COMMISSIONING STRATEGY FOR THE ANAEROBIC SLUDGE

DIGESTERS AT THE ATHENS WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

IN PSYTTALIA
Petros Gikas(1)† Aris Georgakopoulos(2) and Ioanna Droumbogianni(2)
(1) Ministry of Environmental Planning and Public Works, General Secretariat of Public Works,
Special Service of Public Works for Greater Athens Sewerage and Sewage Treatment,
Varvaki 12, Athens, 11474, Greece, Tel.: +30 210 6444410, Fax: +30 210 6452753,
e-mail: petrosgikas@yahoo.gr
(2) Joint Venture: AKTOR S.A., ATHENA S.A., PASSAVANT NOGGERATH PRODUCTS
GmbH, GIOVANNI PUTIGNANO & FIGLI S.r.I., Neos Molos Drapetsonas, GR-187 55,
Keratsini, Greece

† To whom correspondence should be addressed

ABSTRACT
The commissioning strategy for the first of the four new anaerobic digesters, with active volume of
10,000 m3 each, is presented in this paper. The digester was initially filed up with water, which was
heated at 36° C±2°. Then the digester was inoculated in a period of four days with 1,860 m3 of
digested sludge from neighbouring digesters. Following this, the digester was gradually fed with
fresh primary thickened sludge, up to the point which the retention time reached approximately 20 d.
A number of significant operational parameters (pH, alkalinity, total (TS) and volatile (VS) solids
concentration, volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration, biogas production rate and composition)
were monitored several times per day, and the appropriate adjustments were performed in order to
achieve stable operation. The time duration of the whole process was about two and a half months.
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Historic perspective

Wastewater treatment has nowadays been evolved into a more or less self-sufficient science, which
can be studied at the universities. However, this was not the case about one century ago, when the
study of wastewater was an issue of taboo for scientists. At about 1860, Jean-Louis Mouras, a
curious empirical researcher, observed in Vesoul, France, that a considerable fraction of faeces was
covered into a liquid state if it was allowed to remain in an airtight vault. Mouras, who was assisted
in his research by a catholic priest named Abbi-Moigno, was finally, in 1881, awarded a patent for
an “automatic and odorless cesspit” [1, 2]. The following relative patent was awarded in 1897 by the
British authorities to Donald Cameron, who designed and constructed the first septic tank for the
town of Exeter, UK, whilst he used the emitted biogas for lighting a district of the town. One decade
later, Karl Imhoff was awarded by the German authorities a patent, for the design of a dual purpose
tank, now commonly known as the Imhoff tank. Since then, great progress has been made in the
fundamental understanding of the anaerobic process, and in the design of anaerobic digestion tanks,
with particular emphasis on the anaerobic treatment of wastewater sludge [3].

1.2 Description of anaerobic digestion process

Anaerobic digestion of complex organics can be described as a three-stage process [4] involving:
(i) hydrolysis, (ii) fermentation (known also as acidogenesis), and (iii) methanogenesis.

Hydrolysis: This is the first step of the process, in which complex macromolecules (such as
polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids) are converted into smaller substances (such as
monosaccharides, amino acids, fatty acids, purines and pyrimidines) which can pass through the
bacterial cell walls in order to be utilized as energy or nutrient sources. Essentially no organic
stabilization takes place during this step, which is primarily accomplished by extracellular
hydrolytic enzymes excreted by the bacteria.

Fermentation: In this stage, the products of the previous stage among with simple molecules which
are produced during this stage (such as propionate and butyrate) are metabolized by the acetogenic
bacteria into acetate, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The partial pressure of hydrogen should be
smaller than 10-4 atm in order to proceed the conversion of propionate and butyrate.

Methanogenesis: The stabilization of the organic matter is primarily occurs in this stage, since a
large fraction of it is converted into methane, which is essentially insoluble in the aqueous phase and
leaves the system as gas. This step is carried out by a group of obligate anaerobic bacteria,
collectively known as methanogens, which (i) split acetate into methane and carbon dioxide and
(ii) utilize hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce methane. Thus the main final products are
methane and carbon dioxide. It is worth mentioning that the metanogens are particular sensitive
microorganisms to temperature, pH, alkalinity, and other inhibitory substances (such as heavy
metals), and because they have relatively small growth rates, they essentially control the overall rate
of the process.

