Effects of thermochemical pretreatment on the biodegradability of sludge from a biological wastewater treatment system.docVIP

Maejo Int. J. Sci. Technol. 2010, 4(02), 250-260 Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology ISSN 1905-7873 Available online at www.mijst.mju.ac.th Full Paper Effects of thermochemical pretreatment on the biodegradability of sludge from a biological wastewater treatment system Khac-Uan Do , Nguyen T. T. Ha , Rajesh Banu , Kyeongjin Kim , Jin Heo and Ick-Tae 1, 2 1 3 1 1 Yeom 1,* 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 300 Chunchun-dong, Suwon, 440-746, Korea 2 3 * Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University Tirunelveli, 627007, India Author to whom correspondence should be addressed, e-mail: yeom@ Received: 21 January 2010 / Accepted: 16 July 2010 / Published: 19 July 2010 Abstract: The effects of thermochemical pretreatment on the sludge biodegradability were examined. Two types of tests were conducted: aerobic biodegradation and denitrification using thermochemically pretreated sludge as carbon source. In the aerobic biodegradation tests, the biodegradation efficiency for the sludge pretreated at 60, 70, 80 and 90 C (pH 11) o was 1.4-2.2 times higher than that for the untreated sludge. The biodegradation efficiency for the supernatant was also about 1.9 times higher than that for the particulates. The biodegradation enhancement for the thermochemically pretreated sludge was demonstrated in denitrification tests. The supernatant showed its potential as a carbon source for the denitrification process. Keywords: wastewater treatment, sludge, thermochemical pretreatment, biodegradability, denitrification _________________________________