Anaerobic digestion technologies for closing the domestic water, carbon and nutrient cycles

2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Hammes ◽  
Y. Kalogo ◽  
W. Verstraete
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Microbial Pathogens ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Black Water ◽  
Semi Solid ◽  
Treatment Alternatives

Sustainable wastewater treatment requires that household wastewater is collected and treated separately from industrial wastewater and rainwater run-offs. This separate treatment is, however, still inadequate, as more than 70% of the nutrients and much of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and potential pathogens of a domestic sewage system are confined to the few litres of black water (faeces, urine and toilet water). Whilst grey water can easily be filter treated and re-used for secondary household purposes, black water requires more intensive treatment due to its high COD and microbial (pathogens) content. Recently developed vacuum/dry toilets produce a nutrient rich semi-solid waste stream, which, with proper treatment, offers the possibility of nutrient, carbon, water and energy recovery. This study investigates the terrestrial applicability of Life Support System (LSS) concepts as a framework for future domestic waste management. The possibilities of treating black water together with other types of human-generated solid waste (biowastes/mixed wastes) in an anaerobic reactor system at thermophilic conditions, as well as some post treatment alternatives for product recovery and re-use, are considered. Energy can partially be recovered in the form of biogas produced during anaerobic digestion. The system is investigated in the form of theoretical mass balances, together with an assessment of the current feasibility of this technology and other post-treatment alternatives.

scholarly journals Coupling hydrothermal carbonization with anaerobic digestion: an evaluation based on energy recovery and hydrochar utilization

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1444-1453
Author(s):  
Mahmood Al Ramahi ◽  
Gábor Keszthelyi-Szabó ◽  
Sándor Beszédes
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Hydrothermal Carbonization ◽  
Steam Gasification ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Treatment Technique ◽  
Dairy Sludge

This work evaluates the effect of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) as a pretreatment and post-treatment technique to anaerobic digestion (AD) of dairy sludge. HTC's effect on AD was evaluated based on energy recovery, nutrient transformation, and hydrochar utilization. The first approach was executed by performing HTC under a range of temperatures before mesophilic AD. HTC optimal pretreatment temperature was 210 °C for 30 min residence time. HTC pretreatment significantly increased the methane yield potential by 192%, the chemical oxygen demand removal by 18%, and the sludge biodegradability during AD by 30%. On the other hand, the application of HTC after AD (post-treatment) increased the total energy production, i.e., in addition to methane, a hydrochar with a caloric value of 10.2 MJ/kg was also obtained. Moreover, HTC post-treatment improved the steam gasification performance of the AD digestate. From the fertilizer quality point of view, HTC implementation generally boosted the concentrations of macro, micro, and secondary nutrients, suggesting its suitability for use as a liquid fertilizer. Overall, the findings of the present study indicate that if bioenergy production were the main target, HTC post-treatment following AD would lead to the most promising outcomes.

Sludge accumulation and conversion to methane in a septic tank treating domestic wastewater or black water

2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 956-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek Elmitwalli
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Domestic Wastewater ◽  
Septic Tank ◽  
Black Water ◽  
Operational Temperature ◽  
Filling Time ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Sludge Accumulation

Although the septic tank is the most applied on-site system for wastewater pre-treatment, limited research has been performed to determine sludge accumulation and biogas production in the tank. Therefore a dynamic mathematical model based on the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1) was developed for anaerobic digestion of the accumulated sludge in a septic tank treating domestic wastewater or black water. The results showed that influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the tank mainly control the filling time with sludge, while operational temperature governs characteristics of the accumulated sludge and conversion to methane. For obtaining stable sludge and high conversion, the tank needs to be operated for a period more than a year without sludge wasting. Maximum conversion to methane in the tank is about 50 and 60% for domestic wastewater and black water, respectively. The required period for sludge wasting depends on the influent COD concentration and the HRT, while characteristics of the wasted sludge are affected by operational temperature followed by the influent COD concentration and the HRT. Sludge production from the tank ranges between 0.19 to 0.22 and 0.13 to 0.15 L/(person.d), for the domestic wastewater and black water, respectively.

Modelling anaerobic digestion of concentrated black water and faecal matter in accumulation system

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 2039-2045
Author(s):  
Tarek Elmitwalli ◽  
Grietje Zeeman ◽  
Ralf Otterpohl
Keyword(s):  
Waste Water ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Black Water ◽  
Faecal Matter ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acid Concentration ◽  
Seed Sludge ◽  
Urine Separation

A dynamic mathematical model based on anaerobic digestion model no. 1 (ADM1) was developed for accumulation (AC) system treating concentrated black water and faecal matter at different temperatures. The AC system was investigated for the treatment of waste(water) produced from the following systems: vacuum toilet for black water (VBW), vacuum toilet for faeces with urine separation (VF), dry toilet (DT), dry toilets for faeces with urine separation (DF), separated faecal matter from conventional black water by filter bag (FB). For evaluation of the AC system treating the proposed waste(water) sources at 20 and 35°C, two options were studied: (1) The filling period of the AC system was constant for all waste(water) sources (either 1, 3 or 6 months) and for each period, the seed sludge volume was varied; (2) The volume of the AC system was constant for all proposed waste(water) sources. The results showed that the filling period of the AC system was the main parameter affecting the system performance, followed by operational temperature, while the increase of the seed sludge volume slightly enhanced the performance of the system. The model results indicated that the filling period of the AC system should be higher than 150 days for obtaining a stable performance. It was found that the hydrolysis of biodegradable particulate chemical oxygen demand (COD) is the rate limiting step, as volatile fatty acid concentration is very low in all experimental conditions (<200 mgCOD/L at 20 °C and <100 mgCOD/L at 35 °C). Based on the results of the two options, it was found that the concentrated waste(water) sources have better performance than the diluted waste(water) sources, like VBW waste(water). Furthermore, smaller volume will be required for the AC system.

