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Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman
Department of Bioresource Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, 21 111 Lakeshore,
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9
b
Cemagref, UR-GERE, F-35044 Rennes, France
c
Universit Europenne de Bretagne, Rennes, France
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 21 October 2009
Accepted 13 March 2010
Available online 14 April 2010
a b s t r a c t
Composting is a feasible biological treatment for the recycling of wastewater sludge as a soil amendment. The process can be optimized by selecting an initial compost recipe with physical properties that
enhance microbial activity. The present study measured the microbial O2 uptake rate (OUR) in 16
sludge and wood residue mixtures to estimate the kinetics parameters of maximum growth rate lm
and rate of organic matter hydrolysis Kh, as well as the initial biodegradable organic matter fractions
present. The starting mixtures consisted of a wide range of moisture content (MC), waste to bulking
agent (BA) ratio (W/BA ratio) and BA particle size, which were placed in a laboratory respirometry
apparatus to measure their OUR over 4 weeks. A microbial model based on the activated sludge process
was used to calculate the kinetic parameters and was found to adequately reproduced OUR curves over
time, except for the lag phase and peak OUR, which was not represented and generally over-estimated,
respectively. The maximum growth rate lm, was found to have a quadratic relationship with MC and a
negative association with BA particle size. As a result, increasing MC up to 50% and using a smaller BA
particle size of 812 mm was seen to maximize lm. The rate of hydrolysis Kh was found to have a linear
association with both MC and BA particle size. The model also estimated the initial readily biodegradable organic matter fraction, MB0, and the slower biodegradable matter requiring hydrolysis, MH0. The
sum of MB0 and MH0 was associated with MC, W/BA ratio and the interaction between these two
parameters, suggesting that O2 availability was a key factor in determining the value of these two fractions. The study reinforced the idea that optimization of the physical characteristics of a compost mixture requires a holistic approach.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Composting the sludge produced by treatment plants receiving
mainly domestic or food processing wastewaters is a sustainable
method of recycling carbon with minimum greenhouse gas production (Amlinger et al., 2008). Composting relies mostly on the
ability of microorganisms to biodegrade and stabilize the organic
waste, to destroy pathogens and produce an esthetically acceptable
soil conditioner (Insam and de Bertoldi, 2007; Metcalf and Eddy,
2003). Increasing urbanization and industrialization in cities resulted in the production of more sludge waste requiring disposal
or anaerobic digestion (Adhikari, 2005). Otherwise, this sludge
waste is landlled where it is mostly transformed into CH4 because
1465
Nomenclature
b
BA
COD
DM
f
Kb
Kmb
Kh
MB0
MBt
MI
MH0
MHt
OM
OUR
of physical properties. For individual compost mixtures, the O2 uptake rate (OUR) was measured during 24 days using a respirometry
apparatus (Mohajer et al., 2009). With the OUR data, the Tremier
model was used to estimate the maximum microbial growth rate,
lm and then the organic matter degradation parameters, namely
organic matter hydrolysis rate, Kh, and the initial fractions of readily degradable organic matter, MB0, and that requiring hydrolysis,
MH0.
1466
formed on the exponential rise and subsequent fall of the experimental OUR curves obtained from respirometry. The linearization
method corresponds to a simplied way of interpreting the respirometry curve and the values were derived from an identication
procedure based on structural identiable procedures (Dochain
et al., 1995; Sperandio and Paul, 2000).
2
where RO2 (t) is the O2 uptake rate (OUR) at time t in mmol O2 (kg of
dry matter h)1; Y is the yield coefcient of the biomass growth
set at 0.68 (dimensionless); f is the fraction of dead biomass contributing to MI, dimensionless, and MI is the fraction of inert organic
matter in mmol O2 (kg of dry matter)1.
The second biodegradable fraction labeled MH supplies MB to
the microorganisms through enzymatic hydrolysis:
Table 1
Description of the experimental sludge and bulking agent.
Sewage sludge
Wood residues
8.512 (mm)
1220 (mm)
2030 (mm)
3040 (mm)
>40 (mm)
86.8
83(0.1)
1331(0.6)
484(0.5)
46.4(1.5)
10.0
91.0(0.1)
1356(0.1)
514(0.4)
46.1(0.8)
10.0
92.1(0.1)
1 362(0.1)
508(0.9)
37.1(1.0)
10.0
93.9(0.0)
1370(0.9)
510(0.7)
31.5(0.5)
10.0
93.1(0.1)
1531(0.7)
517(3.2)
34.3(0.5)
10.0
89.3(0.3)
1369(0.6)
486(2.9)
23.8(0.9)
1467
Temperature &
moisture probe
Pump
Dehumidifier
Flow
meter
Flow meter
Qe=60L/h
Condenser bottle
Gas
Analyser
Pt100
Water bath
Flow meter
Compressed
air
Gas
volume
meter
Stainless steel
respirometric
cell
Bubbling bottles
Copper serpentine
Air diffuser
Table 2
Experimental compost recipes.
