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Water Research 37 (2003) 35693578

Biosolids accumulation and biodegradation of domestic wastewater treatment plant sludge by developed liquid state bioconversion process using a batch fermenter
Md. Zahangir Alama,b,*, A. Fakhrul-Razia, Abul H. Mollaa
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor DE, Malaysia b Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Received 2 May 2002; received in revised form 25 April 2003; accepted 1 May 2003
a

Abstract The biosolids accumulation and biodegradation of domestic wastewater treatment plant (DWTP) sludge by lamentous fungi have been investigated in a batch fermenter. The lamentous fungi Aspergillus niger and Penicillium corylophilum isolated from wastewater and DWTP sludge was used to evaluate the treatment performance. The optimized mixed inoculum (A. niger and P. corylophilum) and developed process conditions (co-substrate and its concentration, temperature, initial pH, inoculum size, and aeration and agitaion rate) were incorporated to accelerate the DWTP sludge treatment process. The results showed that microbial treatment of higher strength of DWTP sludge (4% w/w of TSS) was highly inuenced by the liquid state bioconversion (LSB) process. In developed bioconversion processes, 93.8 g/kg of biosolids was enriched with fungal biomass protein of 30 g/kg. Enrichment of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K) in biosolids was recorded in 6.2% (w/w), 3.1% (w/w) and 0.15% (w/w) from its initial values of 4.8% (w/w), 2.0% (w/w) and 0.08% (w/w) respectively after 10 days of fungal treatment. The biodegradation results revealed that 98.8% of TSS, 98.2% of TDS, 97.3% of turbidity, 80.2% of soluble protein, 98.8% of reducing sugar and 92.7% of COD in treated DWTP sludge supernatant were removed after 8 days of microbial treatment. The specic resistance to ltration (SRF) in treated sludge (1.4 1012 m/kg) was decreased tremendously by the microbial treatment of DWTP sludge after 6 days of fermentation compared to untreated sample (85 1012 m/kg). r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Biosolids accumulation; Biodegradation; Domestic wastewater treatment plant (DWTP) sludge; Liquid state bioconversion; Penicillium corylophilum; Aspergillus niger

1. Introduction Disposal of sewage has become more problematic over recent years because of stricter environmental regulation that controls the disposal of raw and
*Corresponding author. Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel.: +603-20564571; fax: +603-20564853. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.Z. Alam).

untreated sludge. The awareness of environmental problems has forced governments, local authorities and utilities for management to search for new alternative process or solutions for future waste management strategies. Although there exist many alternatives for sludge treatment and disposal such as landll [1,2], incineration [3,4], physical-chemical process [5,6], physicochemical process [7], adsorption [8], membrane process [911] in recent years, interest has grown in the methods/processes based on resource recovery approach known as recycling and utilization of useful materials

0043-1354/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0043-1354(03)00260-4

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from sludge. The concept of organic matter recovery is becoming more popular to be applied for various purposes. Composting as a resource recovery is becoming a more acceptable alternative for the sludge treatment due to potential use for land application as biofertilizer and soil conditioner [12]. Liquid state bioconversion (LSB) of domestic wastewater treatment plant sludge is being proposed to solve these problems. In LSB process, the lamentous fungi isolated from wastewater and DWTP sludge [13] entrap the solid particles in higher strength of sludge (p4% w/ w of TSS) during their growth and enhance the biosolids accumulation, bioseparation and biodegradation of treated supernatant [1416]. In treatment, sludge particles are compacted by lamentous mycelia that modied the porosity structure of the treated sludge and enhance the lterability and dewaterability [16,17]. After microbial treatment of DWTP sludge, the separated fungal biomass containing biosolids generated during the treatment of DWTP sludge that can be used as pretreatment compost materials for rapid and effective composting by solid state bioconversion (SSB) process [18,19]. It contains large amount of organic matters, macro- and micro-nutrients and existing high potential microbes for quick bioconversion. The treated supernatant can be disposed without any further treatment as it meets the standard values of discharge [20]. Therefore, this study was aimed to develop the microbial treatment performance for higher concentration of DWTP sludge by optimized process conditions in a batch fermenter on the basis of biosolids accumulation, biodegradation and bioseparation/bioltration of treated sludge.

