
Water Science & Technology Vol 43 No 1 pp 191199 © IWA Publishing 2000
Sludge hydrolysate as a carbon source for denitrification
V Aravinthan*, T Mino**, S Takizawa***, H Satoh**** and T Matsuo*****
*
Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1138656, Japan.
**
Department of Environmental Studies, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1138656, Japan.
***
Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1138656, Japan.
****
Department of Environmental Studies, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1138656, Japan.
*****
Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1138656, Japan.
ABSTRACT
External carbon sources such as methanol and acetate are applied in order
to improve the denitrification efficiency in biological nitrogen removal
processes. Excess sludge wasted from the treatment plants contains organic
carbon that could be used as a feasible carbon source for denitrification.
However, the excess sludge needs to be hydrolyzed first before being
utilized as a carbon source. The objective of this research is to evaluate
the biodegradability of the sludge hydrolysate obtained using alkaline,
acid, autoclaved and combined solubilization methods. The experimental
results suggest that the method of solubilization has an impact on the
biodegradability of sludge hydrolysate. Autoclaved alkaline sludge
hydrolysate gave the fastest denitrification rate (250 mgN/gMLSSCOD/d) due
to fastest protein degradation (247 mgCOD/gLSSCOD/d) and other COD
degradation rates (370 mgN/gmlsscod/d). Alkaline, autoclaved and acid
autoclaved sludge hydrolysates gave nearly the same denitrification
rates (185 to 200 mgN/gMLSSCOD/d). Protein degradation rate was the highest for autoclaved alkaline sludge hydrolysate (247 mgCOD/gMLSSCOD/d)
whereas carbohydrate degradation rate was the fastest for autoclaved acid
sludge hydrolysate (91 mgCOD/gMLSSCOD/d). For the same enzyme activity,
different carbohydrate and protein degradation activities have been found
suggesting the presence of easily and slowly biodegradable portions in them.
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