IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i17p9869-d627829.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Microaerobic Digestion of Low-Biodegradable Sewage Sludge: Effect of Air Dosing in Batch Reactors

Author

Listed:
  • Raffaele Morello

    (Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
    Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy
    Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (Di.S.A.A.T), University of Bari, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy)

  • Francesco Di Capua

    (Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
    Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Ludovico Pontoni

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Stefano Papirio

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Danilo Spasiano

    (Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy)

  • Umberto Fratino

    (Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy)

  • Francesco Pirozzi

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Giovanni Esposito

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

The adoption of prolonged solid retention times during the biological treatment of urban wastewaters is a well-known strategy to reduce sewage sludge production. However, it also results in the production of a biological sludge with low percentages of biodegradable organic matter, also characterized by high humification degrees, which may hamper the anaerobic digestion treatment aimed at sludge stabilization. To accelerate the hydrolytic stage, the application of microaerobic conditions during the anaerobic digestion of low-biodegradable sewage sludge was investigated in this study. In particular, six bio-methanation tests of a real sewage sludge were carried out, introducing air in the bioreactors with doses ranging between 0 and 16.83 L air/kg VS in d, in order to evaluate the air dosage that optimizes the biomethane production and organic matter degradation. Notably, the lower air loading rates investigated in this study, such as 0.68 and 1.37 L air/kg VS in d, led to an increase in methane production of up to 19%, due to a higher degradation of total lipids and proteins. In addition, these microaerobic conditions also resulted in a decrease in the sludge humification degree and in lower volatile fatty acid accumulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Raffaele Morello & Francesco Di Capua & Ludovico Pontoni & Stefano Papirio & Danilo Spasiano & Umberto Fratino & Francesco Pirozzi & Giovanni Esposito, 2021. "Microaerobic Digestion of Low-Biodegradable Sewage Sludge: Effect of Air Dosing in Batch Reactors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9869-:d:627829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9869/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9869/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Di Capua, Francesco & Spasiano, Danilo & Giordano, Andrea & Adani, Fabrizio & Fratino, Umberto & Pirozzi, Francesco & Esposito, Giovanni, 2020. "High-solid anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge: challenges and opportunities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    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. Tian, Wenjing & Li, Jianhao & Zhu, Lirong & Li, Wen & He, Linyan & Gu, Li & Deng, Rui & Shi, Dezhi & Chai, Hongxiang & Gao, Meng, 2021. "Insights of enhancing methane production under high-solid anaerobic digestion of wheat straw by calcium peroxide pretreatment and zero valent iron addition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1321-1332.
    2. Marcin Zieliński & Marcin Dębowski & Joanna Kazimierowicz, 2021. "The Effect of Static Magnetic Field on Methanogenesis in the Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Sewage Sludge," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Qi, Chuanren & Cao, Dingge & Gao, Xingzu & Jia, Sumeng & Yin, Rongrong & Nghiem, Long D. & Li, Guoxue & Luo, Wenhai, 2023. "Optimising organic composition of feedstock to improve microbial dynamics and symbiosis to advance solid-state anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and organic waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    4. Eljamal, Osama & Eljamal, Ramadan & Falyouna, Omar & Maamoun, Ibrahim & Thompson, Ian P., 2024. "Exceptional contribution of iron nanoparticle and aloe vera biomass additives to biogas production from anaerobic digestion of waste sludge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    5. Jiawen Zhang & Zhiyi Liang & Toru Matsumoto & Tiejia Zhang, 2022. "Environmental and Economic Implication of Implementation Scale of Sewage Sludge Recycling Systems Considering Carbon Trading Price," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Marcin Dębowski & Marcin Zieliński & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Anna Nowicka & Magda Dudek, 2024. "Optimisation of Biogas Production in the Co-Digestion of Pre-Hydrodynamically Cavitated Aerobic Granular Sludge with Waste Fats," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-16, February.
    7. Rosa M. Llácer-Iglesias & P. Amparo López-Jiménez & Modesto Pérez-Sánchez, 2021. "Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Ombretta Paladino, 2022. "Data Driven Modelling and Control Strategies to Improve Biogas Quality and Production from High Solids Anaerobic Digestion: A Mini Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Joanna Kazimierowicz & Izabela Bartkowska & Maria Walery, 2020. "Effect of Low-Temperature Conditioning of Excess Dairy Sewage Sludge with the Use of Solidified Carbon Dioxide on the Efficiency of Methane Fermentation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Li, Wangliang & Gupta, Rohit & Zhang, Zhikai & Cao, Lixia & Li, Yanqing & Show, Pau Loke & Gupta, Vijai Kumar & Kumar, Sunil & Lin, Kun-Yi Andrew & Varjani, Sunita & Connelly, Stephanie & You, Siming, 2023. "A review of high-solid anaerobic digestion (HSAD): From transport phenomena to process design," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    11. Wang, Zhongzhong & Hu, Yuansheng & Wang, Shun & Wu, Guangxue & Zhan, Xinmin, 2023. "A critical review on dry anaerobic digestion of organic waste: Characteristics, operational conditions, and improvement strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    12. German Smetana & Ewa Neczaj & Anna Grosser, 2021. "Biomethane Potential of Selected Organic Waste and Sewage Sludge at Different Temperature Regimes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Katarzyna Bułkowska & Magdalena Zielińska, 2024. "Thermal Disintegration of Waste-Activated Sludge," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-28, September.
    14. Nicola Di Costanzo & Alessandra Cesaro & Francesco Di Capua & Giovanni Esposito, 2021. "Exploiting the Nutrient Potential of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, December.
    15. He, Huiban & Wang, Ziyu & Wang, Weiwei & He, Haoxing & Yan, Jing & Wang, Hongliang & Cui, Zongjun & Yuan, Xufeng, 2024. "Mitigating short-circuits through synergistic temperature and hydraulic retention time control for enhancing methane yield in continuous stirred-tank reactors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    16. Zhao, Jiamin & Hou, Tingting & Wang, Qian & Zhang, Zhenya & Lei, Zhongfang & Shimizu, Kazuya & Guo, Wenshan & Ngo, Huu Hao, 2021. "Application of biogas recirculation in anaerobic granular sludge system for multifunctional sewage sludge management with high efficacy energy recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    17. Adam Masłoń & Joanna Czarnota & Aleksandra Szaja & Joanna Szulżyk-Cieplak & Grzegorz Łagód, 2020. "The Enhancement of Energy Efficiency in a Wastewater Treatment Plant through Sustainable Biogas Use: Case Study from Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-21, November.
    18. Giovanni Gadaleta & Francesco Todaro & Annamaria Giuliano & Sabino De Gisi & Michele Notarnicola, 2024. "Co-Treatment of Food Waste and Municipal Sewage Sludge: Technical and Environmental Review of Biological and Thermal Technologies," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-34, July.
    19. Mariusz Tańczuk & Wojciech Kostowski, 2021. "Technical, Energetic and Economic Optimization Analysis of Selection of Heat Source for Municipal Sewage Sludge Dryer," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-16, January.
    20. Chen, Rui & Zhou, Jialiang & Zheng, Xin & Jiang, Lingwei & Duan, Na, 2023. "Unveiling the synergy of Chlorella sp. and cattle manure co-digestion under high feeding load," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).

    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:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9869-:d:627829. 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.