Enhancing volatile fatty acids production from waste activated sludge: The role of pretreatment by N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-l-glutamate (GLDA).

ABSTRACT: N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-l-glutamate (GLDA) is an eco-friendly chelating agent that effectively extracts multivalent metal ions from waste activated sludge (WAS) flocs, which could potentially alter their structure. However, the effect of GLDA on the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from WAS is not well known. Here, we demonstrate that pretreatment with GLDA at a concentration of 200 mmol per kg VSS results in a significant increase of 142% in extractable extracellular polymeric substances and enhances the total VFAs yield by 64% compared to untreated samples. We reveal GLDA's capability to mobilize organic-binding multivalent metal ions within sludge flocs. Specifically, post-pretreatment analyses showed the release of 69.1 mg L^-1 of Ca and 109.8 mg L^-1 of Fe

SUBMITTER: Liu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10864876 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature