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Title: Membrane-controlled processes for the energy-efficient conversion of sludges to fuels and marketable chemicals

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5229806· OSTI ID:5229806

Studies were carried out on the concentration of primary and secondary sludges by ultrafiltration, and the operation of a membrane-assisted anaerobic digester to treat these sludges. Auxiliary devices including water-spilling and membrane solvent extraction were tested for their feasibility in the ehhancement of digester operations and the recovery of valuable byproducts. It was shown that membrane-facilitated digestion can increase the rate of these processes by a factor of ten, together with a substantial decrease in the amount going to waste, and with the ultrafiltration permeate containing appreciable concentrations of valuable byproducts which could be concentrated and recovered using a combination of other membrane technologies. The utility of electrodialytic water-splitting and membrane solvent extraction was demonstrated. All of this was accomplished with a small three-liter bench-scale digester, the operation of which presented many problems because of its very small size and the difficulty in handling real sewage sludges.

Research Organization:
Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC01-78CS20400
OSTI ID:
5229806
Report Number(s):
DOE/CS/20400-1; ON: DE82013685
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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