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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Measuring Biomethane Potential of Food Scrap Waste Anaerobically Co-Digested with Waste-Activated Sludge Using Respirometry
Published on: April 26, 2024
Kinetic analysis of waste activated sludge hydrolysis and short-chain fatty acids production at pH 10
Leiyu Feng1, Yuanyuan Yan, Yinguang Chen
1State key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China. fengleiyu2001@yahoo.com.cn
Abstract:
The accumulation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), a preferred carbon source for enhanced biological phosphorus removal microbes, was significantly improved when waste activated sludge (WAS) was fermented at pH 10. The kinetics of WAS hydrolysis and SCFAs production at pH 10 was investigated. It was observed that during WAS anaerobic fermentation the accumulation of SCFAs was limited by the hydrolysis process, and both the hydrolysis of WAS particulate COD and the accumulation of SCFAs followed first-order kinetics. The hydrolysis and SCFAs accumulation rate constants increased with increasing temperature from 10 to 35 degrees C, which could be described by the Arrhenius equation. The kinetic data further indicated that SCFAs production at pH 10 was a biological process. Compared with the experiment of pH uncontrolled (blank test), both the rate constants of WAS hydrolysis and SCFAs accumulation at 20 degrees C were improved significantly when WAS was fermented at pH 10.
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