title: Upgrading of anaerobic digestion by incorporating two different hydrolysis processes.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to increase the efficiency of anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS). Either thermochemical or biological hydrolysis was used as a pretreatment and the effects of both were investigated and compared. Two different three-stage digestion systems showed improved performance, although thermochemical hydrolysis showed better results than biological hydrolysis in a bench-scale operation. After anaerobic digestion with thermochemical pretreatment, the total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) reduction, volatile solid (VS) reduction, methane yield and methane biogas content were 88.9%, 77.5%, 0.52 m3/kg VS and 79.5%, respectively. These results should help in determining the best hydrolysis pretreatment process for anaerobic digestion and in improving the design and operation of the large-scale treatment of WAS by anaerobic digestion with hydrolysis systems.
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Unit for Bioscience Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3RA, UK. chpark@kitech.re.kr
authors.forename: Chulhwan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Chunyeon
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sangyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Chase
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D008697:Methane