Enhanced biohydrogen production from waste activated sludge in combined strategy of chemical pretreatment and microbial electrolysis

Cascade conversion methods are required to treat waste sludge (WAS) targeting at abundant biomass embedded in its cells and extracellular polymer. Two limiting factors have to overcome to obtain efficient conversion: (i) low release of soluble organics in raw WAS; (ii) limited conversion rate from organics to energy. Combined strategy of effective chemical pretreatment and microbial electrolysis was tested. Four kinds of chemicals (SDS, NaOH, peracetic-acid and β-cyclodextrin) were chosen to enhance volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production and following effects on hydrogen production and energy recovery by microbial electrolysis was further studied. The highest VFAs concentration was accumulated to 4712.69 mgCOD/L by β-CD within 3 days, which was increased to 4 times of unpretreated WAS. Other three chemicals respectively achieved ∼2.5-fold increase by SDS and PAA, and ∼2-fold increase by NaOH. However, the highest hydrogen yield was 8.5 mgH₂/gVSS with energy efficiency of 138% ± 8% by SDS pretreatment. The pretreatment substantially affects VFAs components, reflected on cascade changing of current and hydrogen production rate. The cascade conversion indicated that accumulation of acetate and propionate in SDS pretreatment benefited the most hydrogen production in combined strategy.     

Effect of Ni2+ concentration on fermentative hydrogen production using waste activated sludge as substrate

The influence of Ni²⁺ concentration on biohydrogen production was investigated using waste activated sludge as substrate. The degradation of substrate, accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and distribution of microbial community were analyzed to provide information for influencing mechanisms of Ni²⁺ addition. The experimental results demonstrated that the efficiency of hydrogen fermentation from waste activated sludge could be significantly improved. The optimal Ni²⁺ concentration was 5 mg/L, and under this concentration, the cumulative hydrogen production was 1.29 times of the control group. The degradation of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) increased from 25.21% to 27.69% when the added Ni²⁺ concentration was 5 mg/L. The analysis of microbial community distribution revealed that Ni²⁺ decreased the microbial diversity, and provided more suitable condition for the microbial growth and activity of hydrogen-producers. Citrobacter was the dominant hydrogen-producers in the control group, they changed into Enterococcus when 5 mg/L Ni²⁺ was added. Besides, the proportion of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, which is regarded as the primary hydrogen-producing bacteria under numerous operating conditions, was also significantly increased in the presence of Ni²⁺.     

Improving hydrogen production from the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge: Effects of cobalt and iron zero valent nanoparticles

Recently, different metallic additives have been studied to improve biohydrogen production, such as salts or oxides with iron and nickel. The results have been positive in simple systems, but there are very few studies of the use of nanoparticles of iron and cobalt in systems that use complex substrates such as sludge. In the present study, the effects on hydrogen production from anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge by zero valent iron nanoparticles (NZVI) and cobalt (CoNP) dosage were investigated. The maximum hydrogen yields were reached with 7 mg/gVS for both additives, 5.74 and 5.40 mLH₂/gVS_added, for NZVI and CoNP, respectively. In contrast, a low yield was observed in the control reactor (1.79 mLH₂/gVS_added), representing increases of over 200%. The dosage of CoNP and NZVI decreased the redox potential and increased the volatile fatty acid concentration, mainly acetic acid. The results indicate that NZVI and CoNP stimulate the early stages of anaerobic digestion of sludge.     

Biohydrogen production from dual digestion pretreatment of poultry slaughterhouse sludge by anaerobic self-fermentation

Poultry slaughterhouse sludge from chicken processing wastewater treatment plant was tested for their suitability as a substrate and inoculum source for fermentation hydrogen production. Dual digestion of poultry slaughterhouse sludge was employed to produce hydrogen by batch anaerobic self-fermentation without any extra-seeds. The sludge (5% TS) was dual digested by aerobic thermophilic digestion at 55 °C with the varying retention time before using as substrate in anaerobic self-fermentation. The best digestion time for enriching hydrogen-producing seeds was 48 h as it completely repressed methanogenic activity and gave the maximum hydrogen yield of 136.9 mL H₂/g TS with a hydrogen production rate of 2.56 mL H₂/L/h. The hydrogen production of treated sludge at 48 h (136.9 mL H₂/g TS) was 15 times higher than that of the raw sludge (8.83 mL H₂/g TS). With this fermentation process, tCOD value in the activated sludge could be reduced up to 30%.     

Hydrogen production from waste activated sludge by using separation membrane acid fermentation reactor and photosynthetic reactor

The possibility and characteristics of hydrogen production from waste activated sludge were investigated using separation membrane acid fermentation reactor (AR) and photosynthetic reactor (PR). The AR used submerged and external separation membranes and it was followed by the PR. The COD removal efficiencies in the AR with submerged and external separation membrane were about 65% and 40%, respectively. More VFA was produced in the AR with external separation membrane than AR with submerged separation membrane. Hydrogen was produced in the PR but not in the AR and hydrogen productions in the PR connected with submerged membrane AR and external membrane AR were about 50.1 and 160.5 ml _H2/g${\mathrm{H}}_2/\mathrm{g}$ T-VFA, respectively.     

Investigation of anaerobic digestion of Chlorella sp. and Micractinium sp. grown in high-nitrogen wastewater and their co-digestion with waste activated sludge

This study investigated two wildtype green algae, Micractinium sp. and Chlorella sp., for their growth in high nitrogen wastewater (mixture of sludge centrate and primary effluent wastewater) and subsequent anaerobic digestion under mesophilic conditions. Extraction and analysis of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in both algal species during cultivation showed that Micractinium generated larger quantity of EPS-proteins than Chlorella. Anaerobic digestion of harvested algae showed the opposite trend that Chlorella allowed a higher CH₄ yield on the volatile solids fed the digester (VS_fed) of 230 dm³ kg⁻¹ than Micractinium (209 dm³ kg⁻¹). These results suggested that different growth patterns of two types of algae, with different quantity of EPS expressed, affected anaerobic digestibility and biogas yield. Co-digestion of algae with waste activated sludge (WAS) improved the volatile solids reduction, hydrolysis efficiency as well as the biogas yields of algae.     

Optimization of high-solid waste activated sludge concentration for hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells and microbial community diversity analysis

To enhance hydrogen recovery from high-solid waste activated sludge (WAS), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) were used as an efficient device. The effects of WAS concentrations were firstly investigated. Optimal concentration for hydrogen production was 7.6 g VSS/L. Maximum hydrogen yields reached to 4.66 ± 1.90 mg-H₂/g VSS and 11.42 ± 2.43 mg-H₂/g VSS for MECs fed with raw WAS (R-WAS) and alkaline-pretreated WAS (A-WAS) respectively, which was much higher than that obtained traditional anaerobic digestion. Moreover, no propionic acid accumulation was achieved at the optimal concentration. Effective sludge reduction was also achieved in MECs feeding with A-WAS. 52.9 ± 1.3% TCOD were removed in A-WAS MECs, meanwhile, protein degradation were 50.4 ± 0.8%. The 454 pyrosequencing analysis of 16S rRNA gene revealed the syntrophic interactions were existed between exoelectrogen Geobacter and fermentative bacteria Petrimonas, which apparently drove the efficient performance of MECs fed with WAS.     

Surfactant-assisted green liquor dregs pretreatment to enhance the digestibility of paper mill sludge

This study optimizes a novel surfactant-assisted green liquor dregs (GLD) pretreatment of paper mill sludge (PMS), both of which are wastes from the kraft pulping industry, using a combined Response Surface Methodology (RSM) design. Optimized conditions give a maximal reducing sugar release of 16.38 g/L. A substantial reduction in heavy metals aluminum, chromium, cobalt, arsenic, lead, and copper after pretreatment illustrates the enhancement of substrate digestibility by reducing toxic elements. Separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for hydrogen production are assessed. SSF produced a hydrogen yield of 3.72 mL/g, displaying a 36.26% increase from pretreated PMS compared to SHF. These findings provide insights into possible methods of reducing process duration, energy input, and costs incurred with waste disposal within the paper industry. Furthermore, improved hydrogen yield using an SSF process demonstrates the potential beneficiation of pulp and paper GLD and PMS wastes.     

