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- 2019
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 2. |
- Ekstrand, Eva-Maria, 1985-
(författare)
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Anaerobic digestion in the kraft pulp and paper industry : Challenges and possibilities for implementation
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The pulp and paper industry is a large producer of wastewater and sludge, putting high pressure on waste treatment. In addition, more rigorous environmental legislation for pollution control and demands to increase the use of renewable energy have put further pressure on the pulp and paper industry’s waste treatment, where anaerobic digestion (AD) and the production of methane could pose a solution. Kraft pulping makes up 80% of the world production of virgin wood pulp, thus, the wastewaters from this sector represent a large unused potential for methane production.There are three main types of substrates available for AD at pulp and paper mills, the wastewaters, the primary sludge/fibre sludge, and the waste activated sludge. AD treatment of these streams has been associated with several challenges, such as the presence of inhibiting compounds or low degradability during AD. The aim of this thesis was to experimentally address these challenges and potentials, focusing on wastes from kraft mills.Methane potential batch tests showed that many wastewater streams still posed challenges to AD, but the alkaline elemental chlorine-free bleaching stream and the condensate effluents had good methane potentials. Further, the methane potential of kraft mill fibre sludge was high, and co-digestion of kraft mill fibre sludge and waste activated sludge was feasible in stirred tank reactors with sludge recirculation. By increasing the organic loading in a pilot-scale activated sludge facility and thereby lowering the sludge age, the degradability of the waste activated sludge was improved. The higher wastewater treatment capacity achieved by this method provides an opportunity for the mills to increase their pulp and paper production. Further, by dewatering the digestate after AD and returning the liquid to the activated sludge treatment, costs for nutrient supplementation can be reduced.In conclusion, the thesis shows that AD of wastes from the kraft pulp and paper industry was feasible and carried many benefits regarding the generation of methane as a renewable energy carrier, improved wastewater treatment and reduced costs. Different strategies on how AD may be implemented in the kraft pulp and paper industry were formulated and discussed.
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| 5. |
- Ekstrand, Eva-Maria, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Identifying targets for increased biogasproduction through chemical and organicmatter characterization of digestate from full‑scale biogas plants : what remains and why?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts. - London, United Kingdom : BioMed Central. - 2731-3654. ; 15:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: This study examines the destiny of macromolecules in different full-scale biogas processes. From previousstudies it is clear that the residual organic matter in outgoing digestates can have significant biogas potential,but the factors dictating the size and composition of this residual fraction and how they correlate with the residualmethane potential (RMP) are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to generate additional knowledge of thecomposition of residual digestate fractions and to understand how they correlate with various operational and chemicalparameters. The organic composition of both the substrates and digestates from nine biogas plants operating onfood waste, sewage sludge, or agricultural waste was characterized and the residual organic fractions were linked tosubstrate type, trace metal content, ammonia concentration, operational parameters, RMP, and enzyme activity.Results: Carbohydrates represented the largest fraction of the total VS (32–68%) in most substrates. However, inthe digestates protein was instead the most abundant residual macromolecule in almost all plants (3–21 g/kg). Thedegradation efficiency of proteins generally lower (28–79%) compared to carbohydrates (67–94%) and fats (86–91%).High residual protein content was coupled to recalcitrant protein fractions and microbial biomass, either from thesubstrate or formed in the degradation process. Co-digesting sewage sludge with fat increased the protein degradationefficiency with 18%, possibly through a priming mechanism where addition of easily degradable substrates alsotriggers the degradation of more complex fractions. In this study, high residual methane production (> 140 L CH4/kgVS) was firstly coupled to operation at unstable process conditions caused mainly by ammonia inhibition (0.74 mgNH3-N/kg) and/or trace element deficiency and, secondly, to short hydraulic retention time (HRT) (55 days) relative tothe slow digestion of agricultural waste and manure.Conclusions: Operation at unstable conditions was one reason for the high residual macromolecule content andhigh RMP. The outgoing protein content was relatively high in all digesters and improving the degradation of proteinsrepresents one important way to increase the VS reduction and methane production in biogas plants. Post-treatment
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| 6. |
- Ekstrand, Eva-Maria, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Methane potentials and organic matter characterization of wood fibres from pulp and paper mills : The influence of raw material, pulping process and bleaching technique
- 2020
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Ingår i: Biomass and Bioenergy. - : Elsevier. - 0961-9534 .- 1873-2909. ; 143
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the process of pulp- and papermaking, large volumes of fibre-rich primary sludge are generated. Anaerobic digestion of primary sludge offers a substantial potential for methane production as an alternative approach to the inefficient energy recoveries by commonly used incineration techniques. However, a systematic study of the importance of upstream process techniques for the methane potential of pulp fibres is lacking. Therefore, biochemical methane potentials were determined at mesophilic conditions for 20 types of fibres processed by a variety of pulping and bleaching techniques and from different raw materials. This included fibres from kraft, sulphite, semi-chemical, chemical thermo-mechanical (CTMP) and thermo-mechanical pulping plants and milled raw wood. The pulping technique was clearly important for the methane potential, with the highest potential achieved for kraft and sulphite fibres (390–400 Nml CH4 g VS−1). For raw wood and CTMP, hardwood fibres gave substantially more methane than the corresponding softwood fibres (240 compared to 50 Nml CH4 g VS−1 and 300 compared to 160 Nml CH4 g VS−1, respectively). Nuclear magnetic resonance characterization of the organic content demonstrated that the relative lignin content of the fibres was an important factor for methane production, and that an observed positive effect of bleaching on the methane potential of softwood CTMP fibres was likely related to a higher degree of deacetylation and improved accessibility of the hemicellulose. In conclusion, fibres from kraft and sulphite pulping are promising substrates for methane production irrespective of raw material or bleaching, as well as fibres from CTMP pulping of hardwood.