(IWK)s domestic wastewater treatment plant, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The sludge concentration of 4% w/w of TSS was prepared by removing excess water. The nal pH recorded in concentrated sludge (4% w/w) was 6.5. The sludge medium (4% w/w of TSS) supplemented with co-substrate of 2% w/w of wheat our (WF, optimized cheap carbon source) was used throughout the study. 2.3. Procedures of DWTP sludge treatment The optimized inoculum and bioconversion process were used to develop the sludge treatment technique in a batch fermenter. The optimized carbon source (C) as cosubstrate was wheat our, and the process conditions were temperature of 33 C, initial pH of 5.5, inoculum size of 2% v/w, co-substrate (WF) concentration of 2% w/w, agitation rate of 150 rpm and aeration rate of 0.5 vvm. To evaluate the microbial treatment performance for DWTP sludge in controlled developed conditions, a 6-liter capacity BIOSTATsCT compact laboratory-scale fermenter (B. Braun Biotech International) with a 5-liter working volume was used. The fermenter was a vertical glass cylinder with the height/ diameter ratio of 2.2:1. Fermenter and all its parts were sterilized to be used along with the substrate at 1.5 barg and 121 C for 45 min. Filtered air was supplied into the substrate in the fermenter just below the impeller by an air compressor. The initial pH of the substrate was adjusted to 5.5 but it was not controlled thereafter. Temperature, agitation and aeration rates were maintained automatically by microprocessor controller in fermenter. An experiment was carried out in the fermenter containing 3 kg of 4% w/w of DWTP sludge medium supplemented by 2% w/w of co-substrate (wheat our). The treatment was started by inoculating 2% v/w of spore suspension of mixed inoculum (1:1 ratio of individual) of A. niger and P. corylophilum for 10 days (sampling of every two days interval). The concentration of mixed inoculum of A. niger and P. corylophilum used were 2 104 and 1.25 104 spores/ml respectively. Inoculum preparation (spore suspension) was done according to the method of Fakhrul-Razi et al. [16]. The experiment was carried out by completely randomize design (CRD) and results (data) obtained were the average of three replicates. 2.4. Analytical analysis The dry biosolids (sludge cake) was collected by ltering the fermentation broth (treated sludge) and dried at 105 C for 48 h. The supernatant was used for analysis after centrifuging the fermented broth at 3000 rpm for 30 min. The TS, TSS, and COD were measured following the standard methods [22]. The optical density (OD) of supernatant at 660 nm was

2. Materials and methods 2.1. Filamentous fungi A mixed culture of Aspergillus niger SCahmA103 (IMI385267) and Penicillium corylophilum WWZP1003 (IMI385277) obtained from a series of experiments of isolation/identication [13], screening [21] and optimization of mixed culture was used. The strains A. niger and P. corylophilum were isolated from relevant sources (wastewater and sludge cake) and optimized on the basis of potential performance for the treatment of DWTP sludge using bioconversion process. The cultures were maintained on 3.9% w/v of potato dextrose agar (PDA, Oxoid, England) slants, subcultured once in a month and stored at 4 C. 2.2. Domestic wastewater treatment plant sludge The domestic wastewater treatment plant (DWTP) sludge of 0.751.0% w/w of TSS (pH 6.7) was collected from an aeration tank in Indah Water Konsortium

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measured against distilled water in an UV spectrophotometer (UVIKON 933) that was considered as turbidity [23]. pH was determined by the pH meter (Hanna Instruments, Italy) with the help of manual instructions. Soluble protein was determined according to Lowry method [24]. Total dissolved solids (TDS) was determined by using EC (electrical conductivity)/TDS meter (Hanna Instruments, HI9835) according to manual instructions of Hanna Instruments. Reducing sugar was measured according to the method of DNS [25]. TOC was measured according to the method of Navarro et al. [26]. Total nitrogen was determined by micro-kjeldahl method [27]. Heavy metals determination was followed by aqua regia extraction method. Specic resistance to ltration (SRF) test known as the Buchner funnel test, is one of the most commonly employed test for the evaluation of wastewater and/or wastewater sludge dewaterability or lterability. The SRF test measures the resistance of sludge to ltration or dewatering. The ltering was performed using a 9-cm diameter Whatman #1 lter paper at an applied vacuum pressure of 600 mmHg. The volume of ltrate (50 ml) collected was recorded as a function of time. Specic resistance to ltration (SRF r) was determined using a plot of ltration time/ltrate volume (t=V ) versus ltrate volume (V ). Using the slope of the line, SRF was calculated from the following formula [28]:   mrc mRm t=V V ; 1 AP 2A2 P where r is the specic resistance to ltration (m/kg), P the pressure of ltration (N/m2), m the viscosity of ltrate (N-s/m2), V the volume of ltrate (m3), t the ltration time (s), c* the weight of dry solids per volume of ltrate (kg/m3), A the area of the lter paper (m2), Rm the resistance on the medium (1/m). For compressible sludges, ignoring Rm which is very small as compared to the resistance on the sludge cake. Eq. (1) can be reduced to   mrc t=V V bV : 2 2A2 P Taking the slope of the line as b; SRF can be calculated from the formula:  2  2A P r b: 3 mc

