Strategies for changing temperature from mesophilic to thermophilic conditions in anaerobic CSTR reactors treating sewage sludge

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion presents an advantageous way for stabilization of sludge from wastewater treatment plants. Two different strategies for changing operational process temperature from mesophilic (37 °C) to thermophilic (55 °C) were tested using two continuous flow stirred tank reactors operated at constant organic loading rate of 1.38 g VS/l reactor/day and hydraulic retention time of 20 days. In reactor A, the temperature was increased step-wise: 37 °C→42 °C→47 °C→51 °C→55 °C. While in reactor B, the temperature was changed in one-step, from 37 °C to the desired temperature of 55 °C, The results showed that the overall adaptation of the process for the step-wise temperature increment took 70 days in total and a new change was applied when the process was stabilized as indicated by stable methane production and low volatile fatty acids concentrations. Although the one-step temperature increase caused a severe disturbance in all the process parameters, the system reached a new stable operation after only 30 days indicating that this strategy is the best in changing from mesophilic to thermophilic operation in anaerobic digestion plants.