Hydrogen production from shrimp mariculture waste based on sludge pretreatment by heating

Salt-containing wastes have increased in abundance in recent years. In this study, we investigated hydrogen production from intensive shrimp mariculture organic waste in batch culture experiments. Sludge samples were pretreated at different temperatures (50–110 °C) and for various time periods (10–120 min) to enrich the hydrogen-producing microflora. The results showed that all of the thermal pretreatments achieved higher hydrogen yields compared with those obtained in the experiments without heat treatment. Pretreatment at 70 °C achieved the maximum hydrogen yield. Different heat pretreatment time periods between 30 and 120 min had little influence on the hydrogen yield. Considering the energy consumption of the pretreatment process, 30 min at 70 °C were selected as the optimum pretreatment conditions. Microbial community DNA analysis and the diversity of the hydA gene showed that the number of bacterial species and the hydA gene diversity decreased as the pretreatment temperature increased.     

Feasibility of biohydrogen production by anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge

Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge for hydrogen production was performed in serum bottles under various volatile solids (VS) concentrations (0.5–5.0%) and mixing ratios of two substrates (0:100–100:0, VS basis). Through response surface methodology, empirical equations for hydrogen evolution were obtained. The specific hydrogen production potential of food waste was higher than that of sewage sludge. However, hydrogen production potential increased as sewage sludge composition increased up to 13–19% at all the VS concentrations. The maximum specific hydrogen production potential of 122.9 ml/g carbohydrate-COD was found at the waste composition of 87:13 (food waste:sewage sludge) and the VS concentration of 3.0%. The relationship between carbohydrate concentration, protein concentration, and hydrogen production potential indicated that enriched protein by adding sewage sludge might enhance hydrogen production potential. The maximum specific hydrogen production rate was 111.2 ml H₂/g VSS/h. Food waste and sewage sludge were, therefore, considered as a suitable main substrate and a useful auxiliary substrate, respectively, for hydrogen production. The metabolic results indicated that the fermentation of organic matters was successfully achieved and the characteristics of the heat-treated seed sludge were similar to those of anaerobic spore-forming bacteria, Clostridium sp.     

Combined effects of temperature and pH on biohydrogen production by anaerobic digested sludge

A full factorial design was conducted to investigate the combined effects of temperatures and initial pH on fermentative hydrogen production by mixed cultures in batch tests. The experimental results showed that the modified Logistic model can be used to describe the progress of cumulative hydrogen production in the batch tests of this study. The modified Ratkowsky model can be used to describe the combined effects of the temperatures and initial pH on the substrate degradation efficiency, hydrogen yield and average hydrogen production rate. The temperatures and initial pH had interactive impact on fermentative hydrogen production. The maximum substrate degradation efficiency, the maximum hydrogen yield and the maximum average hydrogen production rate was predicted at the temperature of 37.8 °C and the initial pH of 7.1, 37.4 °C and 6.9, and 38.2 °C and 7.2, respectively. In general, the optimal temperature for the fermentative hydrogen production was around 37.8 °C and the optimal initial pH for the fermentative hydrogen production was around 7.1.     

Energetically efficient microwave disintegration of waste activated sludge for biofuel production by zeolite: Quantification of energy and biodegradability modelling

Hydrolysis of waste activated sludge (WAS) is a challenging process towards enhanced biofuel production. In this study, an attempt has been made to improve hydrolysis of WAS by zeolite that acts as a cation binding agent and deaggregates sludge flocs and deflocculates it by removing extracellular polymeric substances. The overall result confirmed that 0.04 g/g SS of zeolite was perceived to be the optimum dosage for deaggregation of flocs. The degree of dissociation was in the range of 93%, which reveals that 0.04 g/g SS (suspended solids) of zeolite was best for the deaggregation of flocs. To evaluate the impact of deaggregated WAS on biomass disintegration, the WAS was exposed to microwave (MW) liquefaction. The result of the MW disintegration shows that the solids reduction and lysis rate of floc deaggregated (zeolite mediated microwave liquefaction) (Ze-MWL) sample with the optimum (0.04 g/g SS) dosage of zeolite was 33.1% and 42.8% comparatively more than microwave liquefaction (MWL) (21% and 26.8%) sample alone. Chiefly zeolite usage reduced microwave specific energy applied for liquefaction of sludge. The outcome of hydrogen and methane potential assay (0.18 and 0.59 L/gCOD achieved for Ze-MWL) revealed the role of zeolite in improving microwave mediated WAS liquefaction. Quantification of energy and estimation of cost revealed that the Ze-MW liquefaction was cost-effective by achieving net yield of 26 €/Ton of sludge.     

