Degradation of polyacrylamide (PAM) and methane production by mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion: Effect of temperature and concentration

• PAM degradation in thermophilic AD in comparison with mesophilic AD. • PAM degradation and its impact on thermophilic and mesophilic AD. • Enhanced methane yield in presence of PAM during thermophilic and mesophilic AD. • PAM degradation and microbial community analysis in thermophilic and mesophilic AD. Polyacrylamide (PAM) is generally employed in wastewater treatment processes such as sludge dewatering and therefore exists in the sludge. Furthermore, it degrades slowly and can deteriorate methane yield during anaerobic digestion (AD). The impact or fate of PAM in AD under thermophilic conditions is still unclear. This study mainly focuses on PAM degradation and enhanced methane production from PAM-added sludge during 15 days of thermophilic (55°C) AD compared to mesophilic (35°C) AD. Sludge and PAM dose from 10 to 50 g/kg TSS were used. The results showed that PAM degraded by 76% to 78% with acrylamide (AM) content of 0.2 to 3.3 mg/L in thermophilic AD. However, it degraded only 27% to 30% with AM content of 0.5 to 7.2 mg/L in mesophilic AD. The methane yield was almost 230 to 238.4 mL/g VSS on the 8th day in thermophilic AD but was 115.2 to 128.6 mL/g VSS in mesophilic AD. Mechanism investigation revealed that thermophilic AD with continuous stirring not only enhanced PAM degradation but also boosted the organics release from the sludge with added PAM and gave higher methane yield than mesophilic AD.     

The inhibitory combustion reaction performance and tail gas analysis of composite ultra-fine dry powder extinguishing agent containing different additives

For lack of an extinguishing agent with high-efficiency, non-toxic and environmentally friendly, a new type of extinguishing agent was fabricated to solve such an urgent problem. In this study, the zinc borate (ZB) and ferrocene (Fe(Cp)₂) were utilized as two additives for extinguishants to suppress combustion reaction and the toxicity of the tail gas was detected. The mass fraction of ZB corresponding to the optimal inhibitory effect was determined to be 0.5–1.5%, by contrast, the optimum interval of Fe(Cp)₂ was detected as 0.5–1.0%. Similarly, with the increasing proportion of the two additives, the homologous inhibitory action was gradually weakened. From the perspective of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), it was indicated that the ZB accelerated the pyrolysis process of the extinguishant, making its thermal decomposition process more thoroughly. Meanwhile, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that the decomposition efficiency was markedly improved when the amount of ZB was maintained at 0.5–1.5%. Besides, the tail gas tests were implemented to assess the extent of toxic and harmful properties. In terms of the carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) generated, once the mass fraction of ZB and Fe(Cp)₂ was less than 1.5% and 1.0% respectively, the concentration of CO and CO₂ was distinctly lower than that without additives. Moreover, the inhibitory ability on nitrogen oxides (NOx) was enhanced when the mass fraction of the two additives was kept below 1.0%. The results confirmed that a more practical extinguishant was proposed and it can provide guidance for the application and development of extinguishants.     

餐厨垃圾高温厌氧消化产沼气的试验研究

探究了温度、含固率、pH及接种率对餐厨垃圾厌氧消化产沼量的影响,并设计L9(34)正交试验进行厌氧发酵工艺优化研究。结果表明,在温度为55℃、含固率为8%(质量分数)、pH为7.00、接种率为90%(质量分数)时,厌氧发酵累积产沼量为809.0mL/g(以挥发性固体计);各影响因素对产沼量的影响大小为温度pH接种率含固率。     

城市生活垃圾和污水处理厂剩余污泥混合发酵的原料配比优化研究

以城市生活垃圾和污水处理厂的剩余污泥为混合原料,研究了混合原料的不同配比对厌氧发酵过程及产气的影响。结果表明:城市生活垃圾与剩余污泥以挥发性固体(VS)质量比为2∶1混合后,厌氧发酵效果最好,累计产气量最高,达到8 721mL,发酵后的总固体(TS)、VS、COD去除率分别达43.65%、35.98%、47.88%;各实验组在发酵过程中的pH、氨氮浓度和碱度均在合理范围内,未对厌氧发酵反应造成影响;以适当配比的城市生活垃圾和剩余污泥为混合原料,进行中温联合厌氧发酵是可行的,联合厌氧发酵可以弥补单一原料的缺陷,在一定程度上改善厌氧发酵效果。     

利用三七渣固态发酵灵芝菌的研究

以川芝6号为发酵菌种,对三七渣固态发酵灵芝菌的培养基制备条件进行了研究和优化。结果表明,优化的培养基制备条件为采用过60目筛的三七渣,酵母粉添加量5%(质量分数,下同),磷酸二氢钾添加量0.025%,培养基含水量70%,不调节初始pH。在此条件下进行灵芝发酵,发酵培养物中灵芝菌丝体的质量分数最高可达31.27%。     

好氧硝化颗粒污泥的培养及其性能

为考察不同接种污泥培养好氧硝化颗粒污泥的可行性,分别采用絮状活性污泥和厌氧颗粒污泥作为接种污泥,在气升内循环序批式反应器(SBAR)中进行好氧硝化颗粒污泥的培养,探讨不同性质的种泥对好氧硝化颗粒污泥的培养及其性能影响.结果表明,以絮状活性污泥、厌氧颗粒污泥为接种污泥均可培养出好氧硝化颗粒污泥,其颗粒成熟时间分别为62和80 d,SVI为25.52和27.68 mL/g,氨氮去除率为93.15％和75.43％,COD去除率在90％以上,SOUR、Zeta和EPS显著提高,微生物活性及疏水性能增强,以絮状活性污泥培养的好氧硝化颗粒污泥性能更优.     

