Development of the advanced anaerobic digestion technology for the energy recovery and emission reduction

随着人们对气候变化的日益关注，减少污水处理厂的碳足迹已成为推动污水处理技术创新的主要动力之一。厌氧消化(AD)工艺在能量回收和污泥稳定化中起着重要作用。以我们目前的研究成果为基础，该项目旨在开发一种先进的污泥厌氧消化技术，其特点是两级AD结合中间热解(TH)处理，称为AD-ITH工艺。AD-ITH技术的新颖性可以归功于中间TH工艺，该工艺是为处理不易生物降解的污泥(NrbSlade)而设计的。我们的初步研究表明，AD-ITH具有极大地促进VSS的破坏、沼气生产和病原菌减少的潜力。本课程的重点将放在Nrb污泥的处理、AD-ith工艺的优化、AD-ith工艺的机理，以及AD-ith系统中重金属的生物有效性和归宿机制。AD-ITH的开发和应用将通过减少废弃污泥的产生，提高能源回收，降低固体管理成本，为加拿大污水处理厂带来显著的经济和环境效益。此外，这项研究计划将提供极好的HQP培训机会，并产生先进AD技术的前沿知识。因此，该项目的成果将对AD技术的进步和AD在能源回收和减排方面的实际应用产生重大影响。

Reducing carbon footprints of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) has become one of the main drivers for the innovation of wastewater treatment technology due to the growing concern on climate change. The anaerobic digestion (AD) process plays an important role in energy recovery and waste sludge stabilisation. Built upon our present research findings, this program aims to develop an advanced sludge anaerobic digestion technology that is characterised by a two-stage AD coupled with an intermediate thermal hydrolysis (TH) treatment, named as an AD-iTH process. The novelty of the AD-iTH technology can be ascribed to the intermediate TH process that is designed to treat the non-readily biodegradable sludge (nrbSludge). As demonstrated by our preliminary study, the AD-iTH is of potential to greatly enhance the VSS destruction, biogas production, and pathogen reduction. This program will focus on the TH treatment of nrbSludge, the AD-iTH process optimisation, the mechanisms of AD-iTH process, and the heavy metal bioavailability and fate mechanism in the AD-iTH system. The development and applications of the AD-iTH will bring significant economic and environmental benefits to the Canadian WWTPs through reducing waste sludge production, improving energy recovery, and reducing the solid management cost. In addition, this research program will provide excellent HQP training opportunities and generate frontier knowledge on the advanced AD technology. Therefore, the outcomes of this program will exert significant impact on the AD technology advancement and the practical applications of AD for energy recovery and emission reduction.