Two-stage thermophilic-mesophilic anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge from a biological nutrient removal plant.

A two-stage thermophilic-mesophilic anaerobic digestion pilot-plant was operated solely on waste activated sludge (WAS) from a biological nutrient removal (BNR) plant. The first-stage thermophilic reactor (HRT 2 days) was operated at 47, 54 and 60 degrees C. The second-stage mesophilic digester (HRT 15 days) was held at a constant temperature of 36-37 degrees C. For comparison with a single-stage mesophilic process, the mesophilic digester was also operated separately with an HRT of 17 days and temperature of 36-37 degrees C. The results showed a truly thermophilic stage (60 degrees C) was essential to achieve good WAS degradation. The lower thermophilic temperatures examined did not offer advantages over single-stage mesophilic treatment in terms of COD and VS removal. At a thermophilic temperature of 60 degrees C, the plant achieved 35% VS reduction, representing a 46% increase compared to the single-stage mesophilic digester. This is a significant level of degradation which could make such a process viable in situations where there is no primary sludge generated. The fate of the biologically stored phosphorus in this BNR sludge was also investigated. Over 80% of the incoming phosphorus remained bound up with the solids and was not released into solution during the WAS digestion. Therefore only a small fraction of phosphorus would be recycled to the main treatment plant with the dewatering stream.     

Thermal pre-treatment of primary and secondary sludge at 70 degrees C prior to anaerobic digestion.

In general, mesophilic anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge is more widely used compared to thermophilic digestion, mainly because of the lower energy requirements and higher stability of the process. However, the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process is usually characterised by accelerated biochemical reactions and higher growth rate of microorganisms resulting in an increased methanogenic potential at lower hydraulic retention times. Furthermore, thermal pre-treatment is suitable for the improvement of stabilization and could be realized at relatively low cost especially at low temperatures. The present study investigates the effect of the pre-treatment at 70 degrees C on thermophilic (55 degrees C) anaerobic digestion of primary and secondary sludge in continuously operated digesters. Thermal pre-treatment of primary and secondary sludge at 70 degrees C enhanced the removal of organic matter and the methane production during the subsequent anaerobic digestion step at 55 degrees C. It also greatly contributed to the destruction of pathogens present in primary sludge. Finally it results in enhanced microbial activities of the subsequent anaerobic step suggesting that the same efficiencies in organic matter removal and methane recovery could be obtained at lower HRTs.     

Anaerobic digestion potential for ecological and decentralised sanitation in urban areas.

The potential of anaerobic digestion in ecological and decentralised sanitation has been investigated in this research. Different anaerobic digestion systems were proposed for the treatment of sewage, grey water, black water and faeces. Moreover, mathematical models based on anaerobic digestion model no.1 (ADM1) were developed for determination of a suitable design for each system. For stable performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating sewage, the model results indicated that optimisation of wastewater conversion to biogas (not COD removal) should be selected for determination of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the reactor. For the treatment of sewage or black water in a UASB septic-tank, the model results showed that the sludge removal period was the main parameter for determination of the HRT. At such HRT, both COD removal and wastewater conversion are also optimised. The model results demonstrated that for treatment of faeces in an accumulation (AC) system at temperature > or = 25 degrees C, the filling period of the system should be higher than 60 days. For maximisation of the net biogas production (i.e. reduction of biogas losses as dissolved in the effluent), the separation between grey water, urine and faeces and reduction of water consumption for faeces flushing are required. Furthermore, the faeces and kitchen organic wastes and grey water are digested in, respectively, an AC system and UASB reactor, while the urine is stored.     

Nitrogen removal characteristics analyzed with gas and microbial community in thermophilic aerobic digestion for piggery waste treatment.

In order to characterize the nitrogen conversion characteristics in a thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) system, a laboratory study has been conducted with the analysis of effluent gas and microbial community in the sludge samples. The lab TAD system was operated with HRT of 3 days and 60 degrees C. Based on the nitrogen mass balance, it has been found that about 2/3 of the daily load of nitrogen was converted to the gaseous form of nitrogen whereas cellular transformation and unmetabolized nitrogen accounted for about 1/3. Among the gaseous nitrogen transformation, significant amount of influent nitrogen had been converted to N2 gas (29% of influent N) and N2O (9% of influent N). Ammonia conversion was only 28% of influent N. The detection of N2O gas is a clear indication of the biological nitrogen reduction process in the thermophilic aerobic digester. No conclusive evidence for the existence of aerobic deammonification has been found. The microbial community analysis showed that thermophilic bacteria such as Bacillus thermocloacae, Bacillus sp. and Clostridial groups dominated in this TAD reactor. The diverse microbial community in TAD sludge may play an important role in removing both strong organics and nitrogen from piggery waste.     

