Thermal disintegration as a process supporting sewage sludge utilization

Highly effective methods of biological and chemical wastewater treatment applied in Poland resulted in an increased amount of generated sewage sludge, which pose serious problem related to its utilization. The purpose of this studies was to determine the impact of the thermal disintegration process (in low temperatures < 100°C) on the biodegradation of excess sludge, and then on the methane fermentation process. It was found that the method of thermal disintegration under the aforementioned conditions allows to achieve a very high degree of the excess sludge disintegration (> 70%) already at a temperature of 45°C. At the same time, the concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) increases more than 55 times, which can significantly shorten the fermentation process.