Abstract
Aerobic digestion is the biochemical oxidative stabilization of wastewater sludge in open or closed tanks that are separate from the liquid process system. This method of digestion is capable of handling waste activated, trickling filter, or primary sludges as well as mixtures of the same. Aerobic digestion is based upon endogenous respiration, where in the absence of suitable substrate food, microorganisms begin to digest their own protoplasm to obtain energy. Cell tissue is aerobically oxidized to carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia or nitrates. Some of the energy released by the microbial degradation is used to form new cellular material, but the majority is released as heat; thus the aerobic oxidation process is exothermic. In a large facility, it may be feasible or desirable to digest primary sludge anaerobically, and secondary sludge aerobically. Following process description, the chapter covers process variations, design considerations, process performance, costs and worked out design examples.
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Shammas, N.K., Wang, L.K. (2009). Aerobic Digestion. In: Wang, L.K., Pereira, N.C., Hung, YT. (eds) Biological Treatment Processes. Handbook of Environmental Engineering, vol 8. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-156-1_15
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