Anaerobic thermophilic digestion of sewage sludge with a thickened sludge recycle

The process of anaerobic thermophilic digestion of municipal wastewater sludge with a recycled part of thickened digested sludge, was studied in semi-continuous laboratory digesters. This modified recycling process resulted in increased solids retention time (SRT) with the same hydraulic retention time (HRT) as compared with traditional digestion without recycling. Increased SRT without increasing of HRT resulted in the enhancement of volatile substance reduction by up to 68% in the reactor with the recycling process compared with 34% in a control conventional reactor. Biogas production was intensified from 0.3 L/g of influent volatile solids (VS) in the control reactor up to 0.35 L/g VS. In addition, the recycling process improved the dewatering properties of digested sludge.     

Symbiotic algal bacterial wastewater treatment: effect of food to microorganism ratio and hydraulic retention time on the process performance.

Algal incorporation into the biomass is important in an innovative wastewater treatment that exploits the symbiosis between bacterial activated sludge and microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris sp. Hamburg). It allows a good and easy algae separation by means of clarification. The effect of process parameters food to microorganisms ratio (F/M) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the process performance, evaluated by settleability, microalgae incorporation to biomass and nutrient removal, was studied. HRT hinted at a significant influence in the growth rate of algae, while F/M turned out to be important for stability when algae are incorporated into the biomass. This parameter also affects the total nitrogen removal of the treatment. Stable flocs with incorporated algae and supernatants with low free swimming algae concentrations were obtained at high HRT and low F/M values.     

Effect of hydraulic retention time on pretreatment of blended municipal sludge

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on hydrolysis and acidogenesis for the pretreatment processes: acid phase digestion (APD) and autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) using blended municipal sludge. The effect of the different pretreatment steps on mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) was evaluated in terms of methane yield, keeping the operating conditions of the MAD the same for all systems. Best operating conditions for both APD and ATAD were observed for 2.5 d HRT with high total volatile fatty acids (tVFA), and the highest methane yield observed for MAD. No significant difference was observed between the two processes in terms of overall volatile solids (VS) reduction with same total HRT. The autothermal process produced heat of 14,300 J/g VS removed from hydrolytic and acetogenic reactions without compromising overall methane yields when the HRT was 2.5 d or lower and the total O2 used was 0.10 m3 O2/g VS added or lower. However, the process needs the input of oxygen and engineering analysis should balance these differences when considering the relative merits of the two pretreatment processes. This is the first study of its kind directly comparing these two viable pretreatment processes with the same sludge.     

Simulation of DEHP biodegradation and sorption during the anaerobic digestion of secondary sludge.

Di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) has commonly been found in the sludge of municipal wastewater treatment plants especially during anaerobic processing. It is slowly biodegradable under anaerobic conditions. Due to its high hydrophobicity, sorption-desorption processes can be rate-limiting for the compound biodegradation. In this study, the anaerobic biodegradation of DEHP was investigated through batch kinetic experiments and dynamic transitions of a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) fed with secondary sludge contaminated with DEHP. A widely accepted model (ADM1) was used to fit the anaerobic digestion of secondary sludge and was properly extended to account for DEHP removal, in which mass transfer processes are also involved. It was shown that DEHP removal was limited by the transfer of DEHP within the solid fraction. The criterion selected for the distinction of the two sites was whether the compound sorbed in those sites was bioavailable for biodegradation or not. Thus, the aqueous phase and the surface of the biosolids were considered as suitable sites for the compound to be bioavailable and the main bulk of the solid matrix was regarded as sites, where the compound remains "protected" against biodegradation. The model, fitted to the batch experimental data, was able to predict DEHP removal in the CSTR operated at various HRTs.     

