Sequential sludge digestion after diverse pre-treatment conditions: sludge removal, methane production and microbial community changes.

A lab-scale sequential sludge digestion process which consists of a mesophilic anaerobic digester (MAD) and a thermophilic aerobic digester (TAD) was developed. Thermal, thermal-alkaline and long-term alkaline pre-treatments were applied to the feed sludge to examine their effects on sludge removal and methane production. Especially after thermal-alkaline pre-treatment, high COD removal was maintained; methane production rate was also drastically increased by improving the hydrolysis step of sludge degradation. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis indicated that bacterial communities were represented by three phyla (Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria) and that Clostridium straminisolvens was the major bacterial species in MAD. Quantitative real-time PCR results indicated that Methanosaeta concilli was the major archaeal species in MAD, and that Ureibacillus sp. was the most abundant bacterial species in TAD.