title: Disintegration impact on sludge digestion process.
abstract: The anaerobic sludge digestion is a widely used method for sludge stabilization in wastewater treatment plant. This process can be improved by applying the sludge disintegration methods. As the sludge disintegration is not investigated enough, an analysis of how the application of thermal hydrolysis affects the sludge digestion process based on full-scale data was conducted. The results showed that the maximum volatile suspended solids (VSS) destruction reached the value of 65% independently on the application of thermal hydrolysis. The average VSS destruction increased by 14% when thermal hydrolysis was applied. In order to have the maximum VSS reduction and biogas production, it is recommended to keep the maximum defined VSS loading of 5.7 kg VSS/m(3)/d when the thermal hydrolysis is applied and to keep the VSS loading between 2.1-2.4 kg VSS/m(3)/d when the disintegration of sludge is not applied. The application of thermal hydrolysis leads to an approximately 2.5 times higher VSS loading maintenance comparing VSS loading without the disintegration; therefore, digesters with 1.8 times smaller volume is required.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Water Management , Vilnius Gediminas Technical University , Vilnius , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Regimantas
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dauknys
authors.affiliation: a Department of Water Management , Vilnius Gediminas Technical University , Vilnius , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Mindaugas
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rimeika
authors.affiliation: a Department of Water Management , Vilnius Gediminas Technical University , Vilnius , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Eglė
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jankeliūnaitė
authors.affiliation: a Department of Water Management , Vilnius Gediminas Technical University , Vilnius , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Aušra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mažeikienė
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic; D056804:Biofuels; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006868:Hydrolysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; VSS destruction; sludge disintegration; thermal hydrolysis