1.3 The effect of environmental factors on anaerobic digestion process

A number of environmental factors can affect the performance of the anaerobic digestion process,
the most important of which are:

Temperature: Temperature affects determinatively the anaerobic digestion process, not only because
the methanogenic bacteria are particularly sensitive to it, but also because all the biochemical and
physicochemical processes (such as mass transfer, solids solubility and settlability) are a function of
temperature. The optimum temperature ranges for methane production are 30-38 C (mesophilic
process) and 50-58 C (thermophilic process). Generally, for a smooth operation it is recommended
that the operational temperature should not vary more than 0.5 C [5].
pH: The methanogens are unable to grow at pH below 6.2, consequently, if the pH takes smaller
values than the one, the acids, produced by the acitogenic bacteria, will not be metabolized, and thus
the whole process will be destabilized [6]. The optimum pH is 70.2.
Alkalinity: The alkalinity of a well established anaerobic digestion process should lie between
2,000-5,000 mg L-1 [7]. Alkalinity is primarily consumed by the carbon dioxide (whish is diluted in
the aqueous phase to produce carbonic acid), and not by the volatile fatty acids, as it is commonly
believed [8].
Retention time: The specific growth rate of the methanogenic bacteria is considerably smaller
compared with the acitogenic bacteria, thus, the total solid retention time, in the digestion tank,
should be sufficient for the growth of the methanogens, or the process will fail. The washout of
solids is a strong function of temperature [9]. Typical retention times for mesophilic digestion
processes are between 12-20 d.
Volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration: The VFA are intermediate products, thus their
concentration can affect the biochemical equilibrium, either in favor to the methane production
pathway, either to the opposite direction. For a properly proceeding digestion, the concentration of
VFA should not exceed 250 mg L-1.[10], however, in the literature has been reported that methane
production can be achieved at VFA concentration up to 6,000 mg L-1, provided that the pH is
maintained in the optimal range [11]. On the other hand, a number or studies have postulated that it
is the unionized volatile fatty acids (R-COOH) that inhibit the growth of methanogens at
concentrations higher than 30 mg l-1 [12, 13], and not the ionized species (R-COO-).
Presence of inhibitory substances: A number of chemical substances have been fount to inhibit the
anaerobic digestion process. Among the most common ones are ammonia [14, 15], sulfide [16], and
heavy metals [17]. Oxygen is also considered toxic, since the methanogenic bacteria are strict
anaerobic microorganisms [4].

1.4 The wastewater treatment plant for Athens in Psyttalia

The wastewater treatment plant for Greater Athens in Psyttalia Island has been designed to
accommodate up to about 1,000,000 m3 of wastewater per day. The plant has been erected in two
phases: Phase A’ (primarily comprises of pre-treatment, primary sedimentation, anaerobic digestion
of the primary sludge and sludge dewatering units), which had been commissioned in 1994, and
Phase B’, (primarily includes organic matter and nitrogen removal by activated sludge process,
secondary sedimentation, anaerobic digestion of the secondary sludge and sludge dewatering units),
which had been commissioned in 2004. The anaerobic sludge digesting facilities are comprised from
four tanks with an active volume of about 10,000 m3 each, constructed during Phase A’, and from
four new high rate digesters with the same volume, constructed during Phase B’. It was scheduled
that with the completion of Phase B’, the primary and secondary sludge will be mixed together
before anaerobic digestion, thus all eight digesters will treat essentially the same type of sludge.

This paper describes the commissioning strategy for the first of the four new digesters. A similar
methodology has been used for the commissioning of the other three digesters.

2. TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHASE B’

ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS

The new digesters (Phase B’) comprise of four cylindrical tanks with conical bottom, domed with
fixed cover (Figure 1). The tank diameter is 30 m, and the height of the cylindrical part is 13.1 m.
During normal operation (at the +22.00 level) the active volume of each digester is 10,000 m3,
alternatively there is a possibility to operate the digesters at the +25.00 level, which corresponds to
an increase of the active volume by approximately 200 m3. The conical base and the dome of the
digesters have height of 3.35 and 3.50 m, respectively.

The metallic (stainless steel SS 316) dome at the roof of the digesters has a diameter of 2,800 mm,
and it is equipped with (i) an inspection window (600 mm diameter with an internal and an external
wiper), (ii) an automatic overpressure/underpressure valve, (iii) a foam and floating matter removal
devise, (iv) a vertical bell-shaped screw mixer to facilitate the foam and floating matter (193 min-1
rotating speed, 2.5 KW power, with an active mixing zone of 5 m diameter and 8 m depth) and (v) a
number of flanged connections for biogas discharge to the gas holding tanks and to the air-
compressors.

Each digester is equipped with three inlet points located at the bottom, middle and top, and two
outlet points located at the bottom (via eccentric screw pumps) and at the middle (via gravity) of the
tank. Sludge recycling is achieved by a centrifugal pump with nominal capacity of 246 m3 h-1 at a
manometric pressure of 10 mH2O. Prior to feeding, the row sludge is mixed with the recirculating
sludge in a static mixer, in order to achieve a gradual temperature raise. After the static mixer, the
mixed sludge passes through a twin opposite-flow heat exchanger (with a power of 1,660 KW).
Thermal energy comes (i) from the warm water produced by the co-generation unit from Phase A’,
(ii) from the warm water from the aeration compressors post-coolers and (iii) from boilers which use
biogas as fuel. The temperature inside the digester is maintained at 361 C. Bulk liquid agitation is
achieved using compressed biogas and a system of 24 lances in a homocentric arrangement, with 16
lances at the outer circle and 8 longer lances at the inner one. The lances are fed with biogas which
is collected in the digester dome and compressed to 1.5 bar pressure, using three compressors per
digester.

3. PRE-COMMISSIONING CHECK UP AND COMMISSIONING PROTOCOL

The four digesters were commissioned one after the other. A number of critical points had been
checked and the necessary adjustments had been performed before inoculation, the most important
of which are mentioned below:
 The digester was filled up with water up to the upper hydraulic operational level (+25m).
 The dome of the digester was checked for possible leakage.
 The foam control system was checked.
 The overflow system and the level control process was checked, whilst the level monitoring
device was calibrated.
 The recirculation pumps were checked.
 The blowers and the mixing system were checked.
 The biogas measuring devises were inspected.
 The operation of the heat exchangers and of the heating system was inspected.
 The biogas pipes were washed out using nitrogen, in order to be ready to receive the biogas.

The following commissioning protocol was followed:

1st step: The digester was filled up with water up to the upper operational level.
nd
2 step: The water inside the digester was heated to 362 C.
3rd step: A calculated amount of digested sludge (seed) was added in batches.
th
4 step: Fresh sludge was added at such a rate that the volatile solids loading not to exceed the
8% of the volatile solids inside the digester. This was continued for two days. The
next three days fresh sludge was added gradually, taking care to keep the hydraulic
retention time at 100 d, with simultaneous mixing at the lower part of the digester
using the recirculation pumps.
5th step: Fresh sludge was continuously added in batches in order to stabilize the hydraulic
retention time for two days to approximately 80, 60, 50, 40, 30 and finally 20 d,
which is the retention time expected during full operation.

