Kinetic evaluation of the anaerobic degradation of primary sludge from brewery wastewater

• Grant number: 12/24733-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 04, 2013
• End date: July 03, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Moacir Messias de Araujo Junior
• Grantee: Pâmela Castilho Dias
• Supervisor: Fernando Fdz-Polanco Fdz de Moreda
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de Valladolid (UVa), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/14295-0 - Kinetic evaluation of the anaerobic degradation of primary sludge from brewery wastewater, BP.IC

Abstract

The primary sludge arising from wastewater brewery has particles such as yeast cells and cellulosic fines which cause the anaerobic treatment of the sludge requires a hydraulic residence time long enough to occur the hydrolysis of the solid and its complete degradation (AGLER et al., 2010). The anaerobic sludge degradation is slower because it usually is limited by hydrolysis step of the organic matter in suspension (Batstone et al. 2009). To accelerate the anaerobic process, pre-treatment methods have been studied because these by improving the hydrolysis step, the solid substrates become more accessible to the anaerobic microorganisms and also provide other advantages, such as increasing the volume of biogas produced and reduced the amount of sludge to be disposed after digestion (DONOSO-Bravo et al., 2010). Thus, in order to maximize the production of biogas through treating brewery wastewater, this project is beginning to separate the suspended solids in the primary sludge sedimentation easy, make your pre-heat treatment and make your anaerobic digestion. The main objective is to analyze the effects of pre-treatment and the influence of solid / liquid ratio in the anaerobic digestion of primary sludge and assess the kinetics of degradation of this compound by investigating the kinetic parameters of batch digesters in order to obtain optimal conditions for operation to maximize production of biogas during the anaerobic digestion process. The experiments are performed in reactors vials, which are kept under controlled conditions at 35 ° C under agitation in a shaker. The medium present within each bottle will be a mixture of anaerobic sludge (inoculum), primary sludge from brewery effluent and liquid phase of the same industrial effluent. The experimental investigation will be based on application of 1% (w / w) of sludge inoculum in all reactors and varying the fraction (% m / m) of primary sludge and effluent being applied fractions of 0%, 1 %, 3% under the conditions of primary sludge pre-treatment with heat and without pretreatment. The performance will be evaluated in methane production, degradation of volatile solids and COD reduction end. The data obtained will be worked to obtain kinetic curves of substrate degradation, obtaining at the end of the study the equations representing the kinetic model of anaerobic digestion of wastewater studied. (AU)