Effect of thermal treatment of anaerobic sludge on the bioavailability and biodegradability characteristics of the organic fraction

Most works reported in the literature focus on thermal treatment of waste activated sludge at temperatures in the range of 160 to 180ºC. This research aimed at evaluating the thermal treatment of excess anaerobic sludge at much lower temperatures, using biogas generated in the wastewater treatment process as the energy source for heating a simplified thermal reactor. Direct burning of the biogas allowed an increase in the sludge temperature up to values close to 75ºC, for a 7-hour heating period. Sludge samples taken at different heating times showed that the thermal disintegration of the organic fraction allowed increases in the concentration of protein, carbohydrate, lipid and COD parameters by 30 to 35 times, as well as a 50% increase in the biogas production. Moreover, the simplified thermal treatment system proved to be an effective alternative for recovering energy from biogas and for controlling methane emissions to the atmosphere.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Borges,E. S. M., Chernicharo,C. A. L.
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Brazilian Society of Chemical Engineering 2009
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-66322009000300003
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!