Methane from Re-Activated Sludge (RAS) via Anaerobic Digestion

Waste management is a big challenge in a developing country like India. Although management processes have been devised for MSW but wastes from chemical industries, including their sludge still have dumping as the only option. I had the opportunity to work for my Master¿s thesis at Vapi Waste & Effluent Management Co. Ltd in Gujarat. The work is on the waste to energy aspect of the industrial waste. Main focus of the study was to see if re-activated sludge (RAS) obtained as a waste from the effluent treatment plant can be used to generate methane using an anaerobic digester and further analyse the purity level of methane obtained from it. During the course of the experiment various parameters were studied namely, MLSS, VSS, COD, Alkalinity and VFA. The results were recorded on a daily basis and for better understanding graphs have been plotted corresponding to various results. These results helped in the vivid understanding of the working of an anaerobic system, throwing light on the operational and managerial aspect of an anaerobic sludge digester. The study also showed that this process considerably reduces the volume of solid waste being disposed to the landfill.