Enhanced anaerobic digestion of tannery primary sludge using pre-treatment techniques Online publication date: Wed, 09-Nov-2016
by Vineetha Antony; P.C. Sabumon; S.V. Srinivasan
International Journal of Environment and Waste Management (IJEWM), Vol. 18, No. 1, 2016
Abstract: To reduce the organic fraction of tannery primary sludge, which is classified as hazardous waste in India, batch anaerobic digestion was done at 10% solids concentration in non-mixing condition and at room temperature (28°C to 40°C). To enhance the rate of sludge hydrolysis during anaerobic digestion, the various pre-treatments like autoclaving, thermal treatment, alkali treatment, and biological sulphate reduction were done. Evaluation of the pre-treatments indicates that thermal pre-treatment of the sludge at a temperature of 170°C for 60 minutes enhanced the anaerobic digestion with an increased methane yield (50%) and was the best pre-treatment. Further, optimisation of pH and COD/VSS ratio of the feed, enhanced anaerobic sludge digestion and resulted in approximately 50% removals of soluble COD and VSS. The results presented in this study can help to choose the best pre-treatment route for effective anaerobic digestion of hazardous primary sludge prior to its disposal in landfills.
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