title: The effect of iron and aluminium for phosphorus removal on anaerobic digestion and organic sulfur generation.
abstract: The addition of iron or aluminium into activated sludge basins for phosphorus removal is likely to impact both the efficiency of the anaerobic digestion process and the generation of odor-causing compounds following digestion and dewatering. In this study, the impact of iron and aluminium addition on digestion and odor-causing compounds was investigated by using batch digestion of combined primary and waste activated sludge. It was found that aluminium addition resulted in a decrease in volatile solids destruction by anaerobic digestion of approximately 2%. Of the 7 sludges tested, 5 showed a small increase in volatile solids destruction after iron addition. With regard to the generation of organic sulfur odors from the dewatered sludge cakes, both iron and aluminium reduced odor-causing gases except for one sludge that had already received iron for phosphorus control in the full-scale process. It appears that iron and aluminium addition will benefit odor control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. jtnov@vt.edu
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.forename: Chang Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry*; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D010758:Phosphorus; D013455:Sulfur; D000535:Aluminum; D007501:Iron