Disintegration of Wastewater Activated Sludge (WAS) for Improved Biogas Production
Stanisław Wacławek,
Klaudiusz Grübel,
Daniele Silvestri,
Vinod V. T. Padil,
Maria Wacławek,
Miroslav Černík,
Rajender S. Varma
Affiliations
Stanisław Wacławek
Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Technical University of Liberec, 461 17 Studentska, Czech Republic
Klaudiusz Grübel
Institute of Environmental Protection and Engineering, University of Bielsko-Biala, Willowa 2, 43-309 Bielsko-Biala, Poland
Daniele Silvestri
Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Technical University of Liberec, 461 17 Studentska, Czech Republic
Vinod V. T. Padil
Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Technical University of Liberec, 461 17 Studentska, Czech Republic
Maria Wacławek
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, University of Opole, ul. kard. B. Kominka 6, 45-032 Opole, Poland
Miroslav Černík
Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Technical University of Liberec, 461 17 Studentska, Czech Republic
Rajender S. Varma
Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Faculty of Science, Palacky University in Olomouc, Slechtitelu 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic
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 kg−1 total solids).
