A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that evaluates mechanical mixing in a full-scale anaerobic digester was developed to investigate the influence of sewage sludge rheology on the steady-state digester performance. Mechanical mixing is provided through an impeller located in a draft tube. Use is made of the Multiple Reference Frame model to incorporate the rotating impeller. The non-Newt...

The development and validation of a two phase (aqueous-gas) integrated mixed weak acid/base chemical, physical and biological processes kinetic model for anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge are described. The biological kinetic processes for AD are integrated into a two phase subset of the three phase mixed weak acid/base chemistry kinetic model of Musvoto et al. (1997, 2000a,b,c). The ap...

The concentrations of methoxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (MeO-PCBs) and hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) were measured in the sewage sludge samples collected from twelve wastewater treatment plants in China. Two MeO-PCB congeners, including 3'-MeO-CB-65 and 4'-MeO-CB-101, were detected in three sludge with mean concentrations of 0.58 and 0.52 ng/g dry weight, respectively. O...

Environmental release of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) has been on the rise due to the increased use of NPs in commercial products. In addition, the fate of NPs in sewage treatment processes may play an important role in determining the environmental release pathway of NPs. In this study, we investigated the removal of engineered NPs (AgNPs, TiO2NPs, and SiO2NPs) using activated sludge by eval...

Background: Reprocessing of sewage sludge to agricultural land is preferred to disposal through landfill or incineration due to its potentially beneficial effects on soil fertility from organic matter and plant nutrients, such as N and P, present in the sludge. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of sewage sludge and chemical fertilizers on Pb and Cd accumulation in ...

Organic chemicals discharged in urban wastewater from industrial and domestic sources, or those entering through atmospheric deposition onto paved areas via surface run-off, are predominantly lipophilic in nature and therefore become concentrated in sewage sludge, with potential implications for the agricultural use of sludge as a soil improver. Biodegradation occurs to varying degrees during w...

The research comprised of studying the effect composting sewage sludge with sawdust and vermicomposting with earthworm Eisenia fetida has on the degradation of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Raw rural sewage sludge prior composting was more contaminated with PAHs than urban sewage sludge, in both cases exceeding EU cutoff limits of 6 mg/kg established for land application. Dibenzo[...

The leaching of chemical compounds (NNO3, NNH4, Norg, PPO4 and Ptot) and trace elements (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, zn, and Pb) from sewage sludge and their migration through the soil profile is the subject of this study. The column experiments were carried out under atmospheric conditions corresponding to naturally occurring storm events – sewage sludge amended soil was irrigated with high rates of water...

The recycling of organic wastes is required from the viewpoint of environmental issues. Sewage sludge makes up about 30% of the organic wastes in Japan, and at present, the ratio is increasing (Study group on bio-waste recycling, 1999); therefore, it is important to treat and utilize the sewage sludge. Conventional treatment methods such as land filling and ocean dumping have been regulated to ...