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Enhanced anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge by reverse osmosis brine and composition distribution in
Heliang Pang1, Ling Wang2, Junguo He3
1School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, PR China; Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre, Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Singapore 637141, Singapore.
Abstract:
This study reported a "treating waste by waste" strategy to dispose waste activated sludge (WAS), i.e. reverse osmosis (RO) brine-enhanced anaerobic fermentation. RO brine was hazardous by-product from seawater desalination process, which contains numerous Na+. After 4-day RO brine-enhanced anaerobic fermentation at Na+ concentration of 0.33 mol/L, 5.0 g/L VSS reduction (37.9% of VSS) was achievable, leading to considerable soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) release of 349.6 mg/g VSS. Acetic acid was predominant component in SCOD (31.1%), followed by propionic, butyric, valeric acids and proteins (14.0-17.6%). Sludge solubilization and SCOD composition in the enhanced anaerobic fermentation with RO brine and NaCl agent were similar, whereas less nutrient release and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) disruption were achieved by RO brine, attributing to the Ca2+&Mg2+-caused skeleton strengthening on EPS matrix. Such RO brine-based strategy provided environmental and economic benefits, e.g. none chemical consumption, synchronous disposal of WAS and RO brine.