污泥预处理强化厌氧水解与产甲烷实验研究

污泥传统厌氧消化因水解瓶颈而导致有机物转化甲烷产率低下.选择适当工况对污泥实施预处理可同时实现对污泥中木质纤维素破稳和污泥微生物细胞破壁,从而释放出较多溶解性COD(SCOD),使有机物水解变得容易进行,最终导致甲烷产率大幅提高.本研究通过热水解(T=150℃,t=30 min)、超声波(P =500 W,t=2 h)、碱解(pH =13,t=2h)和酸解(pH =2,t=2 h)等4种预处理方式对原污泥实施最优工况预处理,分别获得了50.9％、39.1％、31.0％和22.4％的COD溶出率.对预处理后污泥进行传统条件下(SRT =20 d)厌氧消化,分别获得了53.6％、40％、26.8％和24％的甲烷产率(mL/g VSS)增量.同时,预处理后污泥中木质纤维素类物质降解率亦大大增加.缩短SRT(10 d)会导致传统厌氧消化甲烷产率急剧减少,但是,污泥预处理却非常有利于甲烷产率的提高,因此可通过外在预处理方式来逾越内在厌氧水解的瓶颈.     

固相餐厨垃圾厌氧发酵特性

为了研究固相餐厨垃圾厌氧发酵产甲烷特性,对固相餐厨垃圾进行批式厌氧发酵实验,主要考察了pH、VFA、COD以及纤维素酶活的变化情况,并运用修正Gompertz模型对其产气模型进行动力学拟合.实验结果表明,缓冲溶液的添加可明显促进厌氧发酵产甲烷.在添加缓冲溶液条件下,污泥与餐厨垃圾比例为2∶1,1∶1,2∶3和1∶2时,餐厨垃圾都能很好地进行厌氧发酵产甲烷,最大产甲烷产量分别为594.66、449.74、392.93和333.36 mL/g TS.采用修正Gompertz模型分别对2∶1、1∶1、2∶3和1∶2实验组产甲烷曲线进行拟合,得到产甲烷潜力分别为567.57、437.89、381.12和305.60 mL/g TS,最大产甲烷速率分别为89.38、59.81、47.26和25.80 mL/(d·g VS).对厌氧发酵过程中纤维素酶活的变化进行了研究,结果表明,CMC酶活性在提高餐厨垃圾厌氧发酵过程中纤维素的降解起重要作用.     

猪粪干发酵物料流动性指标研究

干式沼气发酵工艺的研究中,影响干发酵工艺的最大问题是出料困难.出料的方法及设备的研究开发都涉及物料流动性.目前,还没有表征干发酵物料流动性的指标.针对该问题,本研究考察了塌落度、休止角和静摩擦系数3种参数表征猪粪干发酵物料流动性的可行性.通过3种指标对流速的曲线拟合,发现塌落度与流速的关联性最好,灵敏度系数曲线显示塌落度的灵敏度较休止角和静摩擦系数高.塌落度的测定上限和测定下限分别为253和279 mm,对应的流速分别为0.01和0.29 m/s;休止角和静摩擦系数的准确度均超出了要求的范围,所以无测定限.塌落度的最大相对误差、相对平均偏差和相对标准偏差分别为12.79％、23.62％和30.68％,远低于休止角和静摩擦系数,因此,塌落度测量结果的准确度和精密度高于休止角和静摩擦系数.从参数的准确度和精密度以及测量方法的灵敏性和测定限几方面综合考虑,塌落度适合作为表征猪粪干发酵物料流动性的指标.     

热处理时间对餐厨垃圾高温干式厌氧发酵的影响

餐厨垃圾中有机物大部分以大分子的形式存在,对其进行热处理,破坏大分子有机物的存在形式,将会影响其干式厌氧发酵的过程。实验对餐厨垃圾进行了热处理(100℃),处理后将其在含固率(TS)20%、接种率25%的条件下进行高温55℃厌氧发酵。实验结果表明,热处理后,餐厨垃圾的理化性质发生显著变化,累计产气量、TS和VS的去除率均增大。当热处理时间为15 min时,餐厨垃圾的SCOD值最高,为59.49 g/L,比未处理时提高了3.3倍。同样该条件下,累计产气量也最高,为2 782.8 m L,与未处理相比累积产气量提高58.30%,第二产气高峰比未处理提前3天。各发酵瓶发酵前后TS、VS去除率的变化趋势与累计产气量的变化基本一致,累计产气量越大,TS、VS的去除率越大。