4. COMMISSIONING METHODOLOGY

4.1 Inoculation
The digester was inoculated using seed from the existing digesters (which were under operation),
which were used to digest the primary sludge produced by the Phase A’ installations. Prior to
inoculation the digester had been filled with water up to the upper hydraulic operational level
(+25 m), while the seed was pumped in through the existing pipeline, at the level of +13.5 m. The
temperature during this stage was maintained at 361 C

A successful startup process requires a relatively large seed volume, which, according to Qasim
[18], should be approximately four to five times the anticipated volatile solids in the raw daily
sludge. Empirically, this volume corresponds to about 10-15% of the active digester volume. In the
present case, it was chosen a seed volume of about 1,860 m3, which was fed in the digester in four
consecutive days. Two of the existing digesters were used as seed providers; thus during the
inoculation period, about 232.5 m3 of digested sludge was withdrawn daily from the bottom of each
seed providing digester. The average concentration of the total (TS) and volatile (VS) solids of the
digested sludge were measured to 7.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Particular care had been taken
during the sludge withdrawn process in order to avoid complications on the performance of the
existing digesters. No recirculation of the digester content was taken place during the seeding
period. The seeding process started on February 25, 2004.

4.2 Introduction of fresh sludge

The introduction of primary thickened sludge in the digester started on February 29, 2004, using the
same inlet point which had been used for seed feeding (+13.5 m). The feeding rate was initially set
to 30 m3 d-1, which in a two and a half months period was gradually increased to 456 m3 d-1 (which
corresponds to a retention time of about 22 d-1). The feeding rate is graphically illustrated in Figure
2, among with the daily quantities of total (TS) and volatile (VS) solids which were introduced in
the digester. It is worth mentioning, that the fresh sludge was introduced in batches with
approximate volume of 10 m3, which were evenly distributed in a 24 h basis.

700 45000
TS Feeding Rate [kg d ]

40000
VS Feeding Rate [kg d ]
-1

-1

600
Feeding Rate [m d ]
3 -1

35000
500
30000
400 25000
300 20000
15000
200
10000
100 5000
◊

Δ
o

0 0
1/3 11/3 21/3 31/3 10/4 20/4 30/4 10/5 20/5
Date

Figure 1. Schematic drawing of the digester Figure 2. Volumetric feeding rate (m3 d-1) (◊),
tank The inner set of lances is longer than TS feeding rate (kg d-1) (o) and VS feeding rate
outer one (kg d-1) (Δ) on a daily basis
 During the first days of the introduction of the fresh sludge, the inspection window, at the upper part
of the dome, was open, and agitation was achieved using the recirculation pumps. On March 11,
2004, when sufficient amount of biogas production was monitored, the inspection window was
sealed, and full agitation (by pumping compressed biogas via the lances) was started.

During the commissioning period samples were taken for analysis from the bulk liquid and from the
gas phase every one to four hours. The liquid was analysed for pH, TS concentration, VS
concentration, alkalinity, and VFA concentration, whilst in the gaseous phase the methane, carbon
dioxide and oxygen concentrations were measured. The average daily concentrations of TS and VS
are graphically illustrated in Figure 3, according to which both TS and VS concentrations appear to
increase slightly after two weeks of operation. It is worth mentioning that during the first two days
of operation with fresh sludge, TS and VS concentration indicated a relatively higher value
compared with the following days, which is attributed to the digested sludge (seed) introduced
during the inoculation period.

60 7.6 5000
Δ VS concentration [kg m ]
o TS concentration [kg m ]
-3
-3

50
7.4 4000

Alkalinity [mg L-1]

40
7.2 3000
pH

30
o

7.0 2000
20

Δ
10 6.8 1000

0 6.6 0
1/3 11/3 21/3 31/3 10/4 20/4 30/4 10/5 20/5 1/3 11/3 21/3 31/3 10/4 20/4 30/4 10/5 20/5
Date Date
-3
Figure 3. TS concentration (kg m ) (o) and VS Figure 4. pH (o) and alkalinity (mg L-1) (Δ)
concentration (kg m-3) (Δ) of the bulk liquid variation during operation. A positive
inside the digester. A slight increase can be correlation between these values is observed
observed after the first two weeks of commissioning

A stable increase of alkalinity with time was observed in the bulk liquid (Figure 4). Towards the end
of the commissioning period, alkalinity stabilises to about 4,500 mg L-1, which lies within the
optimum operational range of values [7]. Alkalinity is primarily generated by the degradation of
nitrogenous substances according to the reaction [19]:

