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Assessment of the differences between composting and anaerobic digestion of sludge

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Abstract

The aim of study was to evaluate physicochemical properties of sewage sludge degradation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in municipal wastewater treatment plant in Serkan, Hamedan province, west of Iran. The evaluated parameters included temperature, carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N), total C, total N, moisture content, volatile solids, ash, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and fecal and total coliforms. Experiments were conducted over a period of 100 days during which the sampling from the mixtures was performed every 5 days. Properties of the waste sludge and both treatments including windrow composting and anaerobic digestion were assessed at the initial stage, and during and end of the degradation period. The pH of the compost piles was found to be 6.28 at the beginning of the process and about 7–7.5 after 100 days in both treatments. Based on field observations, it could be concluded that after 14 weeks of degradation, compared with the aerobic degradation, the anaerobic digestion would yield a digestate of a higher quality with the final total nitrogen of 2.8%, final total carbon (TOC) of 44%, and C:N of 15.7. This higher rate of final total nitrogen and the lower amount of total coliform could indicate the suitability of degradation quality through anaerobic digestion. Based on the results, a substantial reduction was observed in C:N ratio, total carbon content, and the moisture content in waste sludge following degradation, while an increase in nitrogen content as well as pH was observed in digestate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University for providing facilities to conduct and complete this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of the Environment, College of Basic Sciences, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

    Maryam Younesian, Mehrdad Cheraghi, Soheil Sobhanardakani & Bahareh Lorestani

  2. Department of Agriculture, Sayyed Jamaleddin Asadabadi University, Asadabad, Iran

    Hajar Merrikhpour

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  1. Maryam Younesian
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  2. Mehrdad Cheraghi
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  3. Soheil Sobhanardakani
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  4. Bahareh Lorestani
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Maryam Younesian, Mehrdad Cheraghi, Soheil Sobhan Ardakani, Bahareh Lorestani, and Hajar Merrikhpour. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hajar Merrikhpour and Soheil Sobhan Ardakani, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. The corresponding author makes sure that all authors have approved the manuscript before submission, which includes the names and arrangement of authors.

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Correspondence to Mehrdad Cheraghi.

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Younesian, M., Cheraghi, M., Sobhanardakani, S. et al. Assessment of the differences between composting and anaerobic digestion of sludge. Arab J Geosci 14, 2500 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08891-6

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