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Abatement of sulfide generation in sewage by glutaraldehyde supplementation and the impact on the activated sludge accordingly

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Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide emission in sewer systems is associated with toxicity, corrosion, odour nuisance and high costs treatment. In this study, a novel method to inhibit sulfide generation from sewage by means of glutaraldehyde supplementation has been suggested and evaluated under anaerobic conditions. Different concentrations of glutaraldehyde at 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 mg·L−1 have been investigated. Besides, the possible impacts of glutaraldehyde supplementation on an activated sludge system and an appraisal of the economic aspects are presented as well. As observed from the experimental results, a dosage of 20 mg·L−1 glutaraldehyde resulted in a significant decrease of the sulfide production by 70%–80% in the simulated sewage. Moreover, the impacts of additional glutaraldehyde at 20 mg·L−1 on activated sludge, in terms of chemical oxygen demand removal and oxygen uptake rates, were negligible. From an economical point of view, the cost of the commercial glutaraldehyde products required in the operation, which was calculated on the basis of activated sulfide removal avoidance, was around €3.7–4.6 S·kg−1. Therefore it is suggested that glutaraldehyde supplementation is a feasible technique to abate the sulfide problems in sewer systems. Yet further research is required to elucidate the optimum “booster” dosage and the dosing frequency in situ accordingly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Lehua Zhang, Yinchen Jin, Haiqin Zhang, Yongdi Liu & Lankun Cai

  2. Department of Water Pollution Control, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Jingxing Ma

Authors
  1. Lehua Zhang
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  2. Jingxing Ma
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  3. Yinchen Jin
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  4. Haiqin Zhang
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  5. Yongdi Liu
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  6. Lankun Cai
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Correspondence to Lankun Cai.

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Zhang, L., Ma, J., Jin, Y. et al. Abatement of sulfide generation in sewage by glutaraldehyde supplementation and the impact on the activated sludge accordingly. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 9, 365–370 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0645-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0645-1

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