title: Can aquatic worms enhance methane production from waste activated sludge?
abstract: Although literature suggests that aquatic worms can help to enhance the methane production from excess activated sludge, clear evidence for this is missing. Therefore, anaerobic digestion tests were performed at 20 and at 30°C with sludge from a high-loaded membrane bioreactor, the aquatic worm Lumbriculus variegatus, feces from these worms and with mixtures of these substrates. A significant synergistic effect of the worms or their feces on methane production from the high-loaded sludge or on its digestion rate was not observed. However, a positive effect on low-loaded activated sludge, which generally has a lower anaerobic biodegradability, cannot be excluded. The results furthermore showed that the high-loaded sludge provides an excellent feed for L. variegatus, which is promising for concepts where worm biomass is considered a resource for technical grade products such as coatings and glues.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.affiliation: Sub-department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tim L G
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hendrickx
authors.affiliation: Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, P.O. Box 1113, 8900 CC Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hellen H J
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Elissen
authors.affiliation: Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, P.O. Box 1113, 8900 CC Leeuwarden, The Netherlands; Sub-department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Laarhoven
authors.affiliation: Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, P.O. Box 1113, 8900 CC Leeuwarden, The Netherlands; Sub-department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cees J N
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Buisman
authors.affiliation: Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, P.O. Box 1113, 8900 CC Leeuwarden, The Netherlands; Sub-department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: hardy.temmink@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Hardy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Temmink
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Aquatic worms; Lumbriculus variegatus; Waste sludge