Removal of total and volatile solids in ozone pretreated anaerobic digesters

Anaerobic digestion is a sludge stabilization process used for the conversion of organic materials in the sludge into methane rich biogas by anaerobic microorganisms. In order to improve anaerobic digestion, pretreatment methods that results in higher degradation rates, removal efficiencies and biogas production are applied. When compared to other pretreatment methods, ozone pretreatment is more advantageous because it is a strong oxidant, disinfectant and also costeffective when used in small amounts. Typical control parameters for anaerobic digestion are total and volatile solids that denote organic and inorganic content of the sludge. Thus, removal of those solids is an important indicator for the performance of anaerobic digestion with ozone pretreatment. In this study, therefore, the effect of different ozone dosages in an anaerobic digester on the removal efficiencies of total and volatile solids was examined