Anaerobic degradation of digestate based hydrothermal carbonization products in a continuous hybrid fixed bed anaerobic filter

Mostafa Ahmed; Fabio Sartori; Fabio Merzari; Luca Fiori; Sherien Elagroudy; Mohamed Shaaban Negm; Gianni Andreottola

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124971

Anaerobic degradation of digestate based hydrothermal carbonization products in a continuous hybrid fixed bed anaerobic filter

Bioresour Technol. 2021 Jun:330:124971. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124971. Epub 2021 Mar 11.

Authors

Mostafa Ahmed¹, Fabio Sartori², Fabio Merzari³, Luca Fiori², Sherien Elagroudy⁴, Mohamed Shaaban Negm⁵, Gianni Andreottola²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Italy; Public Works Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. Electronic address: mostafa.ahmed@studenti.unitn.it.
² Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Italy.
³ Carborem SRL, Lavis TN, Italy.
⁴ Public Works Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; Egypt Solid Waste Management Center of Excellence, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁵ Public Works Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

PMID: 33740584
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124971

Abstract

This study investigates the suitability of continuous hybrid fixed bed anaerobic filter reactor for treating sewage and agro-industrial digestate hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) products; hydrochar and HTC liquor (HTCL). The reactor was operated for 300 days under mesophilic conditions at different organic loading rates (OLR); maximum OLRs of 7.4 and 10 gCOD/L/d were reached while treating HTC liquor and slurry, respectively. 15 g/L hydrochar were added to the reactor as a supplement while treating HTCL solely thus increasing the biogas production up to 153%. The reactor was fed with HTCL and hydrochar with an increasing mixing ratio, and the co-digestion impact was dependent on hydrochar concentrations. The results of the study indicate that the hybrid fixed bed anaerobic filter reactor is a promising anaerobic digestion configuration for treating HTCL and overcoming the HTC upscaling challenges, and the suitability of digestate hydrochar utilization as supplement material for anaerobic digestion.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Hydrochar; Hydrothermal carbonization; Sludge management; Wastewater digestate.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Biofuels*
Dietary Supplements
Sewage*

Substances

Biofuels
Sewage