Evaluation of the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Tomato Waste at Mesophilic Temperature

• Published in: Applied biochemistry and biotechnology 2014-04, Vol.172 (8), p.3862-3874
• Main Authors: Belhadj, Siham, Joute, Yassine, El Bari, Hassan, Serrano, Antonio, Gil, Aida, Siles, José Á, Chica, Arturo F, Martín, M. Ángeles
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ammonia; Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobiosis; Biochemistry; biodegradability; Biodegradation; Biological and medical sciences; Bioreactors - microbiology; Biotechnology; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hazardous waste; Hazardous wastes; Kinetics; Load distribution; Lycopersicon esculentum; Lycopersicon esculentum - chemistry; Methane; Methane - metabolism; Organic loading; Sewage - microbiology; Sewage sludge; sewage treatment; Sludge; Sludge digestion; Temperature; Tomatoes; Volatile solids; Waste Management - methods; Waste materials
• ISSN: 0273-2289; 1559-0291
• DOI: 10.1007/s12010-014-0790-9

Sewage sludge is a hazardous waste, which must be managed adequately. Mesophilic anaerobic digestion is a widely employed treatment for sewage sludge involving several disadvantages such as low methane yield, poor biodegradability, and nutrient imbalance. Tomato waste was proposed as an easily biodegradable co-substrate to increase the viability of the process in a centralized system. The mixture proportion of sewage sludge and tomato waste evaluated was 95:5 (wet weight), respectively. The stability was maintained within correct parameters in an organic loading rate from 0.4 to 2.2 kg total volatile solids (VS)/m³ day. Moreover, the methane yield coefficient was 159 l/kg VS (0 °C, 1 atm), and the studied mixture showed a high anaerobic biodegradability of 95 % (in VS). Although the ammonia concentration increased until 1,864 ± 23 mg/l, no inhibition phenomenon was determined in the stability variables, methane yield, or kinetics parameters studied.