Comparison between the conventional anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and its combination with a chemical or thermal pre-treatment concerning the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

Many novel treatment technologies, usually representing a pre-treatment prior to the biological degradation process, have been developed in order to improve the recycling and reuse of sewage sludge. Among all the methods available, a chemical (alkaline) and a thermal treatment have been considered in this study. The behaviour of 13 substances belonging to different therapeutic classes (musks, tranquillisers, antiepileptic, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, X-ray contrast media and estrogens) has been studied during the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge combined with these pre-treatments (advanced operation) in comparison with the conventional process. Two parameters have been analysed: the temperature (mesophilic and thermophilic conditions) and the sludge retention time. While organic matter solubilization was higher with the alkaline process (55-80%), no difference between both pre-treatments was observed concerning volatile solids solubilization (up to 20%). The removal efficiencies of solids and organic matter during anaerobic digestion ranged from 40-70% and 45-75%, respectively. The higher removal efficiencies of pharmaceuticals and personal care products were achieved for the antibiotics, Naproxen and the natural estrogens (>80%). For the other compounds, the values were in the range 20-70%, except for Carbamazepine, which was not removed at any condition tested.     

Behavior of cellulose-degrading bacteria in thermophilic anaerobic digestion process.

Previously, we found that the newly isolated Clostridium sp. strain JC3 became the dominant cellulose-degrading bacterium in thermophilic methanogenic sludge. In the present study, the behavior of strain JC3 in the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process was investigated quantitatively by molecular biological techniques. A cellulose-degrading experiment was conducted at 55 degrees C with a 9.5 L of anaerobic baffled reactor having three compartments (Nos. 1, 2, 3). Over 80% of the COD input was converted into methane when 2.5 kgCOD m(-3) d(-1) was loaded for an HRT of 27 days. A FISH probe specific for strain JC3 was applied to sludge samples harvested from the baffled reactor. Consequently, the ratio of JC3 cells to DAPI-stained cells increased from below 0.5% (undetectable) to 9.4% (compartment 1), 13.1% (compartment 2) and 21.6% (compartment 3) at day 84 (2.5 kgCOD m(-3)d(-1)). The strain JC3 cell numbers determined by FISH correlated closely with the cellulose-degrading methanogenic activities of retained sludge. A specific primer set targeting the cellulase gene (cellobiohydrolaseA: cbhA) of strain JC3 was designed and applied to digested sludge for treating solid waste such as coffee grounds, wastepaper, garbage, cellulose and so on. The strain JC3 cell numbers determined by quantitative PCR correlated closely with the cellulose-sludge loading of the thermophilic digester. Strain JC3 is thus important in the anaerobic hydrolysis of cellulose in thermophilic anaerobic digestion processes.     

A pilot study on accelerated sludge degradation by a high-concentration membrane bioreactor coupled with sludge pretreatment.

A new sludge treatment process combining a high MLSS membrane bioreactor with sludge pretreatment techniques was studied in pilot-scale experiments. The membrane bioreactor (MBR) was adopted for high efficiency aerobic digestion. The combination of alkaline-ozone treatment of the mixed liquor in the MBR reactor accelerated the biodegradation process by enhancing biodegradability of the sludge. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the reactor was set as 3.1 days and the DO level was 1 mg/L on average. After 5 months of operation, the accumulative total solids reduction was more than 70%. Removal efficiency of volatile solids and non-volatile solids were 76% and 54%, respectively. It was found that a considerable portion of the non-volatile solids was dissolved into ions and then flushed out with the effluent. Also, about 41% and 28% of T-N and T-P in the raw sludge were removed although no biological nutrient removal process was adopted. The experiment was run smoothly without significant membrane fouling, even at the relatively high levels of MLSS concentration (11,000-25,000 mg/L). It is concluded that the newly proposed process can significantly increase the sludge reduction efficiency with much shorter retention times.     

Development of an ecologically sustainable wastewater treatment system

The present study aimed mainly for the development of a wastewater treatment system incorporating enhanced primary treatment, anaerobic digestion of coagulated organics, biofilm aerobic process for the removal of soluble organics and disinfection of treated water. An attempt was also made to study the reuse potential of treated water for irrigation and use of digested sludge as soil conditioner by growing marigold plants. Ferric chloride dose of 30 mg/l was found to be the optimum dose for enhanced primary treatment with removals of COD and BOD to the extent of 60% and 77%, respectively. Efficient anaerobic digestion of ferric coagulated sludge was performed at 7 days hydraulic retention time (HRT). Upflow aerobic fixed film reactor (UAFFR) was very efficient in removals of COD/BOD in the organic loading rate (OLR) range of 0.25 to 3 kg COD/m(3)/day with COD and BOD removals in the range 65-90 and 82-96, respectively. Photo-oxidation followed by disinfection saved 50% of chlorine dose required for disinfection of treated effluent and treated water was found to be suitable for irrigation. The result also indicated that anaerobically digested sludge may be an excellent soil conditioner. From the results of this study, it is possible to conclude that the developed wastewater treatment system is an attractive ecologically sustainable alternative for sewage treatment from institutional/industrial/residential campuses.     