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| 7. |
- Ekstrand, Eva-Maria, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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The route towards stable and efficient anaerobic digestion of fibrous wastewater from pulp and paper mills in high-rate CSTRs with sludge recirculation
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The pulp and paper industry carries high costs in wastewater treatment. By combining present techniques with anaerobic digestion (AD), expenses for electricity use and sludge disposal can be reduced. The large wastewater volumes require high-rate systems sensitive to suspended solids, and this has so far excluded treatment of the energy-rich wood fibres. In this study, AD of fibrous wastewater was examined in high-rate CSTRs with sludge recirculation. Two lab-scale reactors (4L) were run for 780 days. Once a day, reactor sludge was withdrawn and centrifuged. The main part of the supernatant was discarded, while the pellet was suspended with the substrate and returned to the reactor. This gave a sludge retention time of 10-16 days and a hydraulic retention time of 4-8 days. One reactor (denoted R1) was fed with fibre sludge, and the second reactor (denoted R2) was co-digesting fibre sludge and activated sludge. Both substrates were taken from a Kraft mill in Sweden. Initially, both reactors experienced frequent drops in pH, and continuous alkali supplements were necessary for process stability. Additions of magnesium and potassium were also needed to obtain stable process performance at an OLR of 3 g VS L-1·day-1. R1 and R2 behaved similarly, but R2 (co-digestion) was more robust with less or no fluctuations in VFA and pH. Addition of activated sludge also to R1 allowed an increase in OLR to 4 g VS L-1·day-1. In summary, stable and efficient operation of a high-rate CSTR with sludge recirculation digesting fibre sludge was achieved at an OLR of 4 g VS L-1·day-1, a HRT of 4 days and a methane production of 260±20 Nml. In addition, co-digestion with activated sludge stabilized the performance at increased OLR and thus gave more methane produced per reactor volume.
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| 8. |
- Ekstrand, Eva-Maria, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Viscosity dynamics during anaerobic digestion of pulp and paper mill fibre sludge – the dependency on extracellular polymeric substances and soluble microbial products
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increased viscosity and the presence of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and soluble microbial products (SMP) are important factors that may negatively affect wastewater treatment processes, e.g. foaming, inefficient mixing or poor dewatering. Many industries, including the pulp and paper industry, are running their production processes at shifting conditions, leading to large variations in wastewater composition to downstream treatments. The aim of this study was to investigate how changes in organic loading rate (OLR) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) affect the viscosity and production of EPS and SMP during anaerobic digestion of pulp and paper mill sludge. Two lab-scale continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) were operated for 800 days at 37⁰C. The OLR was increased and the HRT was decreased in steps. Reactor fluid was sampled once a month for rheological characterization and analysis of EPS and SMP.Our results demonstrated a clear positive correlation between viscosity and the production of EPS and SMP. OLR, magnesium and potassium were important for EPS and SMP formation and the protein fraction of SMP was negatively correlated to HRT and sludge retention time. The production of EPS and SMP was important in foam formation and sludge bulking, either directly through their surface-active properties, or indirectly by increasing the viscosity. Sludge bulking was avoided by more frequent mixing. In conclusion, rheological measurements and estimates of EPS and SMP contents could prove valuable tools to avoid the severe consequences of sludge bulking and foaming in full-scale applications.
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| 9. |
- Magnusson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Combining high-rate aerobic wastewater treatment with anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge at a pulp and paper mill
- 2018
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Ingår i: Water Science and Technology. - : IWA Publishing. - 0273-1223 .- 1996-9732. ; 77:8, s. 2068-2076
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The activated sludge process within the pulp and paper industry is generally run to minimize the production of waste activated sludge (WAS), leading to high electricity costs from aeration and relatively large basin volumes. In this study, a pilot-scale activated sludge process was run to evaluate the concept of treating the wastewater at high rate with a low sludge age. Two 150 L containers were used, one for aeration and one for sedimentation and sludge return. The hydraulic retention time was decreased from 24 hours to 7 hours, and the sludge age was lowered from 12 days to 2–4 days. The methane potential of the WAS was evaluated using batch tests, as well as continuous anaerobic digestion (AD) in 4 L reactors in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. Wastewater treatment capacity was increased almost four-fold at maintained degradation efficiency. The lower sludge age greatly improved the methane potential of the WAS in batch tests, reaching 170 NmL CH4/g VS at a sludge age of 2 days. In addition, the continuous AD showed a higher methane production at thermophilic conditions. Thus, the combination of high-rate wastewater treatment and AD of WAS is a promising option for the pulp and paper industry.
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