Biomassand Biocnerg~Vol. 9, No. 6. pp.

493-495, 1995

Pegamon

o!M+9534(95)ooo38-0

Copyright Q 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0961-9534/95 $9.50 + 0.00

ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE IN AN ANAEROBIC FIXED BED DIGESTER

E. SANCHEZ, MONTALVO, L. TRAVIESOand X. RODRIGUEZ S. Environmental Pollution Department, National Center for Scientific Research (CNIC), P.O. Box 6990, La Habana, Cuba
(Received 19 March 1994; in revised form 15 February 1995; accepted 30 March 1995)

Ahatrret-The anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in conventional reactors requires a hydraulic retention time of around 20 days. By using a fixed bed reactor the hydraulic retention time was reduced to 3-7 days. Recirculation increased the removal of organic matter in this system. KeywordsAnaerobic digestion; sewage sludge; fixed bed digester; COD removal.

1. INTRODUCTION

Immobilization of anaerobic microorganisms in fixed bed digesters is a promising alternative in order to reduce the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of anaerobic digestion which is lengthy in a conventional sewage sludge digester. Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in a fixed bed at 6 days HRT with volatile solids removal of 70-80% has been reported. Similar reports on the treatment of cattle manure showed a number of advantages of this system compared with conventional digesters.2d Other studiess at a HRT of 5-14 days demonstrated satisfactory biogas production in a waste with 4% of total solids (TS) while clogging was not observed. Other author@ evaluated anaerobic fixed bed digesters (AFBD) to treat cow manure with around 5% TS. Volatile solids (VS) removals in a range of 30% at a HRT of l-8 days were obtained. The use of effluent recirculation resulted in a decrease in process efficiency due to the toxic effect of ammonia at a high pH level. This paper reports an extension of this work by studying the effect of HRT and recirculation in sewage sludge treatment using a fixed bed digester.

2. METHODS

Samples of sewage sludge were obtained from influent sludge of full scale digesters situated at a sewage treatment plant 5 km away from the laboratory. The sludge was a mixture of primary sedimentation (90/ in volume) and secondary
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sedimentation of trickling filter effluent (10% in volume). Samples of sewage sludge were analyzed by standard methods determining total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), alkalinity and pH. The samples were taken twice a month and stored at 4C and then used in either of two sets of experiments. The first experiment utilized a 9 liter volume acrylic vessel (square section) of 40 cm height and 15 cm side packed with 40 PVC plastic pipes of 21 cm length and 2 cm diameter. The bed had a porosity of 0.9 and a surface area of 1.06 m2. The reactor was covered with an acrylic top of 5 cm height and 18 cm side laying on a water seal of 6 cm depth. The top was provided with an influent pipe and a biogas pipe. The effluent pipe was situated below the perforated base of the support and outflow was controlled by a syphon. The digested sludge pipe was situated at the bottom of the vessel. Biogas produced during the experiment was collected and measured by a floating gas holder. The influent sludge was applied in a down flow using a peristaltic pump at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2,3,6 and 7 days (runs 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively) giving organic volumetric loadings rate of 3.2, 4.1, 8.1 and 12.1 kg VS/m3d. In the second set of experiments, an acrylic plastic vessel (square section) with an effective volume of 3 liters, 10 cm side and height 30 cm was used. The vessel was packed with 103 pieces of ceramic raschig rings (1.5 cm

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Table 1. Characteristics of raw sewage sludge Parameters Averaae values 37.1 26.0 38.4 3.5 7.2 Standard Deviation 5.3 3.8 8.1 1.2 0.3 Number of samoles 25 25 25 25 25

TS (s/l)
VS (g/l) COD (g/U Alkalinity (g/l) PH

external diameter, 1.3 internal diameter and 2.5 cm height) distributed as a honey comb. The bed porosity was 0.8 and the surface area was 0.24 m2. The reactor was covered by an acrylic top. The sludge was applied at the top of the vessel and collected from the bottom by a syphon. The system operated at a HRT of 5 days. Three runs were done (runs A, B, and C) corresponding with effluent recirculation ratios of l:l, 2:l and 4:l with respect to the raw sludge flow. In both cases, reactors were inoculated with l/10 volume of reactor digested sewage sludge. Furthermore, the reactors were filled with tap water and then feeding with influent sludge was initiated at indicated flows until a steady state was obtained. Both sets of experiments were carried out at room temperature in the range 25-3 1C. Samples of influents and effluents were taken twice a week and determinations of total solids, volatile solids, alkalinity, biogas production and methane concentration were made by standard methods.*
3. RESULTS

