Pre-treatment of wastewater sludge--biodegradability and rheology study

This study investigates the changes in biodegradability, rheology and metal concentration of wastewater sludge--non-hydrolyzed (raw), sterilized, and hydrolyzed (thermal alkaline pre-treatment) at total solids concentration from 10-50 g l(-1) to ascertain the bioavailability of nutrients for subsequent fermentation. The dissolved solids concentration increased linearly with total solids. Irrespective of the wastewater sludge (raw or, pre-treated), percentage biodegradability in terms of total solids (26.5-44.5%), total COD (25.8-56.5%) and dissolved solids (41.9-66.9%) was maximum around 20 g l(-1) solids concentration. The pseudoplasticity of sludge decreased (consistency index decreased from 895.1 to 5.2 and flow behaviour index increased from 0.28 to 0.88, for all sludge types) with pre-treatment and increased with total solids concentration. The pre-treated sludge, namely, sterilized and hydrolyzed sludge showed higher microbial growth (1-2 log cycles increase in comparison to raw sludge) suggesting their susceptibility to microbial degradation. The C:N ratio decreased with pre-treatment (raw sludge > sterilized > hydrolyzed) during biodegradation. Although the metal concentration increased in incubated hydrolyzed sludge, the final concentration was within the regulatory norms for agriculture application. Thus, pretreatment of sludge resulted in increase in biodegradability making it an excellent proponent for fermented value-added products.