Anaerobic codigestion of waste activated sludge and OFMSW: the experiences of Viareggio and Treviso plants (Italy)

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Bolzonella ◽  
P. Battistoni ◽  
C. Susini ◽  
F. Cecchi

The paper presents the results of two full-scale applications of the anaerobic co-digestion process of waste activated sludge together with the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes. The experiences were carried out at Viareggio and Treviso wastewater treatment plants (Italy). In the first plant, 3 tons per day of source sorted OFMSW were co-digested with waste activated sludge, increasing the organic loading rate from 1.0 to 1.2 kgTVS/m3d. This determined a 50% increase in biogas production. At Treviso WWTP, which has been working for 2 years, some 10 tons per day of separately collected OFMSW are treated using a low-energy consumption sorting line, which allows the removal of 99% and 90% of metals and plastics respectively. In these conditions, the biogas yield increased from 3,500 up to 17,500 m3/month. Industrial costs were evaluated less than 50 € per ton of organic waste, while the payback time was calculated as two years.

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Bolzonella ◽  
P. Pavan ◽  
P. Battistoni ◽  
F. Cecchi

This paper deals with the performances obtained in full scale anaerobic digesters co-digesting waste activated sludge from biological nutrients removal wastewater treatment plants, together with different types of organic wastes (solid and liquid). Results showed that the biogas production can be increased from 4,000 to some 18,000 m3 per month when treating some 3–5 tons per day of organic municipal solid waste together with waste activated sludge. On the other hand, the specific biogas production was improved, passing from 0.3 to 0.5 m3 per kgVS fed the reactor, when treating liquid effluents from cheese factories. The addition of the co-substrates gave minimal increases in the organic loading rate while the hydraulic retention time remained constant. Further, the potentiality of the struvite crystallisation process for treating anaerobic supernatant rich in nitrogen and phosphorus was studied: 80% removal of phosphorus was observed in all the tested conditions. In conclusion, a possible layout is proposed for designing or up-grading wastewater treatment plants for biological nutrients removal process.


Author(s):  
Stanisław Wacławek ◽  
Klaudiusz Grübel ◽  
Daniele Silvestri ◽  
Vinod V.T. Padil ◽  
Maria Ząbkowska-Wacławek ◽  
...  

Due to rapid urbanization, the quantity of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) has increased, and with it the amount of waste generated by them. Sustainable management of this waste can lead to the creation of energy-rich biogas through the fermentation process. This review presents recent advances in the anaerobic digestion process resulting in greater biogas production. Disintegration techniques for enhancing waste activated sludge fermentation can be generally partitioned into biological, physical and chemical, each of which are covered in this review. These disintegration techniques were compared mainly in terms of their biogas yield. It was found that ultrasonic and microwave disintegration provides the highest biogas yield (>500%); however, they are also the most energy demanding (>10,000 kJ kg-1 total solids).


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanisław Wacławek ◽  
Klaudiusz Grübel ◽  
Daniele Silvestri ◽  
Vinod V.T. Padil ◽  
Maria Wacławek ◽  
...  

Due to rapid urbanization, the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) has increased, and so has the associated waste generated by them. Sustainable management of this waste can lead to the creation of energy-rich biogas via fermentation processes. This review presents recent advances in the anaerobic digestion processes that have led to greater biogas production. Disintegration techniques for enhancing the fermentation of waste activated sludge can be apportioned into biological, physical and chemical means, which are included in this review; they were mainly compared and contrasted in terms of the ensuing biogas yield. It was found that ultrasonic- and microwave-assisted disintegration provides the highest biogas yield (>500%) although they tend to be the most energy demanding processes (>10,000 kJ kg−1 total solids).


