Burning questions: Current practices and critical gaps in evaluating removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during pyrolysis treatments of biosolids.

Concerns surrounding potential health and environmental impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are growing at tremendous rates because adverse health impacts are expected with trace-level exposures. Extreme measures are required to mitigate potential PFAS contamination and minimize exposures. Extensive PFAS use results in the release of diverse PFAS species from domestic, industrial, and municipal effluents to wastewater, which partition to biosolids throughout secondary treatment.

The potential use of shear viscosity to monitor polymer conditioning of sewage sludge digestates.

The work assessed the use of shear viscosity at 0.1 s ( [Formula: see text] ) as a parameter to detect changes in the conditioning and dewatering of digestates. Total and soluble fractions of organic matter of digestate samples before and after storage were also assessed in regards to their conditioning and dewatering performance.

A comparative study of ultrasonic pretreatment and an internal recycle for the enhancement of mesophilic anaerobic digestion.

The objective of this study was to investigate the use of ultrasonic energy in an internal recycle and pretreatment mode of operation relative to a conventional mode of mesophilic anaerobic digestion. The primary focus was to determine if using ultrasonics in a pretreatment mode and in an internal recycle line produced changes in performance relative to each other and the control. Using a relatively low-energy sonication system, the data showed that the addition of ultrasonic energy, in either a recycle line or as a pretreatment technology, improved anaerobic digestion efficiency for waste-activated sludge.

Application of mechanical shear in an internal-recycle for the enhancement of mesophilic anaerobic digestion.

A combination of bench- and full-scale studies were conducted to determine the effectiveness of high-intensity mechanical shear in an internal recycle loop to enhance mesophilic anaerobic digestion and the implications of this process for routine operations of a digestion system. During short-term batch digestion (56 hours), a 46% increase in biogas production was observed. However, it was found that the degree of digestion enhancement was sludge-specific, with increases in volatile solids destruction ranging from 16.

Enhanced sludge conditioning by enzyme pre-treatment: comparison of laboratory and pilot scale dewatering results.

The effect of enzyme pre-treatment on dewaterability of anaerobically digested sludge was investigated at both laboratory and pilot scale. Our results revealed a significant increase in cake solid content (27% cake solids compared to 18% without enzyme pre-treatment), using an enzyme dose of only 20 mg/L. In order to assess practical application, enzyme pre-treatment was applied at the Wilmington, Delaware (U.