Alkaline Pretreated Sludge Research Articles

Bioelectrochemical system for the enhancement of methane production by anaerobic digestion of alkaline pretreated sludge

An increasing interest is devoted to combined microbial electrolysis cell-anaerobic digestion (MEC-AD) system which could convert waste activated sludge into biogas. In this study series tests were initially conducted to study the effect of alkaline pretreatment on AD system and the results showed that alkaline pretreatment could promote the dissolution of organic matters in the sludge and thus improve the methane production. Then, the methane production in combined MEC-AD system fed with alkaline-pretreated sludge was investigated. The results indicated that the methane productions increased by 37% and 42% when applied voltage was 0.5 V and 0.8 V. The microbial electrochemical system strongly promoted the growth of Euryarchaeota (Methanosaeta and Methanobacterium). Meanwhile, the abundance of Paraclostridium increased from 17.9% to 38.5% when applied voltage was 0.8 V, suggesting an enhanced fermentation and acetogenesis process. The results of energy balance estimation indicated that MEC-AD system at 0.5 V could achieve higher net energy output.

Free ammonia enhances dark fermentative hydrogen production from waste activated sludge

Ammonium and/or free ammonia (the unionized form of ammonium) are generally thought to inhibit the activities of microbes involved in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge. It was found in this work, however, that the presence of ammonium (NH4+-N) largely enhanced dark fermentative hydrogen production from alkaline pretreated-sludge. With the increase of initial NH4+-N level from 36 to 266 mg/L, the maximal hydrogen production from alkaline (pH 9.5) pretreated-sludge increased from 7.3 to 15.6 mL per gram volatile suspended solids (VSS) under the standard condition. Further increase of NH4+-N to 308 mg/L caused a slight decrease of hydrogen yield (15.0 mL/g VSS). Experimental results demonstrated that free ammonia instead of NH4+-N was the true contributor to the enhancement of hydrogen production. It was found that the presence of free ammonia facilitated the releases of both extracellular and intracellular constituents, which thereby provided more substrates for subsequent hydrogen production. The free ammonia at the tested levels (i.e., 0–444 mg/L) did not affect acetogenesis significantly. Although free ammonia inhibited all other bio-processes, its inhibition to the hydrogen consumption processes (i.e., homoacetogenesis, methanogenesis, and sulfate-reducing process) was much severer than that to the hydrolysis and acidogenesis processes. Further investigations with enzyme analyses showed that free ammonia posed slight impacts on protease, butyrate kinase, acetate kinase, CoA-transferase, and [FeFe] hydrogenase activities but largely suppressed the activities of coenzyme F420, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, and adenylyl sulfate reductase, which were consistent with the chemical analyses performed above.

Methane production and microbial community structure for alkaline pretreated waste activated sludge

Alkaline pretreatment was studied to analyze the influence on waste activated sludge (WAS) reduction, methane production and microbial community structure during anaerobic digestion. Methane production from alkaline pretreated sludge (A-WAS) (pH=12) increased from 251.2mL/Ld to 362.2mL/Ld with the methane content of 68.7% compared to raw sludge (R-WAS). Sludge reduction had been improved, and volatile suspended solids (VSS) removal rate and protein reduction had increased by ∼10% and ∼35%, respectively. The bacterial and methanogenic communities were analyzed using 454 pyrosequencing and clone libraries of 16S rRNA gene. Remarkable shifts were observed in microbial community structures after alkaline pretreatment, especially for Archaea. The dominant methanogenic population changed from Methanosaeta for R-WAS to Methanosarcina for A-WAS. In addition to the enhancement of solubilization and hydrolysis of anaerobic digestion of WAS, alkaline pretreatment showed significant impacts on the enrichment and syntrophic interactions between microbial communities.

Effects of Initial pH on Bio-Hydrogen Production from Alkaline Pretreated Municipal Sludge

Great attention has been paid to the increasing amount of municipal sludge generated from wastewater treatment plants due to its potential risks to the surrounding environment. The municipal sludge, which mainly composed of polysaccharides, proteins as well as abundant groups of microorganisms, has been proved to be a promising biological material for hydrogen production by anaerobic fermentation. The tests systematically investigated the effects of initial pH on bio-hydrogen production from alkaline pretreated municipal sludge. The results showed that both hydrogenogen and methanogen were inhibited at the initial pH 2 to 4, which resulted in little hydrogen production. The methanogen inhibition was obvious by the rate of 94-98 % at the initial pH 5. The relatively high hydrogen production appeared at the initial pH 5 during the fermentation using the alkaline pretreated sludge at pH=12.0, and the corresponding pH at the end of fermentation was from 5.0 to 6.0, which was good for hydrogen production from saccharide. The hydrogenogen and methanogen could be promoted and the lag phase for hydrogen production could be shorten at the initial pH 6 to 10, however the corresponding hydrogen production was quite low. It also could be concluded that the alkaline pretreated sludge with initial pH 12.0 gave the highest hydrogen production, and the initial pH 12.0 for the alkaline pretreated sludge could inhibit methanogen growth and meanwhile maintain a high activity of the hydrogenogen.

