skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Reduced-gas-pressure operation of sludge digesters. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5285877

The report describes a laboratory research project that examined the effect of reduced gas pressure, or partial vacuum, operation on anaerobic sludge digesters. The focus of the project was the investigation of bench-scale anaerobic reactors that were operated at 0.5, 0.75, 0.83, and 1 atmosphere headspace pressure and fed daily for four different loading conditions at solids retention times of 15 and 25 days. The reduced headspace reactors generally had a higher level of digester performance, as measured by volatile solids destruction and methane generation, than the control reactor. Cumulative data for the 334-day study indicates that digester operation at 0.75 atmosphere provided near optimum methane production and volatile solids destruction. An engineering evaluation of the existing digesters at the Department of Drainage and Sanitation's Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment plant concluded that it would be economical to retrofit the existing digesters to operate under partial vacuum conditions.

Research Organization:
Onondaga County Dept. of Drainage and Sanitation, Syracuse, NY (United States)
OSTI ID:
5285877
Report Number(s):
PB-92-174168/XAB
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are not fully legible. Prepared in cooperation with Syracuse Univ., NY. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and O'Brien and Gere Engineers, Inc., Syracuse, NY. Sponsored by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Albany
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English