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Cavinato ◽  
C. Da Ros ◽  
P. Pavan ◽  
F. Cecchi ◽  
D. Bolzonella

Waste activated sludge production and management plays an important role in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), especially from an economic point of view. One possible approach is the anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge with others organic substrates in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions in order to exploit the spare volume of existing reactors, recover energy from biogas production, and obtain a fertilizer as final product. The anaerobic trials were carried out at pilot scale, applying two organic loading rates (2.8 and 4.5 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(m3·d)) with a hydraulic retention time of 16 and 21 days. Among agro-wastes, wine lees were chosen because of their continuous availability throughout the year, and their high COD content (up to 200–300 g/l, 70% soluble, on average). The addition of wine lees to activated sludge determined a higher biogas production (best yield was 0.40 Nm3/kgCODfed) improving the energetic balance of the sludge line of the WWTP. The characterization of both substrates fed and digester effluents was carried out in terms of heavy metals; comparison with EC proposed limits showed that, due to high content of Cu in wine lees, the loading rate of this agro-waste should be limited to maintain good characteristics of final biosolids.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emna Feki ◽  
Audrey Battimelli ◽  
Sami Sayadi ◽  
Abdelhafidh Dhouib ◽  
Sonia Khoufi

Anaerobic digestion (AD), being the most effective treatment method of waste activated sludge (WAS), allows for safe disposal. The present study deals with the electro-Fenton (EF) pretreatment for enhancing the WAS biogas potential with low-cost iron electrodes. The effect of pretreatment on the physicochemical characteristics of sludge was assessed. Following EF pretreatment, the pH, conductivity, soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), and volatile fatty acids (VFA) increased to 7.5, 13.72 mS/cm, 4.1 g/L, and 925 mg/L, respectively. Capillary suction time (CST) analysis highlighted the dewaterability effect of EF on WAS, as demonstrated by the decrease in CST from 429 to 180 s following 30 min of pretreatment. Batch digestion assays presented an increase in the biogas yield to 0.135 L/g volatile solids (VS) after 60 min of EF pretreatment in comparison to raw sludge (0.08 L/g VS). Production of biogas was also found to improve during semi-continuous fermentation of EF-pretreated sludge conducted in a lab-scale reactor. In comparison to raw sludge, EF-pretreated sludge produced the highest biogas yield (0.81 L biogas/g VS) with a high COD removal rate, reaching 96.6% at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.5 g VS/L. d. Results revealed that the EF process could be an effective WAS disintegration method with maximum recovery of bioenergy during AD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Quang-Minh Nguyen ◽  
Duy-Cam Bui ◽  
Thao Phuong ◽  
Van-Huong Doan ◽  
Thi-Nham Nguyen ◽  
...  

The effect of copper, zinc, chromium, and lead on the anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and septic tank sludge in Hanoi was studied in the fermentation tests by investigating the substrate degradation, biogas production, and process stability at the mesophilic fermentation. The tested heavy metals were in a range of concentrations between 19 and 80 ppm. After the anaerobic tests, the TS, VS, and COD removal efficiency was 4.12%, 9.01%, and 23.78% for the Cu(II) added sample. Similarly, the efficiencies of the Zn(II) sample were 1.71%, 13.87%, and 16.1% and Cr(VI) efficiencies were 15.28%, 6.6%, and 18.65%, while the TS, VS, and COD removal efficiency of the Pb(II) added sample was recorded at 16.1%, 17.66%, and 16.03% at the concentration of 80 ppm, respectively. Therefore, the biogas yield also decreased by 36.33%, 31.64%, 31.64%, and 30.60% for Cu(II), Zn(II), Cr(VI), and Pb(II) at the concentration of 80 ppm, compared to the raw sample, respectively. These results indicated that Cu(II) had more inhibiting effect on the anaerobic digestion of the sludge mixture than Zn(II), Cr(VI), and Pb(II). The relative toxicity of these heavy metals to the co-digestion process was as follows: Cu (the most toxic) > Zn > Cr > Pb (the least toxic). The anaerobic co-digestion process was inhibited at high heavy metal concentration, which resulted in decreased removal of organic substances and produced biogas.


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Da Ros ◽  
C. Cavinato ◽  
F. Cecchi ◽  
D. Bolzonella

In this study the anaerobic co-digestion of wine lees together with waste activated sludge in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions was tested at pilot scale. Three organic loading rates (OLRs 2.8, 3.3 and 4.5 kgCOD/m3d) and hydraulic retention times (HRTs 21, 19 and 16 days) were applied to the reactors, in order to evaluate the best operational conditions for the maximization of the biogas yields. The addition of lee to sludge determined a higher biogas production: the best yield obtained was 0.40 Nm3biogas/kgCODfed. Because of the high presence of soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) and polyphenols in wine lees, the best results in terms of yields and process stability were obtained when applying the lowest of the three organic loading rates tested together with mesophilic conditions.


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