Anaerobic fermentation of hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater of dewatered sewage sludge for volatile fatty acids production with focuses on the degradation of organic components and microbial community compositions

Zheng Chen; Yue Rao; Muhammad Usman; Huihui Chen; Andrzej Białowiec; Shicheng Zhang; Gang Luo

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146077

Anaerobic fermentation of hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater of dewatered sewage sludge for volatile fatty acids production with focuses on the degradation of organic components and microbial community compositions

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 10:777:146077. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146077. Epub 2021 Feb 26.

Authors

Zheng Chen¹, Yue Rao², Muhammad Usman¹, Huihui Chen¹, Andrzej Białowiec³, Shicheng Zhang⁴, Gang Luo⁵

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP3), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
² Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP3), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO 63130, United States.
³ Department of Applied Bioeconomy, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wroclaw 51-630, Poland.
⁴ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP3), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Pollution Control and Resource Utilization of Organic Wastes, Shanghai 200438, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China.
⁵ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP3), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Pollution Control and Resource Utilization of Organic Wastes, Shanghai 200438, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China. Electronic address: gangl@fudan.edu.cn.

PMID: 33684756
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146077

Abstract

Hydrothermal conversion (HTC) is a promising technology for the treatment of dewatered sewage sludge to produce bio-fuels including bio-oil and hydrochar. At the same time, a huge amount of wastewater (HTCWW) was produced. The present study investigated the organic compositions of HTCWW obtained at different HTC temperatures (170-320 °C) and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) yields through anaerobic fermentation. Results showed that the highest VFAs yield of 0.59 gCOD_VFA/gCOD was obtained from HTCWW obtained at 170 °C (HTCWW 170). Higher amount of easily biodegradable organics including proteins and carbohydrates were present in HTCWW 170 °C, which resulted in the highest VFAs yields. With the increase of HTC temperature, recalcitrant organic compounds were produced as revealed by 3D-EEM and GC-MS analysis, which resulted in lower VFAs yields. Furthermore, microbial analysis showed that different compositions in the HTCWW led to the enrichment of different microbial communities, which affected the VFAs yields.

Keywords: Anaerobic fermentation; Dewatered sewage sludge; Hydrothermal conversion wastewater; Volatile fatty acids.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors
Fatty Acids, Volatile
Fermentation
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Microbiota*
Sewage*
Wastewater

Substances

Fatty Acids, Volatile
Sewage
Waste Water