bioseparation/bioltration of treated sludge. In the present study, microbially treated sludge was separated into biosolids and supernatant. The biosolids were enriched with fungal mycelial biomass which is considered as pretreatment materials for rapid composting by solid state bioconversion process. The supernatant of treated sludge is considered to disposed without any further treatment which is safe, non-hazardous, and environmental friendly. The observed parameters such as dry biosolids (DBS) and its enriched protein (P), removal of TSS, TDS, turbidity (OD against distilled water, 660 nm), soluble protein (SP), reducing sugar (RS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), increased dewaterability/lterability, nutrients uptake, C/N ratio and trace elements were conducted to assess the treatment performance strategy. 3.1. Biosolids accumulations and its compositions The production of dry biosolids (DBS) in treated DWTP sludge with the treatment of mixed fungal inocula of A. niger and P. corylophilum is presented in Fig. 1. DWTP biosolids (sludge) increased with fungal biomass can be used as pretreatment materials for rapid composting by solid state bioconversion (SSB) process [18]. The fungal treated biosolids was also enriched with nutrients (NPK) and trace elements that could make it rich composting material compared to other composting materials (sewage sludge, municipal solid wastes, paper sludge, etc) cited in Table 1. The results presented in this study revealed that the maximum biosolids production of 93.8 g/kg was recorded from its initial concentration of 40 g/kg of sludge after 8 days of fungal treatment. The production rate was slightly declined at nal days of treatment (10 days). It might be due to the nature of microbial growth curve in death phase. The highest increased percentage of biosolids observed was 72.2% as compared to the untreated sludge (control) (Fig. 1). The
120 75 60 45 60 30 40 20 0 Treatment Control Increased (%) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 15 0

Dry biosolids (DBS), g/kg

80

3. Results and discussion This study was aimed to develop the microbial treatment performance for higher concentration of DWTP sludge (p4% w/w of TSS) by optimized process conditions in a batch fermenter/bioreactor on the basis of biosolids accumulation, biodegradation and

Treatment period, day

Fig. 1. Dry biosolids production by the mixed culture of A. niger and P. corylophilum in higher strength of DWTP sludge (4% w/w of TSS).

DBS increased (%)

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3572 M.Z. Alam et al. / Water Research 37 (2003) 35693578 Table 1 Properties of different composting materials compared to treated biosolids of DWTP sludge Parameters Composting raw materials (Wastes) Sewage sludge compostf DWTP sludge (control)b 35.14 4.8 7.28 19,870 820 1430 490 200 73 302 Sewage sludgec 44.5 9.68 4.6 22,600 278 726 4038 MSWd DPSe

Treated biosolids by LSBa C (%) N (%) C/N P (mg/kg) K (mg/kg) Ca (mg/kg) Mn (mg/kg) Na (mg/kg) Cu (mg/kg) Zn (mg/kg) 43.4 6.2 7 30,100 1530 2005 540 450 92 310

DWTP sludge (original) 32.2 3.6 8.9 14,005 502 1281 405 171 69 291

18.6 1.11 16.8 920 5200 6800 486.3 207 10.3 110

40 0.29 135.6 76.7 1.3 12,300 1013 123 35

39 3 13 20,200 6900 70 230 4500 120 330

DWTPdomestic wastewater treatment plant; MSWmunicipal solid waste; DPSde-inking paper sludge. a Microbially treated biosolids after 810 days of DWTP sludge treatment. b Sample included co-substrate (uninnoculated/0 day treatment). c Fang et al. [33]. d Soumar! et al. [34]. e e Charest and Beauchamp [35]. f Negro et al. [36].

35

75 60 45 30 Treatment Control Increased (%) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 15 0

28 21 14 7 0

Treatment period, day

Fig. 2. Enriched protein in dry biosolids (DBS) by the fungal treatment of DWTP sludge.

