Energetic and environmental sustainability of the co-digestion of sludge with bio-waste in a life cycle perspective

Maria, Francesco Di; Micale, Caterina; Contini, Stefano

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.036

Cited by 42 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Among the available options, sewage sludge, which might seem as industrial waste, increasingly receives more attention. Its high lipid content, the large quantities generated in water treatment plants, and its low cost, make it an ideal raw material for this purpose [221].…”

Section: Biodiesel Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards the Implementation of Circular Economy in the Wastewater Sector: Challenges and Opportunities

Guerra-Rodríguez

Oulego

Rodríguez

et al. 2020

Water

125

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The advancement of science has facilitated increase in the human lifespan, reflected in economic and population growth, which unfortunately leads to increased exploitation of resources. This situation entails not only depletion of resources, but also increases environmental pollution, mainly due to atmospheric emissions, wastewater effluents, and solid wastes. In this scenario, it is compulsory to adopt a paradigm change, as far as the consumption of resources by the population is concerned, to achieve a circular economy. The recovery and reuse of resources are key points, leading to a decrease in the consumption of raw materials, waste reduction, and improvement of energy efficiency. This is the reason why the concept of the circular economy can be applied in any industrial activity, including the wastewater treatment sector. With this in view, this review manuscript focuses on demonstrating the challenges and opportunities in applying a circular economy in the water sector. For example, reclamation and reuse of wastewater to increase water resources, by paying particular attention to the risks for human health, recovery of nutrients, or highly added-value products (e.g., metals and biomolecules among others), valorisation of sewage sludge, and/or recovery of energy. Being aware of this situation, in the European, Union 18 out of 27 countries are already reusing reclaimed wastewater at some level. Moreover, many wastewater treatment plants have reached energy self-sufficiency, producing up to 150% of their energy requirements. Unfortunately, many of the opportunities presented in this work are far from becoming a reality. Still, the first step is always to become aware of the problem and work on optimizing the solution to make it possible.

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Section: Biodiesel Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards the Implementation of Circular Economy in the Wastewater Sector: Challenges and Opportunities

Guerra-Rodríguez

Oulego

Rodríguez

et al. 2020

Water

125

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this case, even if the outlet water from WWTP is reused, the bio-waste cannot be considered recycled. WWTP is another important EU and Italian sector in which AD is widely exploited even if mainly for environmental considerations (i.e., the biological stabilized sludge before disposal/use) (Di Maria et al, 2016;Di Maria and Micale, 2017). Currently in the EU area there are some 36,000 WWTPs equipped with an AD section for sludge, representing another relevant source of digestate/sludge to be managed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradable Waste Management by Anaerobic Digestion: A Comparison Between Policy Approaches and Regulation in Italy and Israel

2018

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Biodegradable waste is a significant component of municipal solid waste (MSW); anaerobic digestion allows the recycling of this waste. This paper presents a comparison between definitions, management, and usage of digestate/sludge and sewage from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of biodegradable waste in Italy and Israel in light of the legislation in both countries. Italian legislation is focused on three main components of the whole management/ recycling chain of bio-waste: the source of the waste, the characteristics of the digestate, the environmental matrix (i.e., soil and water) affected by the use of the digestate. Some relevant differences are currently present in the legislation concerning bio-waste and the sewage sludge management. In particular, both EU and Italian legislation lack specific "end-of-waste criteria" regarding the digestate from the AD of bio-waste. The legislation in Israel, on the other hand, is more focused on the application of the digestate and sewage from AD plants on soil rather than the source of the bio-waste. The focus on the end product (waste, water or sludge) is due to scarcity of water as well as soil sensitivity for agriculture use. The comparison indicates profound differences between the two countries, revealing inter alia advantages and disadvantages.

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“…Sludge treatment accounts for over 50% of the operating costs of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) (Razaviarani and Buchanan, 2015;Rivero et al, 2014;Zahedi et al, 2017a). Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive treatment strategy for municipal sludge and is of great benefit from an environmental point of view as this technology allow the production of bioenergy and fertilizer (Appels et al, 2011;Bolzonella et al, 2005;Di Maria et al, 2016Forster-Carneiro et al, 2010;Gómez et al, 2006;Liao et al, 2016;Peces et al, 2016;Sosnowski et al, 2003;Wu et al, 2016;Zahedi et al, 2016a). It has been well demonstrated that mesophilic AD of municipal sludge from Cadiz allows the obtaining of Class B biosolids, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous research studies have sought to optimize the AD of sludge, including the interesting options of the codigestion process or sludge pre-treatments (Mata-Alvarez et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2013;Zahedi et al, 2016a), which increase the load of biodegradable organic matter and produce a higher biogas yield. The integrated management of sludge and fruit and vegetable waste by co-digestion and composting has recently been investigated from a life cycle perspective by Di Maria et al (2016). Their results show that co-digestion enhances methane production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeking to enhance the bioenergy of municipal sludge: Effect of alkali pre-treatment and soluble organic matter supplementation

2017

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The aim of this research is to enhance the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of municipal sludge from Cadiz-San Fernando (Spain) wastewater treatment plant at 20days hydraulic retention time (HRT). Two different strategies were tested to improve the process: co-digestion with the addition of soluble organic matter (1% v/v); and alkali sludge pre-treatment (NaOH) prior to co-digestion with glycerine (1% v/v). Methane production (MP) was substantially enhanced (from 0.36±0.09 L CH l/d to 0.85±0.16 L CH l/d), as was specific methane production (SMP) (from 0.20±0.05 L CH/g VS to 0.49±0.09 L CH/g VS) when glycerine was added. The addition of glycerine does not seem to affect sludge stability, the quality of the effluent in terms of pH and organic matter content, i.e. volatile fatty acids (VFA), soluble organic matter and total volatile solid, or process stability (VFA/Alkalinity ratio<0.4). Alkali pre-treatment prior to co-digestion resulted in a high increase in soluble organic loading rates (more than 20%) and acidification yield (more than 50%). At 20days HRT, however, it led to overload of the system and total destabilization of the mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and glycerine.

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Energetic and environmental sustainability of the co-digestion of sludge with bio-waste in a life cycle perspective

Cited by 42 publications

References 47 publications

Towards the Implementation of Circular Economy in the Wastewater Sector: Challenges and Opportunities

Towards the Implementation of Circular Economy in the Wastewater Sector: Challenges and Opportunities

Biodegradable Waste Management by Anaerobic Digestion: A Comparison Between Policy Approaches and Regulation in Italy and Israel

Seeking to enhance the bioenergy of municipal sludge: Effect of alkali pre-treatment and soluble organic matter supplementation

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