Evaluation of electricity production from alkaline pretreated sludge using two-chamber microbial fuel cell

Electricity production from alkaline pretreated sludge was evaluated using a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The electricity production was found to be stable over a long period of time (approximately 17 d) with voltage outputs and power densities of 0.47–0.52V and 46.80–55.88mW/m2, respectively. The anode resistance was the main internal resistance (73.2%) of MFC in the stable stage. Most soluble organic matters (proteins and carbohydrates) in the anode chamber were first degraded and converted into volatile fatty acids (0–15 d), which were then degraded and converted into electricity and methane (15–29 d). The insoluble organics were solubilized thereby decreasing the sludge concentration and reducing the sludge mass. Methane was produced in the anode chamber owing to the growth of methanogens, which did not obviously affect the electricity production. The change in humic-like substances displayed a positive correlation with the electricity production of the MFC. Microbial analysis showed that methanogens and electricity-producing bacteria co-existed mostly on the surface as well as inside the anode. Decreasing the anode resistance and increasing the anode utilization could enhance the electricity production.

Effects of various pretreatments on biohydrogen production from sewage sludge

The sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plant is a kind of biomass which contains many organics, mainly carbohydrates and proteins. Four pretreatments, acid pretreatment, alkaline pretreatment, thermal pretreatment and ultrasonic pretreatment, were used to enhance biohydrogen production from sewage sludge. The experimental results showed that the four pretreatments could all increase the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of sludge and decrease the dry solid (DS) and volatile solid (VS) because the pretreatments could disrupt the floc structure and even the microbial cells of sludge. The results of batch anaerobic fermentation experiments demonstrated that all of the four pretreatments could select hydrogen-producing microorganisms from the microflora of sludge and enhance the hydrogen production. The hydrogen yield of the alkaline pretreated sludge at initial pH of 11.5 was the maximal (11.68 mL H2/g VS) and that of the thermal pretreated sludge was the next (8.62 mL H2/g VS). The result showed that the hydrogen yield of pretreated sludge was correlative with its SCOD. The hydrogen yields of acid pretreated sludge and alkaline pretreated sludge were also influenced by their initial pH. No methane could be detected in the anaerobic fermentation of alkaline pretreated sludge and thermal pretreated sludge, which suggested that these pretreatments could fully inhibit the activity of methanogens. The volatile fatty acids (VFA) production in anaerobic fermentation of alkaline pretreated sludge was the maximum and the next is that of thermal pretreated sludge.

Enhanced Bacillus thuringiensis Production from Sewage Sludge with Alkaline and Ultrasonic Pretreatments

Sewage sludge is a cost-effective media for the production of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) based biopesticides. To enhance the entomotoxicity of the fermentation broth, pretreatments of sewage sludge by alkali and ultrasonic were applied in this study. Effects of alkaline and ultrasonic pretreatments on the soluble COD (SCOD) and total COD (TCOD) were evaluated by altering the alkali addition dose and the ultrasonic specific energy. Suitable pretreatment conditions were optimized with 5 g l−1 sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for alkaline treatment and 1.2 × 105 kJ kg−1 of total solid for ultrasonic treatment. Fermentations of raw and pretreated sludge for biopesticides were carried out in a bench scale fermentor. Results revealed that both pretreatments were effective for Bt growth and metabolism. Higher viable cells (VC) and viable spores (VS) counts, δ-endotoxin yields and entomotoxicity were achieved in the pretreated sludge. The enhancement was attributed to more available nutrients and better oxygen transfer. Moreover, ultrasonic pretreated sludge was superior to alkaline pretreated sludge for δ-endotoxin production and entomotoxicity owing to its higher soluble C/N ratio and finer particles.

Enhanced biohydrogen production from sewage sludge with alkaline pretreatment.

Batch tests were carried out to analyze influences of the alkaline pretreatment and initial pH value on biohydrogen production from sewage sludge. Experimental results of the impact of different initial pH on biohydrogen production showed that both the maximal hydrogen yield occurred and that no methane was detected in the tests of at the initial pH of 11.0. The final pH decreased at the initial pH of 7.0-12.5 but increased atthe initial pH of 3.0-6.0, probably due to the combination of solubilized protein from sludge and the formation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ammonia during biohydrogen fermentation. The performance of biohydrogen production using the raw sludge and the alkaline pretreated sludge was then compared in batch fermentation tests atthe initial pH of 11.0. The hydrogen yield was increased from 9.1 mL of H2/g of dry solids (DS) of the raw sludge to 16.6 mL of H2/g of DS of the alkaline pretreated sludge. No methane and less carbon dioxide (0.8% of control) were present in the biohydrogen production from the alkaline pretreated sludge. These results clearly showed that biohydrogen production could be enhanced and maintained stable by the combination of the high initial pH and alkaline pretreatment. The mechanism of biohydrogen production from sewage sludge at high initial pH was therefore investigated because the results of this study were differentfrom previous studies of biohydrogen production. Results showed that protein was the major substrate for biohydrogen production from sewage sludge and that Eubacterium multiforme and Paenibacillus polymyxa were the dominant bacteria in biohydrogen production from alkaline pretreated sludge at an initial pH of 11.0. The combination of alkaline pretreatment and high initial pH could not only maintain a suitable pH range for the growth of dominant hydrogen-producing anaerobes but also inhibit the growth of hydrogen-consuming anaerobes. In addition, the changes in pH value, oxidation-reduction potential, VFAs and soluble COD during hydrogen fermentation were also discussed.