified during laboratory-scale biochemical methane potential (BMP) testing. The other two-stage co-digestion system (System II) was operated without a pre-treatment process. The anaerobic digester of each digestion system had a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 days. An organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.83 ± 0.09 g TVS/L·d was applied to each digestion system. It was found that System I effectively enhanced biogas production as the thermo-chemical pre-treatment improved the substrate hydrolysis including increased COD solubilization and VFA concentrations. Overall, the modified System I yielded a 25.14 ± 2.14 L/d biogas production rate, which was substantially higher than the 18.73 ± 1.11 L/d obtained in the System II.     

Influence of UK energy policy on the deployment of anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion (AD) has the potential to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions reductions, improve energy security, increase generation of decentralised renewable electrical and thermal energy, produce low-impact fertiliser and enhance adherence to the principles of proximity as well as self-sufficiency in waste treatment, in energy generation and in resource use. Financial viability is scrutinised investigating optimal logistic pre-conditions such as catchment area or plant size. Given that a breakthrough in deployment does not only depend on technical aspects, the relative importance and magnitude of the necessary incentives is discussed. The influence of policy instruments is studied by devising different incentive scenarios for the United Kingdom. Substantial and predictable rewards for renewable electricity and heat are essential to harness the full potential of AD in addition to the current emphasis on landfill tax. A possible configuration of energy supply companies as a crucial vehicle to bring anaerobic digestion to market is highlighted.     

Effects of pretreatment methods on solubilization of beet-pulp and bio-hydrogen production yield

Sugar processing wastewater and beet-pulp are two major waste streams of sugar-beet processing plants. Contrary to wastewater, beet-pulp is generally used as animal feed in cattle-raising industry. However, it can serve as a substrate for bio-hydrogen production which corresponds to a higher valorization of beet-pulp. Moreover, pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials like beet-pulp is needed in order to improve overall energy efficiency and enable economic feasibility of bio-hydrogen production. Therefore, the effect pretreatment methods (alkaline, thermal, microwave, thermal-alkaline and microwave-alkaline) on bio-hydrogen production from sugar beet-pulp through dark fermentation were investigated in this study. Reactors pretreated with alkaline, microwave-alkaline and thermal-alkaline methods yielded significant solubilization of beet-pulp compared to others. Therefore, in the second phase of the study, they were used to pretreat the beet-pulp which was then subjected to dark fermentation for bio-hydrogen production. Maximum bio-hydrogen production yield of 115.6 mL H₂/g COD was observed in reactor which contained alkaline pretreated beet-pulp.