Journal article
Nitrite addition to acidified sludge significantly improves digestibility, toxic metal removal, dewaterability and pathogen reduction
F Du, J Keller, Z Yuan, DJ Batstone, S Freguia, I Pikaar
Scientific Reports | NATURE PORTFOLIO | Published : 2016
DOI: 10.1038/srep39795
Abstract
Sludge management is a major issue for water utilities globally. Poor digestibility and dewaterability are the main factors determining the cost for sludge management, whereas pathogen and toxic metal concentrations limit beneficial reuse. In this study, the effects of low level nitrite addition to acidified sludge to simultaneously enhance digestibility, toxic metal removal, dewaterability and pathogen reduction were investigated. Waste activated sludge (WAS) from a full-scale waste water treatment plant was treated at pH 2 with 10 mg NO 2 -N/L for 5 h. Biochemical methane potential tests showed an increase in the methane production of 28%, corresponding to an improvement from 247 ± 8 L CH ..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP120104415 and Australian Research Council Linkage Project LP130100361. The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Beatrice Keller-Lehmann, Mr Nathan Clayton and Ms Jianguang Li for their help with the chemical analysis. The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Paul Jensen, Dr. Huoqing Ge and Dr. Qilin Wang for their help on BMP tests. Fangzhou Du would like to acknowledge the scholarship support from China Scholarship Council and Tuition Fee Scholarship from The University of Queensland.