An innovative cation regulation-based anaerobic fermentation strategy for enhancing short-chain fatty acids production from waste activated sludge: Metal ion removal coupled with Na-regulation.

This study proposed a cation-regulation strategy based on metal ion removal coupled Na-regulation for enhancing anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge. The optimal treatment condition was: cation-exchange resin dosage of 1.75 g/g SS for 1-day treatment, followed by Na-enhanced anaerobic fermentation at NaCl concentration of 20 g/L. The CER induced sludge solubilization and the Na-regulation treatment triggered secondary hydrolysis of CER-solubilized sludge, causing remarkable sludge disintegration and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) disruption. Numerous SCOD of 6588 mg/L (SCOD/TCOD = 40.6%) was released within 2 days, and the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) of 439.9 mg COD/g VSS was produced through 4-day anaerobic fermentation. More than 59% of the SCFAs was composed of acetate and propionate. Nitrogen-free organic matters (i.e. SCFAs and carbohydrates) accounted for 77.9% of SCOD, while considerable sludge solid reduction (51.6% of total VSS) was achievable, which was beneficial for fermentative liquid utilization and sludge disposal.