Shihwu Sung

Ultrasound Applications in Wastewater Sludge Pretreatment: A Review

Municipal wastewater sludge, particularly waste activated sludge (WAS), is more difficult to digest than primary solids due to a rate-limiting cell lysis step. The cell wall and the membrane of prokaryotes are composed of complex organic materials such as peptidoglycan, teichoic acids, and complex polysaccharides, which are not readily biodegradable. Physical pretreatment, particularly ultrasonics, is emerging as a popular method for WAS disintegration. The exposure of the microbial cells to ultrasound energy ruptures the cell wall and membrane and releases the intracellular organics in the bulk solution, which enhances the overall digestibility. This review article summarizes the major findings of ultrasonic application in WAS disintegration, and elucidates the impacts of sonic treatment on both aerobic and anaerobic digestion. This review also touches on some basics of ultrasonics, different methods of quantifying ultrasonic efficacy, and some engineering aspects of ultrasonics as applied to biological sludge disintegration. The review aims to advance the understanding of ultrasound sludge disintegration and outlines the future research direction. There is general agreement that ultrasonic density is more important than sonication time for efficient sludge disintegration. Published studies showed as much as 40% improvement in solubilization of WAS following ultrasonic pretreatment. Based on kinetic models, ultrasonic disintegration was impacted in the order: sludge pH > sludge concentration > ultrasonic intensity > ultrasonic density. Both laboratory and full-scale studies showed that the integration of an ultrasonic system to the anaerobic digester improved the anaerobic digestibility significantly.

Biohydrogen production in continuous-flow reactor using mixed microbial culture.

The goal of the proposed project was to develop an anaerobic fermentation process that converts negative-value organic wastes into hydrogen-rich gas in a continuous-flow reactor under different operating conditions, such as hydraulic retention time (HRT), heat treatment, pH, and substrates. A series of batch tests were also conducted in parallel to the continuous study to evaluate the hydrogen conversion efficiency of two different organic substrates, namely sucrose and starch. A heat shock (at 90 degrees C for 15 minutes) was applied to the sludge in an external heating chamber known as a sludge activation chamber, as a method to impose a selection pressure to eliminate non-spore-forming, hydrogen-consuming bacteria and to activate spore germination. The experimental results showed that the heat activation of biomass enhanced hydrogen production by selecting for hydrogen-producing, spore-forming bacteria. The batch feeding at a shorter HRT of 20 hours (or higher organic loading rate) favored hydrogen production, whereas, at a longer HRT of 30 hours, methane was detected in the gas phase. The major organic acids of hydrogen fermentation were acetate, butyrate, and propionate. Up to 23.1% of influent chemical oxygen demand was consumed in biomass synthesis. Batch tests showed that the hydrogen-production potential of starch was lower than sucrose, and better conversion efficiency from starch was obtained at a lower pH of 4.5. However, addition of sucrose to starch improved the overall hydrogen-production potential and hydrogen-production rate. This study showed that sustainable biohydrogen production from carbohydrate-rich substrates is possible through heat activation of settled sludge.

Selective sequestration of carboxylic acids from biomass fermentation by surface-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Carboxylic acids produced by acid fermentation have attracted much attention recently as promising chemical feedstock. The feasibility of the acid fermentation as a high-value added bioconversion process depends on the selective separation of carboxylic acids from the bulk solution. The authors synthesized an aminopropyl-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) material with the MCM-41 type, parallel channel porous structure via a co-condensation method. The adsorption isotherms were analyzed with an extended Langmuir model using an overloading term. The highest acid adsorption capacity was 3.38 mol kg−1 for 1u2006:u20061 complexation at an amine density of 3.14 mol N kg−1. Positive isosteric heat showed the reaction was exothermic and favored at low temperature. Desorption/regeneration by increasing the pH to 10.5 was completed within 1 min, and the regenerated MSN showed an adsorption capacity equivalent to the original. MSN had a high selectivity for carboxylic acid over ethanol, glucose, and protein. The pseudo-second-order rate constant for acetic acid adsorption on MSN was 0.41 kg mol−1 min, significantly higher than those of an anion exchange resin (0.14 kg mol−1 min) and activated carbon (0.06 kg mol−1 min). We envision that the MSN material could serve as an efficient adsorbent for selective sequestration of biomass-derived carboxylic acids for various applications.

Enhanced volatile fatty acids production during anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass via micro-oxygenation

A series of batch experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of inoculum type, oxygen (O2) dosage, and incubation time on volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production during anaerobic digestion (AD) of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), a high yielding energy crop. The results showed that anaerobically digested cattle manure (ADCM) as an inoculum generated significantly higher VFAs compared to that of anaerobically digested waste activated sludge (ADWAS) as an inoculum. Additionally, the incubation time of 3days and O2 dosage of 15mL/g volatile solidsadded showed the highest VFAs production when ADCM was used as an inoculum. Moreover, the VFAs production had a quadratic correlation with O2 dosage with R2 of 0.86. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of the digested fiber showed rough and crumbled surface structures as opposed to that of the undigested fiber, which was further confirmed by changes in structural composition of the digested fiber.

Decentralized biorefinery for lignocellulosic biomass: Integrating anaerobic digestion with thermochemical conversion

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of lignocellulosic biomass i.e. Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), was investigated via a series of batch and bench-scale experiments. Two semi-continuous bench-scale horizontal bioreactors were operated in parallel for nearly 300u202fdays, and the reactors were able to handle the organic loading rate (OLR) up to 6u202fkg volatile solids (VS)/m3-d, which was among the highest OLR reported in the literature for lignocellulosic biomass. Hemicellulose was the main structural carbohydrate of lignocellulosic biomass per unit respective mass (dry weight) basis contributing to methane production. The cellulose- and lignin-rich digestate was further examined for its bioenergy potential via torrefaction and hydrothermal carbonization, and was found to have higher mass and energy yield compared with those of raw Napier grass. The produced solid char has energy content similar to bituminous coal with low ash content. Thus, this study provided a successful integration of anaerobic digestion with thermochemical conversion representing a biorefinery concept for lignocellulosic feedstocks.

Potential Methane Production on Anaerobic Co-digestion of Swine Manure and Food Waste

Anaerobic co-digestion of swine manure and food waste for biogas production was performed in serum bottles at various volatile solids(VS) contents and mixing ratios of two substrates(swine manure:food waste=). Through kinetic mode of surface methodology, the methane production was fitted to a Gompertz equation. The ultimate methane production potential of swine manure alone was lower than that of food waste regardless of VS contents. However, it was appeared that maximum methane production potentials in 80 : 20 of the mixing rate at VS 3% was enhanced at 144.7%, compared to its only swine manure. The potential increased up to 815.71 ml/g VS fed as VS concentration and food composition increased up to 3.0% and 20%, respectively. The ultimate amount of methane produced had significantly a positive relationship with that of methane yield rate. Overall, it would be strongly recommended that feeding stocks use 20% of mixing ratio of food waste based on VS 3% contents when operating the anaerobic reactor on site at if not have treatment of its anaerobic waste water.