Enhanced volatile fatty acids production of waste activated sludge under salinity conditions: Performance and mechanisms

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are essential for removing biological nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater treatment plants. The purpose of this work was to investigate whether and how the addition of NaCl could improve the production of VFAs from waste activated sludge (WAS). Sludge solubilization was efficiently improved by the addition of NaCl. Both protein and carbohydrate in the fermentation liquid increased with the dosage of NaCl, and it provided a larger amount of organic compounds for the production of the VFAs. NaCl had inhibitory effects on the production of methane and a high dosage of NaCl could severely suppress the growth of methanogens, which decreased the consumption of the VFAs. Consequently, the production of VFAs was significantly enhanced by the addition of NaCl. The maximum production of VFAs was achieved with the highest dosage of NaCl (3316 mg (COD)/L at the NaCl dosage 0.5 mol/L; 783 mg (COD)/L without the addition of NaCl). Therefore, this study indicates that using NaCl could be an efficient method for improving the production of VFAs from WAS.