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P i t t s b u r g h E n e r g y R e s e a r c h C e n t e r , Bureau o f Mines I
U.S. Department of t h e I n t e r i o r , P i t t s b u r g h , Pa.
I
Introduction
D e s c r i p t i o n of Equipment a n d T e s t Methods
I
F i g u r e 1 i l l u s t r a t e s t h e g l a s s equipment used i n b a t c h t e s t s f o r t h e a n a e r o b i c
d i g e s t i o n o f w a s t e materials. The p r o c e d u r e o f t e s t i n g was a s f o l l o w s : The s i d e -
arm f l a s k s used a s d i g e s t i o n vessels were f i r s t purged w i t h helium t o e x c l u d e a i r
s i n c e t h e methane-forming o r g a n i s m s c a n n o t s u r v i v e i n an oxygen a t m o s p h e r e . Weighed
amounts o f garbage o r w a s t e material t o b e t e s t e d were p l a c e d i n i n d i v i d u a l f l a s k s .
Measured q u a n t i t i e s ( u s u a l l y 2 l i t 5 f . s ) o f d i g e s t e r s l u d g e from a n e a r b y a c t i v a t e d
s l u d g e - t y p e sewage-treatment p l a n t - t r e a t i n g e s s e n t i a l l y d o m e s t i c wastes were
-l / Numbers i n p a r e n t h e s e s r e f e r t o l i t e r a t u r e c i t e d a t end of p a p e r .
P r o c e s s Improvemencs Needed
Combined Sewage-Garbage T r e a t m e n t
The b l o c k diagram o f f i g u r e 2 i s an i l l u s t r a t i o n o f a n a c t i v a t e d s l u d g e p l a n t .
The s o l i d s removed b y t h e p r i m a r y s e d i m e n t a t i o n s t e p ( g e n e r a l l y a b o u t 50% of t h e
t o t a l s o l i d s ) are pumped t o t h e a n a e r o b i c d i g e s t e r s , which are m a i n t a i n e d a t about
95' t o 100' F. I n f i g u r e 2 , t h e garbage i s shown a s b e i n g added b e f o r e t h e i n l e t
t o t h e t r e a t m e n t p l a n t ; i t c o u l d a l s o b e added t o t h e raw s l u d g e from t h e primary
s e d i m e n t a t i o n s t e p , t h u s s u b j e c t i n g a l l t h e garbage t o a n a e r o b i c d i g e s t i o n r a t h e r
t h a n o n l y 50% of t h e g a r b a g e s o l i d s . Pumps p r o v i d e r e c i r c u l a t i o n of t h e d i g e s t e r
c o n t e n t s . A s t h e s o l i d s become d i g e s t e d , t h e y s e t t l e t o t h e bottoms o f t h e d i g e s -
t i o n t a n k s . The s u p e r n a t a n t l i q u o r , which i n c l u d e s e x c e s s w a t e r and n o n s e t t l i n g
s o l i d s , i s d r a i n e d t o the s e c o n d a r y t r e a t m e n t s y s t e m where i t undergoes a e r o b i c
d i g e s t i o n , f i n a l c l a r i f i c a t i o n , and c h l o r i n e t r e a t m e n t b e f o r e b e i n g r e l e a s e d t o
t h e r e c e i v i n g stream.
Conclusions
Literature Cited
1_1 Work c i t e d i n f o o t n o t e 2.
74
i
1
2 liters d i g e s t e r
s e w a g e sludge
100 g cw manure
+ { 82
160
286
2870
4035
5095
1480
2248
2966
64.2
65.9
67.7
27.0
27.4
27.C
8.8
6.7
5.3
502 7475 4592 68.3 28.1 1.7
957 10700 6949 73.1 25.2 1.7
1
SG-62 82 1395 239 17.1 29.6 53.3
2 liters d i g e s t e r 160 3220 1093 46.8 37.1 16.1
sewage sludge + 4605 2072 70.7 25.3 4.0
100 g dried 5550 2778 74.7 23.3 2.0
g r a s s clippings 502 8940 5409 77.6 22.4 0
957 12190 7905 76.8 19.4 3.8
\
76
i Dry
Duration Gas production, Ft3 methane
! Test ut,
of t e s t , ml produced/lb
-No. Materia 1 & hr Totall/ Methane waste inaterial
SG-43 Processed
garbage ...... 50 864 18735 12571 4.03
SG-44 Processed
garbage ...... 25 864 7895 5282 3.39
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