Experience from 10 years of full-scale operation with enhanced biological phosphorus removal at Oresundsverket.

Ten years of full-scale experience with enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) has been evaluated. During the start-up period lack of carbon source was the main operational problem and a higher level of volatile fatty acids was secured by introducing a primary sludge hydrolysis. Acidic thermal sludge hydrolysis was used as the sludge treatment method at the plant during about three years. One effluent stream, rich in carbon and precipitant, was brought back to the process leading to an improvement of the phosphorus removal both by an improved biological process and chemical precipitation. A quite stable process of EBPR was developed with low levels of effluent phosphorus concentration. Stringent effluent discharge limits during short evaluation periods necessitated a continued work for improvement of the short-term stability. During periods with lack of carbon, such as industrial holiday or rainy periods, both simultaneous precipitation and reduced aeration have been successfully tested as strategies for securing low levels of effluent phosphorus.     

Anaerobic digestion elutriated phased treatment of piggery waste.

The performance of a novel high-rate anaerobic process, the anaerobic digestion elutriated phased treatment (ADEPT) process, for treating a slurry-type piggery waste (55 g COD/L and 37 g TS/L) was investigated. The ADEPT process consists of an acid elutriation slurry reactor for hydrolysis and acidification, followed by an upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor for methanification. This process provides stable and high system performance with short HRT (7.4 d) and better effluent quality (2 g SCOD/L and 0.68 g VSS/L) due to the alkaline pH condition for hydrolysis/acidification phase, high refractory solids removal and ammonia toxicity reduction. The optimum pH and HRT for hydrolysis/acidogenesis of the piggery waste were 9 and 5 days at both 35 degrees C and 55 degrees C conditions. The hydrolysis and acidification rate in the mesophilic reactor were 0.05 d(-1) and 0.11 d(-1), meaning that hydrolysis was a limiting step. SCOD production by the hydrolysis was about 0.26 g SCOD/g VS(fed) (3.6 g SCOD/g VS reduction). Methane production and content in the system were 0.3 L CH4/g VS(fed) (0.67 L CH4/g VS destroyed) and 80%, respectively, corresponding to 0.23 L CH4/g COD removal (@STP).     

Comparison of different conditions, substrates and operation modes by dynamic simulation of a full-scale anaerobic SBR plant

Simulation studies for a full-scale anaerobic unit of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) were performed using the anaerobic digestion model no. 1 (ADM1). The anaerobic full-scale plant consists of one mesophilic and one thermophilic digester, operated in an anaerobic sequential batch reactor (ASBR) mode, and sludge enrichment reactors (SER) for each digester. The digesters are fed with a mixture of vegetable waste and process wastewater from the food factory. Characteristics such as COD(total), N(total) and NH(4)-N concentrations in the influent and effluent of the digester and SERs were measured and used for input fractionation. Parameters such as level, pH, biogas amount and composition in the digester were measured online and used for calibration. For simulation studies, different temperatures and operation modes with varying chemical oxygen demand (COD) input loads corresponding to feedstocks such as fruits, vegetables and grain were analysed and compared. Higher gas production and digestion efficiency in the thermophilic reactor and in shorter cycles were found and confirmed at full scale. Serial operation mode increased the gas production, but pH inhibition occurred earlier. Feeding only biosolids into digester I and the effluent of digester I together with process water into digester II further improved gas production in serial operation mode.     

Integration of performance,molecular biology and modeling to describe the activated sludge process

To study process performance and population dynamics in activated sludge, a pilot-scale Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) was installed in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (Aubergenville, France). Since no solids losses occur in the MBR effluent, the sludge residence time (SRT) can be: i) easily controlled by means of the sludge withdrawal, and ii) dissociated from the hydraulic residence time (HRT). A complete characterization of this activated sludge system was performed at three sludge ages (5, 10 and 20 days). Raw and treated wastewater quality, as well as sludge concentration, was analyzed, nucleic probe analysts was performed to determine the heterotrophic and nitrifier populations, and the results were compared to the output from a multispecies model that integrates substrate removal kinetics and soluble microbial products (SMP) production/consumption. This paper presents an integrated analysis of the activated sludge process based on chemical, molecular biology, and mathematical tools. The model was able to describe the MBR system with a high degree of accuracy, in terms of COD removal and nitrification, as well as sludge production and population dynamics through the ratio of active nitrifters/bacteria. Both steady-state and transient conditions could be described accurately by the model, except for technical problems or sudden variations in the wastewater composition.     

