Biochemical Methane Potential Tests to Evaluate Anaerobic Digestion Enhancement by Thermal Hydrolysis Pretreatment

This study evaluates the effects of thermal hydrolysis (TH) pretreatment on anaerobic digestion (AD), through results obtained by biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests under mesophilic conditions (35 degrees C). Thickened sludge from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was thermally treated under two different temperatures (150 and 170 degrees C) and reaction times (30 and 60 min). Results show a significant increase in soluble COD, compared with the untreated sludge, when sludge was treated at 170 degrees C for 60 min. Moreover, the following BMP tests point out that TH pretreatment of sludge accelerated the AD rate and increased the biogas yield contributing to an increase in methane production, ranging between 17 and 24% compared with the raw sludge. Furthermore, the hydrolysis constant was estimated and methane production and degree of disintegration of the TH pretreated sludge were correlated, in order to deep the knowledge on the hydrolysis as the AD rate-limiting step. Further, the combined effects of TH pretreatment and AD on sludge show a reduction of total and volatile solids up to 19% and 24%, respectively.