Effects of phase separation on dewaterability promotion and heavy metal removal of sewage sludge during bioleaching.

Bioleaching is of increasing interest because of its high efficiency in improving sludge dewaterability and removing heavy metals from sewage sludge. However, in traditional single-phase bioleaching, a high-efficiency level cannot be maintained continuously, wherein the microbial synergistic effect is disrupted at a low pH environment. Therefore, in this study, a series of multi-compartment-baffled flow trials were performed to assess the effects of phase separation on sludge bioleaching by comparing a two-phase trial with two single-phase trials. Energy substrate and part of the bioleached sludge were introduced separately into two compartments to form two phases, namely selection phase and bioleaching phase. The results show that phase separation apparently shortened the start-up duration of sludge bioleaching from 7 days in a single-phase bioleaching to 4 days in two-phase bioleaching. The dewaterability of bioleached sludge was also enhanced by phase separation with relative decreases of 25.0-33.3% for specific resistance to filtration and 14.2% for capillary suction time, which was attributed to lower pH values, zeta potential closer to zero, and less dissolved organic matter in bioleached sludge after two-phase bioleaching. Phase separation generally increased the removal ratios of heavy metals during sludge bioleaching by -0.79 to 2.60%, 11.06 to 15.04%, 4.45 to 11.03%, 17.98 to 23.46%, 7.20 to 9.28%, -9.22 to -2.46%, and -6.72 to -10.68% for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, respectively. Phase separation also enriched the Acidithiobacillus spp. and reduced the inactivation of acid-tolerant fungi, which can be conducive to better synergistic effect, and therefore maintain long-term stable state in the bioleaching phase of the two-phase bioleaching process.