Effect of ultrasonic pretreatment on anaerobic digestion and its sludge dewaterability

To investigate the effect of ultrasonic pretreatment on anaerobic digestion and sludge dewaterability and further to probe into the influencing factors on sludge dewaterability,sludge flocs were stratified into four fractions： （1） slime;（2） loosely bound extracellular polymeric substances （LB-EPS）;（3） tightly bound EPS （TB-EPS）;and （4） EPS-free pellets.The results showed that ultrasonic pretreatment increased the anaerobic digestion efficiency by 7%–8%.Anaerobic digestion without ultrasonic pretreatment deteriorated the sludge dewaterability,with the capillary suction time （CST） increased from 1.42 to 47.3 （sec·L）/g-TSS.The application of ultrasonic pretreatment firstly deteriorated the sludge dewaterability （normalized CST increased to 44.4 （sec·L）/g-TSS）,while subsequent anaerobic digestion offset this effect and ultimately decreased the normalized CST to 23.2 （sec·L）/g-TSS.The dewaterability of unsonicated sludge correlated with protein （p = 0.003） and polysaccharide （p = 0.004） concentrations in the slime fraction,while that of sonicated sludge correlated with protein concentrations in the slime and LB-EPS fractions （p 0.05）.Fluorescent excitationemission matrix analysis showed that the fluorescence matters in the LB-EPS fraction significantly correlated with sludge dewaterability during anarobic digestion.

Effect of ultrasonic assisted KOH pretreatment on physiochemical characteristic and anaerobic digestion performance of wheat straw

In this study,ultrasonic field was applied during potassium hydroxide(KOH) pretreatment of wheat straw(WS).Three concentrations of KOH(2%,4%,and 6%) were tested during pretreatment.The results showed that there was a significant influence of the ultrasonic assisted KOH pretreatment(KOH(Upt)) on physiochemical characteristics of WS during pretreatment as well as on digester performance.The pretreatment time was optimized to 36 h for all KOH concentrations.The highest total volatile fatty acid(TVFA) productions(3189 mg·L^-1) from 6%KOHupt samples were observed.Similarly,the SEM analysis and FTIR observation revealed that KOH(Upt) effectively disrupted the physical morphology of WS and successful breaking of lignin and hemicellulose linkage between carboxyl groups.Moreover,the highest biogasification(555 ml·(g VS(loaded))^-1) and biomethane productions(282 ml·(g VS(loaded))^-1) from 4%KOH(Upt) digesters,with 69% of biodegradability,indicated significant availability of organic matter from KOH(Upt).The R^2 values(0.993-0.998) in Modified Gompertz Model indicated that the model was feasible to predict methane yield for this study.Similarly,the Bo values for 4%KOH(Upt)(283.30±2.74 ml·(gVS(loaded))^-1) were also in agreement to the experimental methane yield.These results suggested that ultrasonic addition during KOH pretreatment of WS can effectively increase the organic yield during pretreatment.Moreover,the increase in methane production from 4% KOH(Upt) suggested that digester performance can be improved with lower KOH concentrations using this pretreatment.

Ultrasound application in alkaline pretreatment process of spodumene to improve particle floatability

Selective surface dissolution was found to be important in spodumene flotation. In this study, we proposed to introduce ultrasound into the pretreatment process to accelerate particle vibration and cavitation, as well as the migration of mineral surface components to solution. Micro-flotation results showed that the flotation recovery of spodumene can be 86.08% by ultrasound pretreatment, but only 39.30% by traditional mechanical agitation pretreatment. Compared with traditional mechanical agitation, ultrasonic pretreatment can shorten the pretreatment process, reduce the dosage of agents, reduce the mechanical agitation speed, and improve the efficiency of the pretreating process. Inductively coupled plasma analysis showed that, in the ultrasonic system, the amount of Li, Al, and Si species in the solution was twice as much as those in the traditional preprocessing system. Moreover, the scanning electron microscope results demonstrated a larger surface dissolution area in the ultrasonic system. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that the atomic concentration of Si species on the spodumene surface decreased, whereas the relative atomic concentrations of Li and Al species increased, indicating that the ultrasound effect strengthened the selective dissolution of elements on the mineral surface.The high-resolution spectra of O 1s showed that more collectors are adsorbed on the mineral surface treated by ultrasonic pretreatment.

Effects of Ultrasonic and Acid Pretreatment on Food Waste Disintegration and Volatile Fatty Acid Production

This study aims at investigating the effects of ultrasonic and acid pretreatment on food waste( FW)disintegration and volatile fatty acid( VFA) production. Single-factor experiments are carried out to obtain optimal conditions of individual ultrasonic and acid pretreatment,and response surface method( RSM) is applied to optimize the conditions of the combination of ultrasonic and acid( UA) pretreatment. Results show that the optimal acid,ultrasonic and UA pretreatments conditions are individual pH 2,individual ultrasonic energy density of 1. 0 W / mL and the combination of ultrasonic energy density1. 11 W / mL and pH 1. 43,respectively. Correspondingly,the maximum disintegration degrees( DD) of 46. 90%,57. 38% and68. 83%are obtained by acid,ultrasonic and UA pretreatments,respectively. After optimizing pretreatment conditions,batch experiments are operated to produce VFA from raw and pretreated FW under anaerobic fermentation process. Both the maximum VFA production( 976. 17 mg COD / gV S) and VFA / SCOD( 72. 89%) are obtained with ultrasonic pretreatment, followed by UA pretreatment, non-pretreatment and acid pretreatment,respectively. This observation demonstrates that a higher acidity on acid and UA pretreatments inhibits the generation of VFA. Results suggest that ultrasonic pretreatment is preferable to promote the disintegration degree of FW and VFA production.

An executive review of sludge pretreatment by sonication

Ultrasonication（US）, which creates hydro-mechanical shear forces in cavitation, is an advanced technology in sludge pretreatment. However, there are many factors affecting the efficacy of cavitation and ultrasonication disintegration of sludge as a consequence.The objective of this work is to present an extensive review of evaluation approaches of sludge US pretreatment efficiency. Besides, optimization methodologies of related parameters,the differences of optimum values and the similarities of affecting trends on cavitation and sludge pretreatment efficiency were specifically pointed out, including ambient conditions,ultrasonic properties, and sludge characteristics. The research is a prerequisite for optimization of sludge US pretreatment efficiency in lab-scale and practical application. There is not-yet a comprehensive method to evaluate the efficiency of sludge US pretreatment, but some main parameters commonly used for this purpose are degree of sludge disintegration, proteins,particle size reduction, etc. Regarding US parameters, power input PUS, intensity IUS, and frequency FSseem to have significant effects. However, the magnitude of the effect of PUSand probe size in terms of IUShas not been clearly detailed. Investigating very low FSseems interesting but has not yet been taken into consideration. In addition, static pressure effect has been marginally studied only and investigation on the effect of pH prior to US process has been restricted. Their effects therefore should be varied separately and simultaneously with other related parameters, i.e. process conditions, ultrasonic properties, and sludge characteristics, to optimize sludge US pretreatment process.