Hydrothermal Pre- and Intertreatment for Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Sludge
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 1
Abstract
In this study, the effect of hydrothermal treatment (HTT) and the evaluation of its application as a pretreatment (HTP) and inter-treatment (HIT) on anaerobic digestion (AD) and fermentation of thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) were examined. Two configurations were tested: (1) hydrothermal pretreatment, where the hydrothermal treatment was applied prior to single and two-stage anaerobic digestion; and (2) hydrothermal inter-treatment, where the hydrothermal treatment was applied after the first stage, fermentation, and prior to the second stage, methanogenesis. The results revealed the positive impact of hydrothermal pretreatment in both fermentation and anaerobic digestion processes. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) solubilization was higher through HTP (25.5%) than HIT (13%). Hydrothermal pretreatment increased the volatile fatty acids (VFA) production by 40% compared to the raw sample. The results also revealed no significant differences in the methane yield when hydrothermal treatment was applied as pretreatment or inter-treatment. The methane yield for the hydrothermal pretreatment and hydrothermal inter-treatment scenarios were and , respectively, compared to for the raw sample.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the research funding awarded to SNL and EE from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship by the Government of Canada to FLK.
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Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 1 • January 2023
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 25, 2022
Accepted: May 17, 2022
Published online: Nov 7, 2022
Published in print: Jan 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 7, 2023
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