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Ultrasonic and alkaline pretreatment of sludge enhanced organic degradation and electricity generation in microbial fuel cells, with combined pretreatment showing the highest COD release and TCOD removal.

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What they did

System
MFC

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Abstract

Both ultrasonic and alkaline pretreatment of excess sewage sludge were investigated to enhance organic degradation and electricity generation from sludge by the subsequent microbial fuel cell (MFC). The ultrasonic pretreatment showed that the degree of sludge disintegration was directly related to the energy input, ultrasonic density and duration. Alkaline pretreatment demonstrated that more soluble organic matters were released from the sludge with more NaOH dose and longer reaction time, and the degree of sludge disintegration within 30 min accounted for 45–76% of that for 24 h. When ultrasonic and alkaline pretreatment were combined, the released chemical oxygen demand (COD) was higher than those with ultrasonic or alkaline pretreatment alone. Ultrasonic and alkaline (pH=11) pretreatment could enhance electricity generation from sludge by the subsequent MFC, resulting in more degradation of total COD (TCOD) and volatile solids (VS). Slight change in power output from the MFC was observed due to the higher soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in the pretreated sludge. By using the combined ultrasonic and alkaline pretreatment of sludge, the removal efficiencies of TCOD and VS were increased from 27.1% to 61.0% and 35.2% to 62.9% in comparison with raw sludge, respectively, and the power output in MFC was slightly increased from 10.3 W/m³ to 12.5 W/m³.

Key findings

  • Ultrasonic pretreatment's degree of sludge disintegration was directly related to energy input, density, and duration.
  • Alkaline pretreatment released more soluble organic matters with increasing NaOH dose and reaction time.
  • Combined ultrasonic and alkaline pretreatment showed higher COD release than either pretreatment alone.

Keywords

Chemical oxygen demandMicrobial fuel cellSewage sludgeDegradation (telecommunications)Ultrasonic sensorPulp and paper industry

Identifiers

DOI
10.2166/wst.2010.192
Journal
Water Science and Technology
Year
2010