Effect of fillers on key characteristics of sludge thermophilic anaerobic digestion.
In anaerobic digestion (AD) of sludge, AD efficiency and digested sludge (DS) dewaterability are critical factors. In this study, polyester non-woven fabric fillers were integrated into a sludge digester. The effect of such fillers on digestion was investigated in thermophilic temperature range in semi-continuous mode. Methane production of filler system and control reactor were significantly different (P < 0.05, paired t-test). At hydraulic retention times of 18 days and 12 days, the corresponding methane yields from filler system were 140% and 161%, respectively, of the yields from control digester without filler. Improvement of DS dewaterability was uncertain during 110 days of operation. While after a longer period of digestion, filler system resulted in a lower normalized capillary suction time of DS (76.5 ± 21.6 s L/g total suspended solids) than control reactor (118.7 ± 32.9 s L/g total suspended solids). The results showed that the filler could improve thermophilic AD performance, except at too short hydraulic retention times.
['Shao|Liming|L|', 'Xu|Yuanshun|Y|', 'Wang|Tianfeng|T|', 'Lü|Fan|F|', 'He|Pinjing|P|']
D000693:Anaerobiosis D001105:Archaea D001419:Bacteria D001426:Bacterial Proteins D001704:Biopolymers D019149:Bioreactors D002244:Carbon D005374:Filtration D008697:Methane D009930:Organic Chemicals D012722:Sewage D013696:Temperature D013997:Time Factors D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid D014867:Water
Filler Dewaterability Anaerobic digestion efficiency Microbial community