The feedstock used in the experiment was a combination of primary and secondary sludge. The characteristics of the feedstock are summarized in Table 1, with around 70% of the total solids considered as biodegradable. The pH and alkalinity values were in the favourable range for anaerobic digestion. Total solid concentration was around 3.7% which is lower than reported by others authors to be acceptable to the AFBD. 3.2. Eflect of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) Table 2 summarizes the results obtained in the first set of experiments. During one year of experiments the presence of high concentrations of total and volatile solids did not result in bed clogging. An increase in the HRT resulted in an improvement of VS and COD removal which in turn produced an increase in biogas production, methane concentration and methane yield. Process inhibition due to the progressive increase of organic volumetric loading rate (Bv) did not occur. The minimum methane concentration observed in the biogas was over 65% coincident with the highest Bv applied. Under such conditions the methane yield was minimum (only 25% of the theoretical value). These results indicate that a substantial removal of organic matter occurred by sedimentation and adsorption of organic floes and a minor part is biodegraded and converted into methane. Increase of the HRT resulted in an increase of effluent pH and alkalinity and the portion of organic matter converted to methane. For

3.1. Characteristic of raw sewage sludge The full scale sewage plant treats wastewater originating in a population of 200,000 inhabitants. The system consists of preliminary treatment (bar screen and sand trap), primary sedimentation, trickling filter, secondary sedimentation and open digester.

Table 2. Results of the first set of experiments

1 Bv (kg W/m3 reactor d) Bv (kg COD/m3 reactor d) Removal (%VS) Removal (o/COD) QG (V/V reactor d) CHI (%) Methane yield (I/g COD removed) Alkalinity PH 12.1 17.9 33.5 33.6 0.83 65. I 0.09 3.0 7.1

2 8.12 12.0 51.3 45.7 0.95 66.6 0.11 3.3 7.3

3 4.1 6.1 64.7 57.8 1.11 69.8 0.22 3.8 7.4

4 3.2 4.7 82.5 73.4 1.24 77.0 0.28 4.3 7.6

Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in an anaerobic fixed bed digester Table 3. Characteristics of the surplus sludge in the first set of experiments Run I 2 3 4 TS (g/l) 73.1 58.1 51.7 60.5 (;;) 34.0 28.9 21.7 20.3 Organic fraction (% of TS) 45.1 49.1 41.2 33.3 pH 7.1 7.3 7.4 7.4 4. CONCLUSIONS

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results were similar to results obtained by other authors.

that reason, methane yield increased with the HRT. It was necessary to draw off surplus sludge at the end of each run. The volume and characteristics of the sludge extracted are given in Table 3. The volume of surplus sludge was dependent on the amount of feedstock going into the system. The solids concentration in the surplus sludge increased compared with the influent concentration. Total solids concentration and volatile solids concentration of sludge decreased when the Bv value diminished showing that mineralization was a function of the hydraulic retention time (HRT). 3.3.
Eflect of recirculation

The results obtained show that an anaerobic fixed bed reactor can work at a high organic loading rate without clogging. Efficiencies of more than 60% in VS and 55% in COD were obtained at HRTs as low as 6 days while around three times that value is required in conventional processes. Improvement of AFBD could be obtained when supernatant recirculation is employed. Under these conditions the HRT was reduced to 5 days and efficiencies in the range of 60%-76% in VS and 58%-76% in COD were obtained. Clogging of the reactor was not observed in spite of the high concentration of solids of the influent and the high values of Bv applied.
Ackno,l,ledgemenrs-The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for their support.
REFERENCES

The effects of recirculation are shown in Table 4. According to the experimental results obtained an increase in the recirculation ratio improved the process performance and increased biogas production. The methane gas concentration decreased slightly with the recirculation ratio but the methane yield remained practically constant. Alkalinity and pH increased with the recirculation ratio but remained within an adequate range for anaerobic digestion, mainly in runs B and C compared with run A. These
Table 4. Results of the second set of experiments Run Parameter Removal (%VS) Removal (%COD) Qa (V/V reactor/d) CH4 (%) Methane yield (l/g COD removed) Alkalinity (g/l) PH A 31.9 36.5 1.03 70.3 0.32 3.5 7.0 B 63.4 58.1 I .62 68.5 0.31 4.4 7.2 C 74.3 75.9 2.4 67.2 0.34 4.4 7.2

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