Degradation of organics extracted from dewatered sludge by alkaline pretreatment in microbial electrolysis cell

Waste activated sludge in China are mostly subjected to dewatering process before final disposal without stabilization. This study investigated the feasibility of organics degradation and H₂ production from non-stabilized dewatered sludge (DS) by microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Alkaline pretreatment was used to disintegrate sludge matrix and solubilize organic matters in DS. Then, the treatment performance of DS supernatant in a single-chamber MEC at various applied voltages was investigated. The COD (chemical oxygen demand) removal rate increased with increasing voltage, which ranged from 26.35 to 44.92% at 0.5-0.9 V. The average coulombic efficiency was 75.6%, while the cathodic hydrogen recovery was not satisfied (15.56-20.05%) with H₂ production rates of 0.027-0.038 m³ H₂/(m³ day). The reasons could be ascribed to the complexity of the substrate, H₂ loss, and the confinement of configuration in scale-up. The organic matter degradation was influenced by the composition of DS. The carbohydrates could be readily used; meanwhile, the major component of the DS supernatant, i.e. proteins, was difficult to be utilized, which resulted from the low biodegradability of the transphilic fractions during the MEC operation.