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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Measuring Biomethane Potential of Food Scrap Waste Anaerobically Co-Digested with Waste-Activated Sludge Using Respirometry
Published on: April 26, 2024
Evaluation of continuous mesophilic anaerobic sludge digestion after high temperature microwave pretreatment
Isil Toreci1, Kevin J Kennedy, Ronald L Droste
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161, Louis Pasteur Room A412, Ottawa, ON K1N6N5, Canada. toreci@eng.uottawa.ca
Abstract:
Effect of microwave pretreatment (MW) high temperature (175 degrees C) and MW intensity to waste activated sludge digested with acclimatized inoculum in single- and dual-stage semi-continuous mesophilic anaerobic digesters at different sludge retention times (SRTs) (20, 10 and 5 days) were investigated. MW pretreatment led to similar sludge stabilization at low SRTs (5 and 10 days). Although lowering MW intensity slightly improved sludge solubilization, it had a negative effect on digestion at low SRTs. Single-stage digesters with MW pretreatment surpass dual-stage digesters performances.
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