The Investigation of the Parameters Affecting the Solubility of Waste Activated Sludge in the Electro-oxidation Process

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution air, and soil pollution, 2022-06, Vol.233 (6), Article 189
• Main Authors: Erdem YILMAZ, Alper, KOCADAĞISTAN, Beyhan, ARARGÜÇ, Emine Cansu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated sludge; Aerobic digestion; Alternative energy sources; Anaerobic treatment; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biomass; Biomass energy; Chemical oxygen demand; Chemical treatment; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Earth and Environmental Science; Economic benefits; Electrochemistry; Energy; Energy recovery; Energy resources; Environment; Environmental management; Environmental monitoring; Fossils; Hydrogeology; Hydrolysis; Investigations; Methane; Oxidation; Oxidation process; pH effects; Platinum; Pollution; Pretreatment; Production methods; Production processes; Purification; Reaction time; Renewable energy; Renewable energy sources; Renewable resources; Resource management; Sewage; Sludge; Soil Science & Conservation; Solubility; Supply and demand; Titanium; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water Quality/Water Pollution
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-022-05665-y

Since the beginning of the last century, there has been a high demand for renewable energy sources due to the decrease in fossil-based energy sources and the intense pollution of these energy types. Bioenergy recovery from sludge biomass is an attractive renewable energy source. Electrochemical treatment is one of the investigated physicochemical methods to increase methane production from waste activated sludge (WAS) biomass. It can be used as a new and efficient pretreatment for the hydrolysis of WAS. In this study, electrochemical technology with platinum/titanium (Pt/Ti) mesh electrodes was first applied for WAS before aerobic digestion. The effects of various operating conditions such as current intensity and initial pH of the sludge were investigated. The study showed that the amount of soluble COD of WAS increased with increasing current intensity. In addition, the results obtained showed that pH values higher or lower than the pH value of WAS (6.2) are favorable for the degradation of organic substances. An approximately 358% increase in COD solubility was detected at the end of the reaction time of 30 min at a current intensity of 25 A. The conducted study showed that electrochemical pretreatment is feasible and that increasing the methane production rate for anaerobic digester-containing wastewater treatment plants in Turkey has the potential to provide environmental and economic benefits.