• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2004

Temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD), anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR), and co-digestion technologies were combined together in order to overcome low efficiencies of conventional anaerobic sewage sludge digestion processes. In the performance, TPAD-ASBR process showed high VS removal efficiency over 60% up to the organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.7 g VS/L/d. The first-stage of TPAD-ASBR and control system played a most significant role in VS destruction and methane production. Methane production rate (0.79 l $CH_4/L/d$) of the system was higher than that (0.59 l $CH_4/L/d$) of the control system. The substrate characteristics of the sewage sludge, such as low VS concentration (1.5%, w/w) and biodegradability, were properly improved by the addition of food waste as a co-substrate, leading to more efficient VS removal and methane production. With several track studies, it was revealed that the independent solid retention time (SRT) of those systems prevented untreated particles from outflowing and also, extended the retention time of the active biomass for further degradation. Consequently, it was confirmed that the sequencing batch operation of the TPAD process using co-substrate was a promising alternative for the recycling of sewage sludge with low VS content.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.103-113
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• 1993

Every year, over $3.37{\times}10^7$ ton of municipal solid waste is generated in Korea, of which about 28% is organic food waste from restaurant, dining halls and households etc. Methane conversion of the food waste by anaerobic digestion could be a viable approach for energy recovery as well as safe disposal of the waste. However, as food waste is composed of highmolecular complex polymers such as cellulose, lignin and protein, anaerobic digestion of food waste has not been efficient in terms of volumetric loading rate, solid retention time and extent of anaerobic degradation. In this research, the improved anaerobic degradation of food waste was attemped by applying rumen microorganisms to anaerobic digestion. Acidification efficiency of food waste by rumen microorganisms was compared with that of conventional acidogenesis. And optimum acidification conditions by rumen microorganisms were also determined. For the experiments, anaerobic batch reactors of 600 mL was fed with the processed (dried and milled) food waste obtained from a restaurant. Ultimate volatile fatty acid (VFA) yield produced by rumen microorganisms was about 8.4 meq VFA/g volatile solid (VS) that is 95% of the theoretical value. This yield was not much different from that of conventional acidogenesis, but hydrolysis rate was about twice faster. Cumulative VFA concentration increased from 66 meq/L to 480 meq/L, when the initial TS was increased from 1% to 15%. But VFA yield at 15% TS was half of that at 1% TS. This inhibition on the acidification might be caused by the rapid drop of pH and higher concentration of nonionized VFA. Optimal pH and temperature range for the acidification were about 6.0~7.5 and $35{\sim}45^{\circ}C$, respectively.