Enhancement of anaerobic digestibility of waste activated sludge using photo-Fenton pretreatment

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2017-12, Vol.24 (35), p.27113-27124
• Main Authors: Heng, Gan Chin, Isa, Mohamed Hasnain, Lim, Jun-Wei, Ho, Yeek-Chia, Zinatizadeh, Ali Akbar Lorestani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated sludge; Activated sludge process; Anaerobic digestion; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biogas; Biological treatment; Chemical oxygen demand; Digestibility; Disintegration; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Hydrogen peroxide; Industrial wastewater; Iron; Irradiation; Municipal wastewater; Oxidation; Pretreatment; Reduction; Research Article; Response surface methodology; Retention time; Sludge; Sludge digestion; Sludge disposal; Sludge treatment; Suction; Ultraviolet radiation; Volatile solids; Waste disposal; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water treatment plants
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-0287-5

Biological treatments, such as activated sludge process, are common methods to treat municipal and industrial wastewaters. However, they produce huge amounts of waste activated sludge (WAS). The excess sludge treatment and disposal are a challenge for wastewater treatment plants due to economic, environmental, and regulatory factors. In this study, photo-Fenton pretreatment (oxidation using hydrogen peroxide and iron catalyst aided with UV light) was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) to determine the effects of three operating parameters (H 2 O 2 dosage, H 2 O 2 /Fe 2+ molar ratio, and irradiation time) on disintegration and dewaterability of WAS. MLVSS removal, capillary suction time (CST) reduction, sCOD, and EPS were obtained as 70%, 25%, 12,000 mg/L, and 500 mg/L, respectively, at the optimal conditions, i.e., 725 g H 2 O 2 /kg TS, H 2 O 2 /Fe 2+ molar ratio 80, and irradiation time 40 min. Two batch-fed completely mixed mesophilic anaerobic digesters were then operated at 15-day solid retention time (SRT) and 37 ± 0.5 °C to compare the digestibility of untreated and photo-Fenton pretreated sludge in terms of volatile solids (VS) reduction, COD removal, and biogas production at steady-state operations. Photo-Fenton pretreatment followed by anaerobic digestion of WAS was very effective and yielded 75.7% total VS reduction, 81.5% COD removal, and 0.29–0.31 m 3 /kg VS fed ·d biogas production rate, compared to 40.7% total VS solid reduction, 54.7% COD removal, and 0.12–0.17 m 3 /kg VS fed ·d biogas production rate for control. Thus, photo-Fenton can be a useful pretreatment step in sludge management.