Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge: New Insights and Future Challenges

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 1023

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Università della Calabria, Cosenza, Italy
Interests: wastewater treatment; nutrients removal and recovery; anaerobic digestion; soil remediation; waste disposal
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: wastewater treatment; nutrients removal and recovery; anaerobic digestion; soil remediation; waste disposal
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater treatment plants produce large quantities of biological sludge that must be subjected to treatment before utilization or disposal since it contains partially degraded organic matter, nutrients, pathogens, and various toxic organic compounds, such as surfactants, hydrocarbons, and residues derived from plastics.  In this context, anaerobic digestion (AD) can play a primary role in sludge management, as it allows for the required biological stabilization and energy recovery through biogas production at the same time. Nevertheless, due to its complex characteristics, sewage sludge is often barely degradable under conventional anaerobic processes. Therefore, adequate methodologies are necessary to overcome the digestion limitations of sewage sludge. In this regard, scientific research in recent years has taken different directions. The main approaches for the enhancement of anaerobic digestion processes can be summarized as optimization of the process parameters, co-digestion, sludge pre-treatment, additive supplementation, optimization of bioreactor configurations, development of innovative digesters, and application of genetic technologies.

The Special Issue welcomes papers focused on the latest knowledge and innovations concerning the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. The papers must be original and provide a significant contribution to the scope of the Special Issue.

Thank you for your contributions.

Dr. Alessio Siciliano
Dr. Carlo Limonti
Dr. Giulia Maria Curcio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • anaerobic digestion
  • biogas
  • digesters
  • methane
  • sewage sludge

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 2838 KiB  
Article
Upgrading Denitrification by Optimal Adsorption of SCFAs from Sludge Alkaline Fermentation Liquid by Acid-Modified Sepiolite
by Saisai Su, Shuyun Ning, Shaobo Wu, Yanqing Duan, Yanjuan Gao and Zhihong Liu
Fermentation 2024, 10(9), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10090476 - 13 Sep 2024
Abstract
Sludge alkaline fermentation liquid (AFL) is a potential carbon source for biological denitrification. However, its effectiveness is limited due to the presence of nutrients and heavy metals. In this study, acid-modified sepiolite (MSEP) was used to extract short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from AFL [...] Read more.
Sludge alkaline fermentation liquid (AFL) is a potential carbon source for biological denitrification. However, its effectiveness is limited due to the presence of nutrients and heavy metals. In this study, acid-modified sepiolite (MSEP) was used to extract short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from AFL under optimized conditions and then with the prepared MSEP-AFL as a carbon source for denitrification. The optimal condition with an MSEP dosage of 1.96 g/L and pH 7.93 at 30 °C was obtained based on single-factor experiments and response surface methodology (RSM). Carbon balance revealed that 96.2% of the SCFAs, including 43.7% acetate and 23.5% propionic acid, was retained in the MSEP, demonstrating its high selectivity. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isothermal model, indicating dominant physical adsorption on the surface or in the fiber pores. This was further supported by the changes in the morphological features and surface properties of the MSEP. In the batch nitrate utilization experiments, the prepared MSEP-AFL was proven to be efficient as a carbon source, with a nitrate removal efficiency of 88.7% and a specific denitrification rate of 8.2 mg NOx-N/g VSS·h, which was 22% higher than that of the AFL. This was due to the establishment of a delicate “release–utilization” balance. These findings contribute to our understanding of the use of AFL for denitrification. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop