Optimization of the Acid Stage of a Two-Stage Anaerobic Digestion Process to Treat Urban Wastewater Sludge
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 9
Abstract
The efficiency of a two-stage mesophilic anaerobic sludge digestion process was studied in comparison with a conventional process to treat urban sludge in relation to the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the acid stage. This comparison, performed to optimize methane production in relation to the acid stage, was carried out in a pilot plant operating a two-stage process in parallel with conventional anaerobic digestion. The conditions of the conventional process were 22 days of HRT at 33.6°C; while the methanogenic stage was not changed (HRT 8.5 days at 33.5°C), the HRT of the acid stage ranged from to under a constant temperature of approximately 21.5°C. The results showed that the total anaerobic digestion process HRT can be reduced by at least 10.8 days using the two-stage technology without reducing the quality of the sludge effluent, operating at a HRT minimum of 1.6 days. Moreover, in the two-stage process, the optimum acid stage HRT to maximize methane production is 2.18 days.
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Acknowledgments
The research was supported by Emasagra Company. The authors would also like to express their most sincere thanks to the University of Granada for the personal grant of J. Martín-Pascual.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 9 • September 2017
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©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 13, 2016
Accepted: Jan 20, 2017
Published online: Apr 10, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Sep 10, 2017
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