title: Co-digestion of cultivated microalgae and sewage sludge from municipal waste water treatment.
abstract: In this study two wet microalgae cultures and one dried microalgae culture were co-digested in different proportions with sewage sludge in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The aim was to evaluate if the co-digestion could lead to an increased efficiency of methane production compared to digestion of sewage sludge alone. The results showed that co-digestion with both wet and dried microalgae, in certain proportions, increased the biochemical methane potential (BMP) compared with digestion of sewage sludge alone in mesophilic conditions. The BMP was significantly higher than the calculated BMP in many of the mixtures. This synergetic effect was statistically significant in a mixture containing 63% (w/w VS based) undigested sewage sludge and 37% (w/w VS based) wet algae slurry, which produced 23% more methane than observed with undigested sewage sludge alone. The trend was that thermophilic co-digestion of microalgae and undigested sewage sludge did not give the same synergy.
authors.affiliation: The School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University, Box 883, SE-721 23 Västerås, Sweden. Electronic address: jesper.olsson@mdh.se.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.affiliation: JTI - Swedish Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Box 7033, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Xin Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: JTI - Swedish Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Box 7033, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Johnny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ascue
authors.affiliation: Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Francesco G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Gentili
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076, India.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shabiimam
authors.affiliation: The School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University, Box 883, SE-721 23 Västerås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nehrenheim
authors.affiliation: The School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University, Box 883, SE-721 23 Västerås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thorin
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels; D060106:Lakes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D013548:Sweden; D013696:Temperature; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D008697:Methane; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Biogas production; Co-digestion; Microalgae; Sewage sludge