Grant: Alliance Grants

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are now confronted with limited space and aging infrastructure with limited volumetric capacity and required to expand their specific capacities to handle higher sludge volumes which can be defined as "intensification". The anaerobic digestion (AD) process is an integral part of WWTPs with the pivotal role of stabilizing the generated sludge and produce biogas (CH4, and CO2), contributing to environmental protection and energy recovery. However, the AD process is characterized with the slow kinetics of sludge hydrolysis. As a result, the AD process is reported to be sensitive to the higher organic loading rate and require large footprints which can be address by intensifying the process. In this proposal, two intensification technologies will be investigated: hydrothermal pretreatment and Zero-valent iron addition. The overall objective of this proposal is to investigate and optimize an intensified sludge handling technology for resource recovery from municipal wastewater sludge. The use of hydrothermal pretreatment and iron additives either stand alone or in an integrative configuration will be investigated. This international collaboration is focusing on the resource recovery from wastes, especially bioenergy, which is one of the main goals for the governments to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 7: "affordable and clean energy". This research collaboration will help Canada's waste management sectors to maximize their energy recovery. The proposed research will also help strengthen Canada's global reputation as a center for environmental research and innovation and technology transfer. Canada will also benefit from the highly skilled personnels who will be trained through this research.