Investigating the potential of bio-gas from sewage sludge :

Abstract

Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) plays an. irreplaceable role in the overall wellbeing and development of societies. Wastewater treatment is an ongoing process that requires high energy consumption, and this demand contributes negatively to climate change. Nonetheless, there are options available for energy production and recovery in Wastewater treatment plants during its treatment process, which reduce the negative environmental impacts. This study aims. to investigate the potential of biogas production from sewage sludge, the study site is. a wastewater treatment plant situated at Tororo municipality alone Mbale road, operated by National Water and Sewage Corporation (NWSC). The Treatment plant uses open stabilisation ponds treatment system. This process does not allow biogas recovery. The other anaerobic sludge treatment system can produce energy during. its treatment process in the form of biogas that can be. captured and converted into energy for treatment use. The research evaluated sludge samples from the Tororo wastewater treatment plant at Jinja laboratory for the characteristics of the sludge. Laboratory batch scale anaerobic digestion studies were also carried out to evaluate the biogas produced. The experimental results showed that sludge samples from the Tororo wastewater treatment plant had a biogas production capacity of 4.93 m3 per day, with a potential energy production of 15.776kWh. This study had successfully demonstrated the sustainability of an anaerobic treatment process, and concluded that energy production is feasible option for Tororo wastewater treatment plant. Keywords: anaerobic digestion, sewage sludge, biogas production.