This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the unified high-rate anaerobic digestion (UHAD) system treating co-substrate of sewage sludge and food waste. A 24-hr operating sequence consisted of four steps including fill, react, settle, and draw. The effects of co-substrate and organic loading rate (OLR) on the performance were investigated to verify the system applicability. In each OLR, the UHAD system showed higher CH4 recovery (>70%), CH4 yield (0.3 L CH4/g VSadded) and CH4 production rate (0.6 L CH4/L/d) than the control system. In the specific methanogenic activity (SMA) tests on thermophilic biomass of the UHAD system, the average SMA of acetate (102 mL CH4/gVSS/d) was much higher than those of butyrate (85 mL CH4/g SS/d) and propionate (42 mL CH4/gVSS/d). It was demonstrated that the UHAD system for co-digestion resulted in higher methane yield and methane production rate due to sequencing batch operation, thermophilic digestion, and co-digestion. The enhanced performance could be attributed to longer retention time of active biomass, faster hydrolysis, higher CH4 conversion rate, and balanced nutrient conditions of co-substrate in the UHAD system. Consequently, this optimized unification could be a viable option for the simultaneous treatment of two types of OFMSW with high stability.
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Research Article|
March 01 2006
Simultaneous treatment of sewage sludge and food waste by the unified high-rate anaerobic digestion system
H.-W. Kim;
*Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Korea, (E-mail: franfrut@kaist.ac.kr; hangshin@kaist.ac.kr)
E-mail: franfrut@kaist.ac.kr
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S.-K. Han;
S.-K. Han
**Department of Environmental Health, Korea National Open University, 169 Dongsung-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-791, Korea, (E-mail: skhan003@knou.ac.kr)
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H.-S. Shin
H.-S. Shin
*Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Korea, (E-mail: franfrut@kaist.ac.kr; hangshin@kaist.ac.kr)
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Water Sci Technol (2006) 53 (6): 29–35.
Citation
H.-W. Kim, S.-K. Han, H.-S. Shin; Simultaneous treatment of sewage sludge and food waste by the unified high-rate anaerobic digestion system. Water Sci Technol 1 March 2006; 53 (6): 29–35. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2006.166
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