Influence of thermal and chemical pretreatment on structural stability of granular sludge for high-rate hydrogen production in an UASB bioreactor

Fermentation of organic waste materials presents an alternate route instead of photosynthetic and chemical routes for hydrogen production. Low yield of biohydrogen production is the major challenge in the fermentative hydrogen-producing technology. Improvement of fermentation process by various sludge pretreatment methods is one of the ways that have been applied to boost hydrogen productivity. This study sheds new light on the impact of thermal and chemical pretreatments on the hydrogen-producing granular sludge morphology and strength as well as up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor performance treating palm oil mill effluent (POME). Thermal pretreatment showed devastating effects on the morphological and structural characteristics of the granules. However, the chemically pretreated granules remained structurally stable and relatively undamaged. The thermal pretreatment increased the cumulative hydrogen production by 40% and 76% over chemical pretreatment and control test (untreated), respectively.     

Hydrogen generation in microbial electrolysis cell feeding with fermentation liquid of waste activated sludge

The short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) accumulated in waste activated sludge (WAS) fermentation was adopted as an alternative extra carbon source for biohydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). WAS was pretreated by bi-frequency ultrasonic and the highest SCFAs were accumulated at 3rd day. Three groups of tests were conducted in single chamber MECs for H₂ production under different SCOD concentrations. SCOD removals were up to 60% at diluted influent, but reduced to 50% at original concentration. Highest H₂ yield was 1.2 mL H₂/mg COD at 2-fold dilution with 155% energy efficiency. Results showed that >90% of acetate and ∼90% of propionate were effectively converted to hydrogen, and next were n-butyrate and n-valerate (at dilutions), but <20% of iso-butyrate and iso-valerate were converted. The overall biohydrogen recovery in this study was 120 ml H₂/g VSS/d. This work shows a possibility of cascade utilization of WAS fermentation liquid and H₂ generation in MEC.     

Comparison of chemosynthetic and biological surfactants on accelerating hydrogen production from waste activated sludge in a short-cut fermentation-bioelectrochemical system

The effects of chemosynthetic and biological surfactants on accelerating hydrogen generation from waste activated sludge (WAS) is investigated in a short-cut fermentation-bioelectrochemical system. The specific experiments are conducted in a series of completely stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) and single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Results shows that rhamnolipid (RL) lead to a VFAs yield 1.16-fold and 3.63-fold higher over with sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) treatments in CSTRs on 72 h. By contrast, the corresponding conversion efficiency of methanogenesis is inhibited (0.18 ± 0.03% versus 1.89 ± 0.15% (SDS) and 6.63 ± 0.77% (SDBS)), which is beneficial for subsequent hydrogen production in MECs. The distribution of the acidogenesis metabolites is also affected by the types of surfactants, reflected on cascade changing of hydrogen production. Highest hydrogen yield is 12.90 mg H₂ g^?1 VSS in RL-MECs, which is larger than all values that have been reported for fermentation and single-chamber MECs. Current and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy clearly demonstrate the important role of RL treatment in electron/proton transfer and the internal resistance decrease. This study demonstrate the sustainability and attractiveness of WAS short-cut fermentation-elelctrohydrogenesis, providing a sound basis for sludge stabilization and bioenergy recovery.     

Evaluation of pretreatment methods on harvesting hydrogen producing seeds from anaerobic digested organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW)

In order to harvest high-efficient hydrogen producing seeds, five pretreatment methods (including acid, heat, sonication, aeration and freeze/thawing) were performed on anaerobic digested sludge (AS) which was collected from a batch anaerobic reactor for treating organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The hydrogen production tests were conducted in serum bottles containing 20 gVS/L (24.8 g COD/L) mixture of rice and lettuce powder at 37 °C. The experimental results showed that the heat and acid pretreatment completely repressed the methanogenic activity of AS, but acid pretreatment also partially repressed hydrogen production. Sonication, freeze/thawing and aeration did not completely suppress the methanogen activity. The highest hydrogen yields were 119.7, 42.2, 26.0, 23.0, 22.7 and 22.1 mL/gVS for heated, acidified, freeze/thawed, aerated, sonicated and control AS respectively. A pH of about 4.9 was detected at the end of hydrogen producing fermentation for all tests. The selection of an initial pH can markedly affect the hydrogen producing ability for heated and acidified AS. The higher initial pH generated higher hydrogen yield and the highest hydrogen yield was obtained with initial pH 8.9 for heated AS.     

