Disintegration of wastewater activated sludge (WAS) for improved biogas production

Abstract

Due to rapid urbanization, the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) has increased, and so has the associated waste generated by them. Sustainable management of this waste can lead to the creation of energy-rich biogas via fermentation processes. This review presents recent advances in the anaerobic digestion processes that have led to greater biogas production. Disintegration techniques for enhancing the fermentation of waste activated sludge can be apportioned into biological, physical and chemical means, which are included in this review; they were mainly compared and contrasted in terms of the ensuing biogas yield. It was found that ultrasonic-and microwave-assisted disintegration provides the highest biogas yield (≫500%) although they tend to be the most energy demanding processes (≫10,000 kJ kg1 total solids).