Inclined-plug-flow type reactor for anaerobic digestion of semi-solid waste

2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.K Sharma ◽  
C Testa ◽  
G Lastella ◽  
G Cornacchia ◽  
M.P Comparato
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Plug Flow ◽  
Type Reactor ◽  
Flow Type ◽  
Semi Solid

Influence of hydrothermal pretreatment conditions, typology of anaerobic digestion system, and microbial profile in the production of volatile fatty acids from olive mill solid waste

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 105055
Author(s):  
Yasmim Arantes da Fonseca ◽  
Nayara Clarisse Soares Silva ◽  
Adonai Bruneli de Camargos ◽  
Silvana de Queiroz Silva ◽  
Hector Javier Luna Wandurraga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Hydrothermal Pretreatment ◽  
Microbial Profile ◽  
Olive Mill Solid Waste ◽  
Pretreatment Conditions ◽  
Olive Mill

scholarly journals Enhancing methane production from the invasive macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae through anaerobic co-digestion with olive mill solid waste: process performance and kinetic analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. de la Lama-Calvente ◽  
M. J. Fernández-Rodríguez ◽  
J. Llanos ◽  
J. M. Mancilla-Leytón ◽  
R. Borja
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Methane Production ◽  
Methane Yield ◽  
Specific Rate ◽  
Order Kinetic ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
First Order ◽  
Olive Mill Solid Waste ◽  
Olive Mill

AbstractThe biomass valorisation of the invasive brown alga Rugulopteryx okamurae (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) is key to curbing the expansion of this invasive macroalga which is generating tonnes of biomass on southern Spain beaches. As a feasible alternative for the biomass management, anaerobic co-digestion is proposed in this study. Although the anaerobic digestion of macroalgae barely produced 177 mL of CH4 g−1 VS, the co-digestion with a C-rich substrate, such as the olive mill solid waste (OMSW, the main waste derived from the two-phase olive oil manufacturing process), improved the anaerobic digestion process. The mixture improved not only the methane yield, but also its biodegradability. The highest biodegradability was found in the mixture 1 R. okamurae—1 OMSW, which improved the biodegradability of the macroalgae by 12.9% and 38.1% for the OMSW. The highest methane yield was observed for the mixture 1 R. okamurae—3 OMSW, improving the methane production of macroalgae alone by 157% and the OMSW methane production by 8.6%. Two mathematical models were used to fit the experimental data of methane production time with the aim of assessing the processes and obtaining the kinetic constants of the anaerobic co-digestion of different combination of R. okamurae and OMSW and both substrates independently. First-order kinetic and the transference function models allowed for appropriately fitting the experimental results of methane production with digestion time. The specific rate constant, k (first-order model) for the mixture 1 R. okamurae- 1.5 OMSW, was 5.1 and 1.3 times higher than that obtained for the mono-digestion of single OMSW and the macroalga, respectively. In the same way, the transference function model revealed that the maximum methane production rate (Rmax) was also found for the mixture 1 R. okamurae—1.5 OMSW (30.4 mL CH4 g−1 VS day−1), which was 1.6 and 2.2 times higher than the corresponding to the mono-digestions of the single OMSW and sole R. okamurae (18.9 and 13.6 mL CH4 g−1 VS day−1), respectively.

Environmental impact assessment of organic fraction of municipal solid waste treatment by anaerobic digestion in Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110134
Author(s):  
Rasangika Thathsaranee Weligama Thuppahige ◽  
Sandhya Babel
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Ozone Formation ◽  
Organic Fraction ◽  
Management Options

The management of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) has continued to be a significant challenge in Sri Lanka. Anaerobic digestion is one of the management options of OFMSW. However, it generates unavoidable environmental impacts that should be addressed. The present study focuses to assess the environmental impact of a full-scale anaerobic digestion plant in Sri Lanka from a life cycle perspective. The inventory data were obtained from direct interviews and field measurements. Environmental burdens were found to be in terms of global warming potential (230 kg CO2 eq) ozone formation on human health (6.15 × 10−6 kg NO x eq), freshwater eutrophication (2.92 × 10−3 kg P eq), freshwater ecotoxicity (9.27 × 10−5 kg 1,4 DCB eq), human carcinogenic toxicity (3.98 × 10−4 kg 1,4 DCB eq), land use (1.32 × 10−4 m2 a crop eq) and water consumption (2.23 × 10−2 m3). The stratospheric ozone depletion, fine particulate matter formation, ozone formation on terrestrial ecosystems, terrestrial acidification, marine eutrophication, ecotoxicity (terrestrial and marine), human non-carcinogenic toxicity, mineral resource scarcity and fossil resource scarcity, were avoided due to electricity production. Results show that the direct gaseous emissions and digestate generation should be addressed in order to reduce the burdens from the anaerobic digestion plant. Finally, the results of the study could help in policy formation and decision-making in selecting future waste management systems in Sri Lanka.

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