High-rate iron-rich activated sludge as stabilizing agent for the anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste

Anaerobic digestion is a key technology in the bio-based economy and can be applied to convert a wide range of organic substrates into CH4 and CO2. Kitchen waste is a valuable substrate for anaerobic digestion, since it is an abundant source of organic matter. Yet, digestion of single kitchen waste often results in process failure. High-rate activated sludge or A-sludge is produced during the highly loaded first stage of the two-phase 'Adsorptions-Belebungsverfahren' or A/B activated sludge system for municipal wastewater treatment. In this specific case, the A-sludge was amended with FeSO4 to enhance phosphorous removal and coagulation during the water treatment step. This study therefore evaluated whether this Fe-rich A-sludge could be used to obtain stable methanation and higher methane production values during co-digestion with kitchen waste. It was revealed that Fe-rich A-sludge can be a suitable co-substrate for kitchen waste; i.e. methane production rate values of 1.15 ± 0.22 and 1.12 ± 0.28 L L(-1) d(-1) were obtained during mesophilic and thermophilic co-digestion respectively of a feed-mixture consisting of 15% KW and 85% A-sludge. The thermophilic process led to higher residual VFA concentrations, up to 2070 mg COD L(-1), and can therefore be considered less stable. Addition of micro- and macronutrients provided a more stable digestion of single kitchen waste, i.e. a methane production of 0.45 L L(-1) d(-1) was obtained in the micronutrient treatment compared to 0.30 L L(-1) d(-1) in the control treatment on day 61. Yet, methane production during single kitchen waste digestion still decreased toward the end of the experiment, despite the addition of micronutrients. Methane production rates were clearly influenced by the total numbers of archaea in the different reactors. This study showed that Fe-rich A-sludge and kitchen waste are suitable for co-digestion.