IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i3p731-d1583978.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Freezing Method Assists Peracetic Acid Oxidation for Promoting the Methane Production from Sludge Anaerobic Digestion

Author

Listed:
  • Zhen-Wei Liu

    (Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China)

  • Yan-Qiu Chen

    (Institute of Rare and Scattered Elements, College of Chemistry, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110036, China)

  • Zhi-Shuai Liu

    (Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China)

  • Sheng-Wu Wang

    (Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China)

Abstract

Peracetic acid (PAA) oxidation, which is a kind of chemical method for sludge pretreatment, has been verified to be valid for promoting sludge anaerobic digestion performance. However, the methane production is still limited at certain levels by this method, because excess PAA has negative effects on methanogens. This work selected a freezing method combined with PAA to form a composite sludge pretreatment technology for synergistically improving the biomethane production. According to the experimental data, the methane yield was largely enhanced from 166.4 ± 5.6 mL/g volatile suspended solids (VSS) in the control to 261.5 ± 7.3 mL/g VSS by the combined freezing (−10 °C) and PAA (0.08 g/g TSS) pretreatment, with a 57.2% increase rate. Kinetic analysis showed that the methane production potential, methane production rate, and hydrolysis rate were promoted, respectively, from 159.4 mL/g VSS, 17.18 mL/g VSS/d, and 0.104 d −1 to 254.9 mL/g VSS, 25.69 mL/g VSS/d, and 0.125 d −1 by the freezing + PAA pretreatment. Mechanism analysis revealed that the freezing + PAA pretreatment destroyed both extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and microbial cells in the sludge, resulting in the increase in hydrolysis efficiency. Gene analysis showed that the hydrolytic microbes ( Hyphomicrobium and norank_f_Caldilineaceae ), acidogens (e.g., Petrimonas , Tissierella , and Mycobacerium ) and methanogens ( Methanosaeta , Methanosarcina , and Methanobacterium ) were all enriched by the freezing + PAA pretreatment, with the total abundances calculated to be 10.65% and 22.07% in the control and pretreated reactors, respectively. Considering both technical and economic factors, the freezing + PAA method is feasible for sludge pretreatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhen-Wei Liu & Yan-Qiu Chen & Zhi-Shuai Liu & Sheng-Wu Wang, 2025. "Freezing Method Assists Peracetic Acid Oxidation for Promoting the Methane Production from Sludge Anaerobic Digestion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:3:p:731-:d:1583978
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/731/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/731/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wei, Jing & Hao, Xiaodi & van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M. & Li, Ji, 2018. "Feasibility analysis of anaerobic digestion of excess sludge enhanced by iron: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 16-26.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huang, Bao-Cheng & He, Chuan-Shu & Fan, Nian-Si & Jin, Ren-Cun & Yu, Han-Qing, 2020. "Envisaging wastewater-to-energy practices for sustainable urban water pollution control: Current achievements and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    2. Arora, Amarpreet Singh & Nawaz, Alam & Qyyum, Muhammad Abdul & Ismail, Sherif & Aslam, Muhammad & Tawfik, Ahmed & Yun, Choa Mun & Lee, Moonyong, 2021. "Energy saving anammox technology-based nitrogen removal and bioenergy recovery from wastewater: Inhibition mechanisms, state-of-the-art control strategies, and prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. Nie, Erqi & He, Pinjing & Zhang, Hua & Hao, Liping & Shao, Liming & Lü, Fan, 2021. "How does temperature regulate anaerobic digestion?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Dar, Rouf Ahmad & Tsui, To-Hung & Zhang, Le & Smoliński, Adam & Tong, Yen Wah & Mohamed Rasmey, Abdel-Hamied & Liu, Ronghou, 2025. "Recent achievements in magnetic-field-assisted anaerobic digestion for bioenergy production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    5. Baek, Gahyun & Kim, Jinsu & Lee, Changsoo, 2019. "A review of the effects of iron compounds on methanogenesis in anaerobic environments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Francesca Valenti & Attilio Toscano, 2021. "A GIS-Based Model to Assess the Potential of Wastewater Treatment Plants for Enhancing Bioenergy Production within the Context of the Water–Energy Nexus," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Yin, Changkai & Shen, Yanwen & Dai, Xiaohu & Zhu, Nanwen & Yuan, Haiping & Lou, Ziyang & Yuan, Rongxue, 2020. "Integrated anaerobic digestion and CO2 sequestration for energy recovery from waste activated sludge by calcium addition: Timing matters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Sha, Hao & Zhao, Bo & Yang, Yuyi & Zhang, Yanhui & Zheng, Pengfei & Cao, Shengxian & Wang, Qing & Wang, Gong, 2023. "Enhanced anaerobic digestion of corn stover using magnetized cellulase combined with Ni-graphite coating," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    9. Qiao Wang & Huan Li & Kai Feng & Jianguo Liu, 2020. "Oriented Fermentation of Food Waste towards High-Value Products: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-29, October.
    10. Hassan, Gamal K. & Abdel-Karim, Ahmed & Al-Shemy, Mona T. & Rojas, Patricia & Sanz, Jose L. & Ismail, Sameh H. & Mohamed, Gehad G. & El-gohary, Fatma A. & Al-sayed, Aly, 2022. "Harnessing Cu@Fe3O4 core shell nanostructure for biogas production from sewage sludge: Experimental study and microbial community shift," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 1059-1071.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:3:p:731-:d:1583978. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.