Insights into thermal hydrolysis pretreatment temperature for enhancing volatile fatty acids production from sludge fermentation: Performance and mechanism

Zhuangzhuang Xiang; Xiao Huang; Hanfeng Chen; Biming Liu; Ziming Liu; Wenyi Dong; Hongjie Wang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129032

Insights into thermal hydrolysis pretreatment temperature for enhancing volatile fatty acids production from sludge fermentation: Performance and mechanism

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Jul:379:129032. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129032. Epub 2023 Apr 7.

Authors

Zhuangzhuang Xiang¹, Xiao Huang², Hanfeng Chen³, Biming Liu⁴, Ziming Liu³, Wenyi Dong⁵, Hongjie Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China; State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: huangxiao901231@126.com.
³ Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China.
⁴ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁵ School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.

PMID: 37031805
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129032

Abstract

To reveal the impact of thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) temperature on the unclear mechanisms of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production, four groups were established with different temperatures (100, 120, 140 and 160 °C), and high throughput sequencing technology was utilized. The results indicated that the optimal VFAs production occurred at 140 °C. Moreover, as the THP temperature increased, the proportion of acetic acid also increased, accounting for 10.8% to 26.7% of the VFAs, compared to only 4.9% in the control group. Mechanism investigations revealed that THP facilitated the hydrolysis and release of biodegradable organic matter. Moreover, the abundance of VFAs production and hydrolytic microorganisms and related metabolic functional genes expression were evidently improved by THP. Overall, this study deepens the understanding of the mechanisms through which different THP temperatures stimulate the production of VFAs through acidogenic fermentation, providing technical support for future THP application in sludge treatment.

Keywords: Acidogenic fermentation; Acidogenic microbes; Fatty acid biosynthesis pathway; Sludge pretreatment.

MeSH terms

Fatty Acids, Volatile*
Fermentation
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Hydrolysis
Sewage*
Temperature

Substances

Sewage
Fatty Acids, Volatile