Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
J Environ Manage. 2021 Aug 1;291:112718. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112718. Epub 2021 May 4.
Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) is a biological treatment technology that has been extensively studied in the last decade. The possibility of resource recovery has always been highlighted in these systems, but real-scale applications are still scarce. Therefore, this paper aimed to present a systematic review of resources recovery such as water, energy, chemicals, raw materials, and nutrients from AGS systems, also analyzing aspects of engineering and economic viability. In the solid phase, sludge application in agriculture is an interesting possibility. However, the biosolids' metal concentration (the granules have high adsorption capacity due to the high concentration of extracellular polymeric substances, EPS) may be an issue. Another possibility is the recovery of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and Alginate-like exopolymers (bio-ALE) in the solid phase, emphasizing the last one, which has already been made in some Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), named and patented as Kaumera® process. The Operational Expenditure (OPEX) can be reduced by 50% in the WWTP when recovery of ALE is made. The ALE recovery reduced sludge yield by up to 35%, less CO emissions, and energy saving. Finally, the discharged sludge can also be evaluated to be used for energetic purposes via anaerobic digestion (AD) or combustion. However, the AD route has faced difficulties due to the low biodegradability of aerobic granules.
好氧颗粒污泥（AGS）是近十年来广泛研究的一种生物处理技术。这些系统一直强调资源回收的可能性，但实际应用仍然很少。因此，本文旨在对 AGS 系统中从水中、能源、化学品、原材料和营养物质等方面进行资源回收进行系统综述，同时分析工程和经济可行性方面的问题。在固相方面，污泥在农业中的应用是一个很有前景的方向。然而，生物固体（颗粒由于细胞外聚合物（EPS）的高浓度而具有高吸附能力）中的金属浓度可能是一个问题。另一种可能性是回收多羟基烷酸酯（PHA）和Alginate-like exopolymers（生物 ALE），重点介绍后者，它已经在一些污水处理厂（WWTPs）中实现，并命名为 Kaumera®工艺，并已获得专利。当回收 ALE 时，WWTP 的运营支出（OPEX）可以降低 50%。ALE 的回收可使污泥产量减少高达 35%，减少 CO 排放和节能。最后，排出的污泥也可以通过厌氧消化（AD）或燃烧来评估用于能源目的。然而，由于好氧颗粒的生物降解性低，AD 路线遇到了困难。
