Abstract
Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD), although less explored as opposed to mesophilic AD is a viable strategy to reduce the volume of municipal sludge and generate renewable energy in the form of biogas simultaneously. In this study, biochemical methane potential was tested to compare three different pretreatments i.e., ultrasonication, biochar (black spruce wood and bark, California almond hull), enzyme (cocktail of endoglucanase, β-glucosidase, xylanase) for their ability to enhance TAD of municipal sludge. In addition to conventional parameters such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), volatile solids (VS), and biogas, the respiratory value and the pathogen removal were also evaluated. Ultrasonication for 20 min was found to be the best pretreatment in terms of higher COD removal, biogas generation and VS reduction. This is possible due to the increase in soluble fraction of organic matter after ultrasonication which facilitated effective hydrolysis and reduction in start-up time. However, pathogen removal was mostly facilitated by AD and the contribution of pretreatment was minimal.
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