ABR反应器对垃圾渗滤液的处理试验研究

ABR工艺在处理垃圾渗滤液中具有其他厌氧生物反应器所达不到的优点。尤其是对B/C低、氨氮浓度高、COD浓度高的废水处理,通过调节回流比、HRT、碱度等参数后,可以取得很好的处理效果。在本次实验中,HRT控制在18h后明显提高的垃圾渗滤液的可生化性及C/N,使ABR出水CODcr去除率达到75%,C/N为6.72,对后续好氧反应起到了重要作用。在调控一定回流比后,为提供厌氧氨氧化所需的电子受体NO-3和NO-2实现脱氮。反应器在经过120d的培养驯化,氨氮进水为460mg/L,ABR对氨氮的去除率稳定在80%。不同格室的厌氧颗粒污泥都得到很好的驯化并在其合适的环境中发挥各自的功能。     

Anaerobic digestion of blackwater from vacuum toilets and kitchen refuse in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR).

The objective of this research was mesophilic anaerobic digestion of blackwater from vacuum toilets (BW) and kitchen refuse (KR) in a CSTR within an ecological sanitation system. A detailed investigation of the BW characteristics was carried out. Research on anaerobic digestion was performed with CSTR of 101 volume at HRT of 10, 15 and 20 days. The digestion of BW at 20 days HRT showed stable performance without inhibition effects, in spite of relatively high ammonium concentrations. The removal of total and particulate COD was 61% and 53%, respectively, and the methane yield 10/CH4/cap/day. The addition of kitchen refuse (KR) improved the performance of the CSTR in terms of COD removal efficiency and methane yield. At 20 days HRT the removal of total and particulate COD increased up to 71% and 67%, respectively, and the methane yield to 27/CH4/cap/day. The results at 15 days HRT showed similar performance. At HRT of 10 days, the anaerobic treatment was limited but reached steady state conditions at higher VFA concentrations in the effluent, with a decrease of COD removal of 30 to 33% and of methane yields of 19 to 21%.     

Enhanced primary treatment of concentrated black water and kitchen residues within DESAR concept using two types of anaerobic digesters.

Anaerobic digestion of concentrated domestic wastewater streams--black or brown water, and solid fraction of kitchen waste is considered as a core technology in a source separation based sanitation concept (DESAR--decentralised sanitation and reuse). A simple anaerobic digester can be implemented for an enhanced primary treatment or, in some situations, as a main treatment. Two reactor configurations were extensively studied; accumulation system (AC) and UASB septic tank at 15, 20 and 25 degrees C. Due to long retention times in an AC reactor, far stabilisation of treated medium can be accomplished with methanisation up to 60%. The AC systems are the most suitable to apply when the volume of waste to be treated is minimal and when a direct reuse of a treated medium in agriculture is possible. Digested effluent contains both liquid and solids. In a UASB septic tank, efficient separation of solids and liquid is accomplished. The total COD removal was above 80% at 25 degrees C. The effluent contains COD and nutrients, mainly in a soluble form. The frequency of excess sludge removal is low and sludge is well stabilised due to a long accumulation time.     

Relevance of the sludge retention time (SRT) as design criteria for wastewater treatment plants for the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals from wastewater.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent a significant source for the input of micro pollutants as endocrine disruptors (EDs) or pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) into the aquatic environment. Treatment efficiency of WWTPs often is reported, taking into account only inflow and effluent concentrations without further specification of the WWTP investigated. In order to allow comparison and evaluation of the removal efficiency of different layouts and concepts in wastewater treatment, additional information like the sludge retention time (SRT) and sludge load (F/M ratio) are necessary. Presented results from different WWTPs show correlation of removal of EDs and PhACs to the SRT. Compared to WWTPs with high F/M ratio implementation of the nitrification process on WWTPs results in a significant increase of the removal efficiency for EDs and PhACs. This paper describes an approach to determine comparable removal rates for different activated sludge systems based on mass balance and SRT.