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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was the investigation of the ozonation of sludge as a method to improve anaerobic digestion performance in a chemically enhanced primary treatment facility. Batch tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of ozonation on the physicochemical characteristics of both primary and digested sludge. Then, the performance of semi-continuous anaerobic digesters in combination with ozone treatment was investigated (pre-ozonation and post-ozonation). Ozonation of primary sludge did not increase the soluble COD nor the biodegradable COD, but resulted in the mineralization of a fraction of the organic matter into CO2. However, the ozonation of anaerobic digested sludge resulted in an increase in soluble COD and biodegradable COD and in a small level of mineralization at the dose of 90 mg O3/g COD. Pre-ozonation of primary sludge was not effective in enhancing the performance of the anaerobic digester. The coupling of ozonation and anaerobic digestion by means of the post-ozonation of digested sludge was found to be effective in improving methane production (+16%), for COD removal efficiency and for the dewaterability of anaerobic digesters compared to the control digester.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Pinnacle LLC (USA) for their technical contribution and for providing a high capacity ozone generator.
Funding
This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Veolia, EnviroSim and the City of Repentigny. The authors also thank the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT, Chile) for the awarded Ph.D. fellowship.
Supplemental data
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.