Impact of pretreatment on food waste for biohydrogen production: A review

Food waste (FW) can be utilized as a raw material to produce energy such as hydrogen via fermentation, which is a more attractive and environmentally friendly approach compared to incineration and land-filling. Food waste must be pretreated before being used in various biological processes. The choice of the pretreatment method usually depends on the composition of the food waste. Therefore, various pretreatment methods generally employed to treat FW, including physical, physiochemical, chemical and biological pretreatments, are summarized in this review. The different pretreatment methods are compared in terms of their efficiency and biohydrogen yield. Additionally, the energy efficiencies of the various pretreatment methods are compared, thereby leading to the selection of the most efficient pretreatment method.     

Coupling of hydrothermal pretreatment and supercritical water gasification of sewage sludge for hydrogen production

In this study, hydrothermal pretreatment and supercritical water gasification were coupled to form a combined process for the treatment of dewatered sludge for hydrogen production. First, the effects of varying hydrothermal pretreatment conditions on the transformation of organic matter in sludge were studied. Results showed that about 31% of the carbon in sludge was transferred into liquid products at 250 °C for 60 min, which were considered to be the optimal pretreatment conditions considering both the hydrothermal pretreatment effects and the energy consumption requirements. The organic matter components were determined, showing that 87% of the carbohydrate components in sludge were transformed during the process of hydrothermal pretreatment, with 49% of crude proteins and 62% of humus remaining in the solid phase products. During the subsequent process of supercritical water gasification, AlCl₃, KOH, K₂CO₃ and CaO were selected as catalysts. Compared with directly catalyzed supercritical water gasification of sludge, the integrated process was found to improve H₂ selectivity, H₂ yield and energy recovery. Moreover, the use of AlCl₃ as a catalyst showed the highest H₂ yield and energy recovery. The H₂ yield and the energy recovery increased by 45.1% and 13.2%, respectively.     

Combination of dark- and photo-fermentation to enhance hydrogen production and energy conversion efficiency

In this study, we investigated a two-phase process of combining the dark- and photo-fermentation methods to reutilize the residual solution derived from dark fermentation and increase the hydrogen yield (HY) from glucose. In dark fermentation, an orthogonal experimental design was used to optimize the culture medium for Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum). The optimal culture medium composition was determined as glucose 20 g/l, NaCl 3 g/l, MgCl₂ 0.1 g/l, FeCl₂ 0.1 g/l, K₂HPO₄ 2.5 g/l, l-cysteine 0.5 g/l, vitamin solution 10 ml/l, and trace element solution 10 ml/l. In this method, the maximum HY increased from 1.59 to 1.72 mol H₂/mol glucose and hydrogen production rate (HPR) from 86.8 to 100 ml H₂/l/h. The metabolite byproducts from dark fermentation, mostly containing acetate and butyrate, were inoculated with Rhodopseudomonas palustris (R. palustris) and reutilized to produce hydrogen in photo-fermentation. In photo-fermentation, the maximum HY was 4.16 mol H₂/mol glucose, and the maximum removal ratios of acetate and butyrate were 92.3% and 99.8%, respectively. Combining dark fermentation and photo-fermentation caused a dramatic increase of HY from 1.59 to 5.48 mol H₂/mol glucose. The conversion efficiency of heat value in dark fermentation surged from 13.3% to 46.0% in the two-phase system.     

Effect of organic fraction of municipal solid waste addition to high rate activated sludge system for hydrogen production from carbon rich waste sludge

Municipal solid waste has been used for bio-methane production for many years. However, both methane and carbon dioxide that is produced during bio-methanization increases the greenhouse gas emissions; therefore, hydrogen production can be one of the alternatives for energy production from waste. Hydrogen production from the organic substance was studied in this study with the waste activated sludge from the municipal wastewater treatment. High rated activated sludge (HRAS) process was applied for the treatment to reduce energy consumption and enhance the organic composition of WAS. The highest COD removal (76%) occurred with the 12 g/L organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) addition at a retention time of 120 min. The maximum hydrogen and methane yields for the WAS was 18.9 mL/g VS and 410 mL/g VS respectively. Total carbon emission per g VS of the substrate (OFMSW + waste activated sludge) was found as 0.087 mmol CO₂ and 28.16 mmol CO₂ for dark fermentation and bio-methanization respectively. These kinds of treatment technologies required for the wastewater treatment plantcompensate it some of the energy needs in a renewable source. In this way, the HRAS process decreases the energy requirement of wastewater treatment plant, and carbon-rich waste sludge enables green energy production via lower carbon emissions.