Co-digestion of primary sewage sludge with drinking water treatment sludge: A comprehensive evaluation of benefits

Sihuang Xie; Xuan Li; Chau Uyen Pham; Hoang Viet Nguyen; Yarong Song; Kirthi Chetty; Jagadeeshkumar Kulandaivelu; Chengduan Wang; Faisal Hai; Guangming Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124994

Co-digestion of primary sewage sludge with drinking water treatment sludge: A comprehensive evaluation of benefits

Bioresour Technol. 2021 Jun:330:124994. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124994. Epub 2021 Mar 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
² Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
³ Urban Utilities, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University of Arts and Science, Sichuan, China.
⁵ Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
⁶ School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia. Electronic address: gjiang@uow.edu.au.

PMID: 33773264
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124994

Abstract

Anaerobic co-digestion of primary sludge with two types of drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS), namely iron- or aluminum-rich DWTS (Fe- or Al-DWTS) were systematically evaluated by biochemical methane potential tests, kinetic modelling, downstream process parameters and microbial community analysis. Specific methane yields decreased approximately 19% to 123 mL·g^-1 VS, while the hydrolysis constant k_h decreased from 0.21 d^-1 to 0.18 d^-1 for Fe-DWTS at 10% to 40% dosages. On the contrary, specific methane yields decreased 45-55% for Al-DWTS, and k_h decreased to 0.14 d^-1 at 40% dosage. Significant removals (>95%) of phosphate and hydrogen sulfide were observed for Fe- and Al-DWTS additions at 40% dosage. Microbial community analysis revealed that Al-DWTS increased the abundance of most hydrogenotrophic methanogens, while Fe-DWTS increased the abundance of acetoclastic methanogens. Kinetic modelling further revealed that Fe- and Al-DWTS additions affected the hydrolysis and methanogenesis process kinetics and the methane yield differently.

Keywords: Anaerobic co-digestion; Drinking water sludge; Hydrogen sulfide; Methane; Phosphate.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors
Digestion
Drinking Water*
Methane
Sewage
Water Purification*

Substances

Drinking Water
Sewage
Methane