New and Broader Applications of Anaerobic Digestion

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Abstract
The general performance of anaerobic digesters and the diversity of wastes that these can treat have been increasing steadily during the last decade as a result of new reactor designs, operating conditions, or the use of specialized microbial consortia. This article illustrates a few examples of new or broader applications of anaerobic digestion to the treatment of sewage, slurries, industrial wastewater, and solid wastes. In the case of domestic sewage, the sustainability of the overall process is much improved by the adoption of an anaerobic pretreatment step, for example, an upflow sludge blanket (USB) reactor. New methods for nutrient removal need to be coupled with anaerobic digestion. These may include, for example, anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and chemical P precipitation. In terms of industrial wastewaters, new additives are being developed that help the anaerobic sludge deal with unbalanced or toxic wastewaters. Engineering of anaerobic sludge granules is a new area of research that serves the purpose of expanding and rechanneling the catabolic capabilities of the sludge and of shortening the length of the adaptation period of the microbial consortia to xenobiotics. New biotechnologies are also being marketed for the anaerobic removal of sulfate and heavy metals in liquid and gaseous wastes. The new ‘high-solids’ fermentation technology used to treat solid wastes in industrialized regions is being expanded to suit specific needs of regions with other priorities such as the presence of nonbiocompatible solid wastes or the occurrence of fuel shortage.

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