C10H19O3N + 4.69 H2O → 5.74 CH4 + 2.45 CO2 + 0.20 C5H7O2N + 0.80 NH4+ + 0.80 HCO3-

Thus a relative increase of alkalinity was expected with the increase of the sludge availability.
Figure 4 also depicts the pH values of the bulk liquid which are also appear to increase with time.
Right after inoculation, the pH was about 6.8, whilst after about one month of operation, the pH
fluctuated between 7.2 to 7.5. At the same time, the CO2 in the gaseous phase, above the bulk liquid,
increased from about 17% (first day of fresh sludge supply) to about 35%, which resulted to an
increase of the carbonic acid concentration (in the bulk liquid), and thus to an increase of pH.

Figure 5 shows the average daily concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFA), which in all cases lies
below 180 mg L-1., thus ensuring the unobstructed progress of the process [10]. The VFA
concentration for about one and a half month after inoculation fluctuated around 50 mg L-1, whilst
during the remaining one month of operation it increased to an average value of approximately
 120 mg L-1. The relatively small increase of the VFA concentration may be attributed to the parallel
increase of alkalinity, which assisted the assimilation of VFA by the methanogens.

Figure 6 illustrates the biogas production rate expressed in m3 d-1 from March 11 (when the digester
was sealed) to May 14. A significant stable increase of biogas production rate (from about 2,000 to
9,000 m3 d-1) was observed during the first month of operation, followed by a weaker, but stable,
increase during the second month of operation (from about 8,000 to 11,000 m3 d-1). The biogas
production rate stabilised to approximately 12,000 m3 d-1 towards the end of the commissioning
period.

200 14000

Biogas production rate [m3 d-1]

12000
VFA concentration [mg L-1]

150
10000

8000
100
6000

50 4000

2000

0 0
1/3 11/3 21/3 31/3 10/4 20/4 30/4 10/5 20/5 1/3 11/3 21/3 31/3 10/4 20/4 30/4 10/5 20/5
Date Date

Figure 5. VFA concentration (mg L-1) during Figure 6. Biogas production rate (m3 d-1).
operation. A relative increase with time is The biogas production stabilized to
observed, with the maximum concentration approximately 12,000 m3 d-1 towards the
below 180 mg L-1 end of April 2004

The average specific daily biogas production rate was calculated to be

0.96 m3(biogas) kg-1(destroyed VS), with absolute minimum and maximum values 0.83 and
1.09 m3(biogas) kg-1(destroyed VS), respectively.

4.3 Introduction of mixture of primary and secondary sludge

During the commissioning period the digesters were fed with primary thickened sludge, since the
secondary treatment plant had not been commissioned, yet. A few months later, when the biological
treatment plant was started-up and a surplus of activated sludge was produced, the primary
thickened sludge was mixed with biological thickened sludge, and the mixture was fed in the
digester. This practise is followed since then.

5. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS ASSESSMENT

The main operational problems during commissioning was the production of scum and floating
matter, when primary thickened sludge was used, and the production of foam during the use of
sludge mixture. Scum and floating matter were removed using the existing devises at the dome of
the digester. Foam was also removed using the same device; however, since the presence of foam in
the digester was directly linked with the growth of filamentous microorganisms in the aeration tank,
the phenomenon was primarily attended to be controlled with appropriate manipulations at the
biological growth stage of the wastewater treatment process.

6. CONCUSSIONS

Four new digesters, with 10,000 m3 active volume each, were commissioned at the wastewater
treatment plant for Athens on the island of Psyttalia. The start up strategy for the first digester and
the analysis data have been presented in this manuscript. The result indicated that the overall
commissioning process developed smoothly, since the digester was set in full operation in a period
of two and half months. All the crucial operational parameters (hydraulic retention time, pH,
alkalinity, total (TS) and volatile (VS) solids concentration, volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration)
were adjusted to the desired values, whilst the average specific biogas production rate was measured
to take values close to the ones reported by the literature.

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