Mixture
C:N ratio
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
45
60
45
45
70
30
30
60
60
45
45
30
20
60
45
30
41.5
61.6
52.5
49.0
68.3
30.3
35.6
61.7
56.0
51.4
53.2
31.4
28.5
61.1
51.0
33.5
2030
1220
812
2030
2030
3040
1220
1220
3040
2030
>40
1220
2030
3040
2030
3040
1/9.2
1/7.9
1/6.0
1/2.8
1/6.0
1/7.9
1/4.1
1/4.1
1/4.1
1/6.0
1/6.0
1/7.9
1/6.0
1/7.9
1/6.0
1/4.1
14.4
13.3
10.4
13.1
14.1
17.7
16.2
11.5
16.5
14.8
21.3
19.3
15.3
17.6
15.1
17.6
1468
Fig. 3. Oxygen uptake rate over time for mixture 9 (moisture content of 56%; waste
to bulking agent ratio of 1/4.1 dry mass; bulking agent particle size of 3040 mm)
with the smallest variation between experimental and simulation trials.
Fig. 2. Oxygen uptake rate over time for mixture 4 (moisture content of 49%; waste
to bulking agent ratio of 1/2.8 dry mass; bulking agent particle size of 2030 mm)
with the largest variation between experimental and simulation trials.
1469
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
0.1994
0.1051
0.2006
0.1100
0.1119
0.0685
0.0961
0.0978
0.0951
0.1155
0.1053
0.0845
0.0805
0.0960
0.1159
0.0851
0.1258
0.1014
0.1172
0.0873
0.1165
0.0849
0.1088
0.1209
0.0945
0.0975
0.0813
0.0847
0.0851
0.0987
0.0872
0.0774
959
1264
2085
1763
1429
475
1687
850
928
1186
971
1025
1068
1090
1293
993
7953
15,342
13,169
16,300
18,156
10,729
14,381
14,179
14,710
16,753
12,769
12,580
14,007
16,699
15,083
14,621
8912
16,606
15,254
18,063
19,585
11,204
16,068
15,029
15,638
17,939
13,740
13,605
15,075
17,789
16,376
15,614
Note: MB0: initial fraction of organic matter being readily degradable; MH0: initial fraction of organic matter requiring hydrolysis; DM: dry matter.
Fig. 4. Simulated effect of compost mixture moisture content and bulking agent
particle size on the maximum microbial maximum growth, lm.
Fig. 5. Simulated effect of compost mixture moisture content and bulking agent
particle size on the hydrolysis constant Kh for the organic matter fraction which is
not readily degradable, MH0.
available for microorganisms in the studied experimental conditions. The MB0 fraction ranged from a low of 475 mmol O2 (kg
dry matter)1 in mixture 6 with a relatively large BA particle size
of 3040 mm and a low W/BA ratio and MC of 1/7.9 and 30%,
respectively, to a high of 2085 mmol O2 (kg dry matter)1 for mixture 3 with a smaller particle size of 812 mm, higher W/BA ratio
of 1/6 and an optimal MC of 50%. A minimum MH0 fraction of 7
950 mmol O2 (kg dry matter)1 was reached for mixture 1 with
the lowest W/BA ratio of 1/9.2 and an intermediate value of BA
particle size of 2030 mm. The maximum MH0 concentration of
18,160 mmol O2 (kg dry matter)1 was reached with mixture 5
with a large W/BA ratio of 1/6 and a high of MC of 68%.
The MB0 fraction was mainly inuenced by BA particle size, and
the interaction between MC and W/BA ratio (p < 0.05). To a less extent, it was also inuenced by individual effects of W/BA ratio
(p < 0.15) and MC (p < 0.25) (R2 = 0.64):
1470
4. Conclusions
With compost mixture respirometry data, this study used the
microbial Tremier model adapted from the activated sludge process to obtain microbial kinetic parameters describing maximum
microbial growth rate lm, the rate of organic matter hydrolysis
Kh and the initial fractions of organic matter being readily degradable MB0 and requiring hydrolysis MH0. These parameters were
estimated for 16 experimental mixtures of sludge and wood residue offering various physical parameter combinations of moisture
content (MC), waste to bulking agent ratio (W/BA ratio) and bulking agent (BA) particle size.
The model accurately simulated the OUR over time except for
brief periods corresponding to the initial lag phase and peak. Differences in the estimated lm and Kh were shown to be mostly explained by the initial physical characteristics of the experimental
mixtures and their interaction. The MC had a quadratic relationship with lm and a positive linear association with Kh while particle size had a negative linear association with both. Bulking agent
particle size in the range of 812 mm and MC up to 50% yielded the
highest lm and Kh. The sum of the readily degradable fraction of organic matter and that requiring hydrolysis, MB0 and MH0, respectively, were impacted in an interactive manner by both MC and
W/BA ratio. Since the Tremier model is based on OUR, the physical
parameters were found to impact the actual rather than the total
potential value of MB0 and MH0 as the results based on O2 availability explain. The study reinforces the fact that the physical characteristics of the initial compost mixture are optimized through a
holistic approach. The interactive association between MC and
W/BA ratio, in particular, was important in inuencing the degree
of biodegradable matter.
Acknowledgements
This project was accomplished through the collaboration between Cemagref (UR GERE) and McGill University (Department of
Bioresource Engineering). This research is part of a larger project,
named ESPACE, nanced by the French National Research Agency
(ANR), currently being carried out in partnership between Cemagref, Suez-Environment and Institut de Mcanique des Fluides de
Toulouse (IMFT). The Natural Science and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) is also acknowledged for its nancial
contribution.
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