Performance evaluation of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor using immobilized ZnO nanoparticle enhanced continuous biogas production

Abstract

In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles immobilized by methylenebisacrylamide were used for anaerobic consortium application and were examined for biomass retention capacity characterized in terms of volatile solids and specific methanogenic activity. The upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor was operated at various hydraulic retention times and was fed with palm oil mill effluent as a carbon source. The highest methane production rate of 510 mL CH4·L−1·h−1 with a methane yield of 68.3 L CH4 g−1·CODadded was obtained at palm oil mill effluent concentration of 20 g COD·L-1 and 24 h of hydraulic retention time. The average biogas (4.5 L) showed methane content and chemical oxygen demand reduction of 84.5 and 95.7%, respectively. Rmax was 570 mL L−1·POME·h−1 at 15% of zinc oxide nanoparticles, with butyrate and acetic acid in an effluent contained when operated at a hydraulic retention time of 24 h and a palm oil mill effluent concentration of 20 g COD L−1. A CO2 reduction of 93.6% was obtained at 15% w/v loading of zinc oxide nanoparticle. Experiments demonstrated that with the granule bead size of immobilized zinc oxide nanoparticle of 3.99 mm, production of CH4 and sequester of CO2 were 650 m3·d−1 and 456 m3·d−1, respectively. At 15% zinc oxide nanoparticle, granule leakage was found to be 0.065 mg·L−1. It is significant that this is the first report on immobilized zinc oxide nanoparticle granule biomass for biogas production from wastewater.

Removal of hydrogen sulfide from biogas using activated carbon synthesized from different locally available biomass wastes - a case study from Palestine

“…During the adsorption process, the biogas is contacted with an adsorbent in which the H 2 S is collected on the surface and interior microstructure of the adsorbent. Several types of adsorbents have been proposed in the literature, including metal oxides, silica gel, zeolites, synthetic resins, and activated carbon [8,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Activated carbon has been widely used for the treatment of wastewater and waste gases.…”

“…It is worth mentioning that the properties of the produced AC strongly depend on the type of precursor biomass and the operating conditions during pyrolysis (Ahmad et al, 2019). The lignin and cellulose content of the plant texture greatly affects the microstructure of the produced AC.…”

Enhancement of Anaerobic Digestion with Nanomaterials: A Mini Review

“…Another clear field of research is the use of advanced configurations of bioreactors commonly used in AD processes with the addition of NPs. This is the case for UASB (upflow anaerobic sludge blanket) reactors, where zinc oxide nanoparticles immobilized by methylenebisacrylamide were used [54]. In this case, biomass retention capacity was observed to improve carbon dioxide sequestration and to increase methane production using oil palm wastewater.…”

Impact of metallic nanoparticles on anaerobic digestion: A systematic review

“…The toxicity of nano-ZnO on AD microorganisms can be attenuated by co-addition of biogenic or iron sulphide (FeS), leading to a displacement reaction to form zinc sulphide (ZnS) and release of metallic nutrients including iron cations (Fe 2+ ) (Gonzalez-Estrella et al, 2016, 2015b. Alternatively, pre-treat the nano-ZnO in order to immobilize and stabilise them with biogenic solutions, such as sodium alginate solution and methylenebisacrylamide before dosing them at low concentration into the AD system (Ahmad and Reddy, 2019;Gautam et al, 2017). Moreover, in comparison to the wet AD system, the supplementation of nano-ZnO into solid waste anaerobic digesters was less harmful to the process under similar concentrations (Eduok, 2015).…”