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Comparison of Pre-treatment Technologies to Improve Sewage Sludge Biomethanization

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology volume 193, pages 777–790 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

This research study evaluates various pre-treatments to improve sewage sludge solubilization prior to treatment by mesophilic anaerobic digestion. Microwave, thermal, and sonication pre-treatments were compared as these pre-treatments are the most commonly used for this purpose. The solubilization of sewage sludge was evaluated through the variation in soluble total organic carbon (sTOC, mg/L) and soluble total nitrogen (sTN, mg/L). Thermal and microwave pre-treatments increased sTOC/VS by 19.2% and 83.4% (VS, total volatile solids), respectively, after applying lower specific energy through (20 kJ/g TS, approximately) (TS, total solids) unlike the sonication pre-treatment, which required 136 kJ/g TS. Although sTN content did not increase significantly with the pre-treatments with respect to sTOC, both showed proportional trends. Sonication pre-treatments allowed the highest increase in volatile fatty acids (VFA) with respect to the raw sewage sludge (15% ∆VFA/sTOC). Methane production with and without pre-treatment was also evaluated. Methane production increased by 95% after applying sonication pre-treatment compared to the methane production of raw sewage sludge. Thermal and microwave pre-treatments entailed lower improvements (29% and 20%, respectively). Economically, thermal pre-treatments were the most viable alternative at real scale.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for funding this research through Project CTM2017-88723-R. The authors are also grateful to laboratory technicians Inmaculada Bellido Padillo and Marisa López Campaña.

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  1. Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Cordoba, Campus Universitario de Rabanales, Edificio Marie Curie (C-3), Ctra. N IV, km 396, 14071, Cordoba, Spain

    Antonio Serrano, José Ángel Siles, María del Carmen Gutiérrez & María de los Ángeles Martín

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  1. Antonio Serrano
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  2. José Ángel Siles
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  3. María del Carmen Gutiérrez
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  4. María de los Ángeles Martín
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Contributions

ASM, JASL, and MAMS conceived and designed the study. AS performed the experiments and analyzed the data. AS and MCGM wrote the paper. MCGM, ASM, JASL, and MAMS reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to María de los Ángeles Martín.

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Serrano, A., Siles, J.Á., Gutiérrez, M. et al. Comparison of Pre-treatment Technologies to Improve Sewage Sludge Biomethanization. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 193, 777–790 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03454-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03454-z

Keywords

  • Mesophilic anaerobic digestion
  • Sewage sludge
  • Sonication
  • Microwave
  • Thermal pre-treatment