Primary and A-sludge treatment by anaerobic membrane bioreactors in view of energy-positive wastewater treatment plants

Amr Mustafa Abdelrahman*, Muhammed Furkan Aras, Busra Cicekalan, Malhun Fakioglu, Seyma Cingoz, Safak Basa, Huseyin Guven, Hale Ozgun, Izzet Ozturk, Ismail Koyuncu, Jules B. van Lier, Eveline I.P. Volcke, Mustafa Evren Ersahin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Energy-rich sludge can be obtained from primary clarifiers preceding biological reactors. Alternatively, the incoming wastewater can be sent to a very-high-loaded activated sludge system, i.e., a so-called A-stage. However, the effects of applying an A-stage instead of a primary clarifier, on the subsequent sludge digestion for long-term operation is still unknown. In this study, biogas production and permeate quality, and filterability characteristics were investigated in a lab-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor for primary sludge and A-stage sludge (A-sludge) treatment. A higher specific methane yield was obtained from digestion of A-sludge compared to primary sludge. Similarly, specific methanogenic activity was higher when the anaerobic membrane bioreactor was fed with A-sludge compared to primary sludge. Plant-wide mass balance analysis indicated that about 35% of the organic matter in wastewater was recovered as methane by including an A-stage, compared to about 20% with a primary clarifier.

Original languageEnglish
Article number126965
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume351
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

This research was funded by Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) with the project titled as “Integration of High-rate Activated Sludge Process and Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Process for Energy Efficient Wastewater Treatment in Istanbul: Maximum Energy Recovery (MEGA2 Project)”. The authors express their gratitude for the PhD Fellowship award provided by the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) to Amr Mustafa Abdelrahman. They also gratefully acknowledge the support by the Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, Scientific Research Projects: Amr Mustafa Abdelrahman (Project No: MDK-2021-42990) and Muhammed Furkan Aras (Project No: MYL-2020-42701).

FundersFunder number
Amr Mustafa AbdelrahmanMDK-2021-42990
ISKI
Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration
Maximum Energy Recovery
Muhammed Furkan ArasMYL-2020-42701
TUBA
Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi

    Keywords

    • A-stage
    • Anaerobic membrane bioreactor
    • Energy recovery
    • Nutrient recovery
    • Sludge digestion

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