Abstract
The objective of this paper is to gain insights into the synergistic advantage of anaerobic co-fermentation of heat-treated sludge (HS) with food waste (FW) and heat-treated food waste (HFW) for hydrogen production. The results showed that, compared with raw sludge (RS) mixed with FW (RS-FW), the co-substrate of HS mixed with either FW (HS-FW) or HFW (HS-HFW) effectively promoted hydrogen production, with HS-HFW promoted more than HS-FW. The maximum specific hydrogen production (MSHP) and the maximum hydrogen concentration (MHC) of HS-HFW were 40.53 mL H2/g dry weight and 57.22%, respectively, and 1.21- and 1.45-fold as high as those from HS-FW. The corresponding fermentation was ethanol type for HS-HFW and butyric acid type for HS-FW. The net energy production from RS-FW and HS-FW was both negative, but it was positive (2.57 MJ) from 40% HFW addition to HS-HFW. Anaerobic fermentation was more viable for HS-HFW.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- C:N ratio:
-
Carbon to nitrogen ratio
- CHP:
-
Cumulative hydrogen production (mL)
- HCM:
-
Hydrogen-consuming microorganisms
- HPB:
-
Hydrogen-producing bacteria
- HS-FW:
-
Heat-treated sludge mixed with food waste
- HS-HFW:
-
Heat-treated sludge mixed with heat-treated food waste
- LAB:
-
Lactic acid bacteria
- MHC:
-
Maximum hydrogen concentration (%)
- MS:
-
Municipal sludge
- MSHP:
-
Maximum specific hydrogen production (mL H2/g total substrate (dry weight based), mL H2/g dry weight)
- RS-FW:
-
Raw sludge mixed with food waste
- SCOD:
-
Soluble chemical oxygen demand (g/L)
- SHP:
-
Specific hydrogen production (mL H2/g total substrate (dry weight based), mL H2/g dry weight)
- TCOD:
-
Total chemical oxygen demand (g/L)
- TS:
-
Total solids (%)
- VFAs:
-
Volatile fatty acids (mg COD/L)
- VS:
-
Volatile solids (%)
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The authors would like to thank the funding institutions and reviewers.
Funding
This work was sponsored by the Foreign Cooperation Project of Fujian Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2021I0010) and the Planned Project of Fujian Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2020N5015). It was also supported by the Project of Public Welfare, funded by Fujian Science and Technology Department, China (2019R1015-1).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Yihong Ke and Yuchen Zhang; data analysis was performed by Changqing Liu, Yihong Ke, Yuchen Zhang, Yuyi Zheng, Guangyin Zhen, and Sihuang Xie. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yuchen Zhang and Yihong Ke. Writing-review and editing were performed by Changqing Liu and Ji-Qin Ni. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Zhang, Y., Ni, JQ., Liu, C. et al. Hydrogen production promotion and energy saving in anaerobic co-fermentation of heat-treated sludge and food waste. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 14831–14844 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31851-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31851-y