results from untreated sludge showed that the water loss due to natural evaporation was counted and as a result the solid content was increased. The increased sludge cake/biosolids in different waste materials for its bioconversion by fungi was agreed with several researchers in Refs. [14,16,2932]. The protein was enriched with fungal biomass during microbial treatment of DWTP sludge. Enriched protein in biosolids containing fungal biomass is shown in Fig. 2. Increasing trend of protein in biosolids followed similar trend of biosolids production, as it was determined from biosolids. Maximum 30 grams (g) of

protein was determined in every kilogram (kg) of biosolids of treated sludge after 8 days of treatment. Protein enrichment was enhanced for rst 6 days of experiment after that no signicant difference was observed. Highest increase of protein in fungal treated biosolids was recorded with 74% compared to uninoculated sludge after nal days of sludge treatment (10 days). Extensive researches have been done in food and animal husbandry industry on protein enrichment [3739], whereas very few works were conducted to convert the waste material into valuable product with enrichment of protein by microbial treatment [15,16]. Chemical characterization of compost is generally based on two criteria, agronomic value and heavy metal contents. With regards to the agronomic value, the availability of major elements such as N, P, K and trace elements e.g. Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Ni, Ca, Na must be evaluated [34]. Total heavy metals recorded in biosolids after microbial treatment of DWTP sludge with different fermentation time is shown in Table 2. The initial value of Ca in biosolids without treatment recorded was 1.43 g/kg and it was increased to 2.05 g/kg after 10 days of fungal treatment. The maximum increase of trace elements were Ca and Na of 43% and 115% compared with its initial value (0 days, control) in microbially treated biosolids. The data presented in this study do not follow a clear trend (increased or decreased) in terms of fermentation period (Table 2) while in most cases, major of trace elements were slightly increased in fungal

Protein increased (%)

Protein in DBS, g/kg

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M.Z. Alam et al. / Water Research 37 (2003) 35693578 Table 2 Metal content (trace elements) in fungal treated dry biosolids with different fermentation period Metals (g/kg) Treatment period Day 0 Ca Mg Fe Mn Na Cu Zn Ni Cr Pb 1.4370.02 0.4970.00 9.2870.04 0.4970.01 0.2070.00 0.07370.00 0.30270.00 0.01670.00 0.02370.00 0.03270.00 Day 2 1.3870.03 0.4970.01 8.9070.24 0.3970.03 0.6670.11 0.06270.00 0.3070.00 0.01570.00 0.02170.00 0.02870.00 Day 4 1.2370.02 0.4770.00 8.1870.11 0.3070.00 0.4370.04 0.06170.00 0.3070.00 0.01470.00 0.02270.00 0.02870.00 Day 6 1.6270.03 0.4870.00 9.070.03 0.4270.00 0.5670.02 0.0770.00 0.3070.00 0.01470.00 0.02570.00 0.02970.00 Day 8 1.6970.17 0.5170.00 9.8570.07 0.5470.01 0.4570.00 0.09270.00 0.3170.00 0.0270.00 0.02470.00 0.04370.00 Day 10 2.0570.02 0.5070.00 9.3270.07 0.4870.02 0.4470.04 0.08770.01 0.30570.00 0.01770.00 0.02670.00 0.03670.00 3573

treated sludge. The heavy metals of Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Pb increased by 3%, 6%, 10%, 18%, 5%, 1% and 12% respectively (Table 2). Biosolids was enriched with fungal biomass which has higher biosorption capacity for metals and as a result it adsorbed metals from treated supernatant and might increase the metals level [4042]. It was also slightly decreased with different fermentation time. Comparing the different waste composting materials such as municipal solid waste (MSW), citrus waste, sewage sludge and manure, the mineral content in microbially treated biosolids as pretreatment material for composing was lower [34,35,4346]. The nutrient values (N, P, K) were determined in DWTP sludge to evaluate the quality of composting materials. The microbial effect on nutrient enrichment is shown in Fig. 3. The results shown in this study revealed that initial values of nutrients were increased up to nal days of fungal treatment. The amount of N, P and K in original DWTP sludge recorded was 36, 14 and 0.5 g/kg dry sludge (Table 1). In untreated sludge (control), the nutrients (N, P, K) were increased to 48, 20 and 0.8 g/kg, respectively by the addition of co-substrate in original sludge. These amounts were therefore increased to 62, 31 and 1.5 g/kg, respectively after 10 days of fungal treated sludge. The N, P, and K values increased by 29%, 55% and 88%, respectively after nal days of fungal treatment (10 days) compared to control. The increased protein in sludge cake have been examined by several the authors [14,16,30,37]. As protein is roughly correlated with total nitrogen content and fungal biomass, the total N may increase due to enrichment of fungal biomass in biosolids. The increases in total N have been observed in many other composting processes [35,4749]. In composting process, C/N ratio is a very important factor for compost maturity. As the product biosolids is considered for pretreatment materials for composing, C/N ratio in biosolids was recorded after microbial treatment of DWTP sludge (Fig. 4). The results showed

80

1.8

60

N, P, g/kg

40 0.6 20 N 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 P K 0

Treatment period, day

Fig. 3. Nutrients such as total nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) improvement in microbially treated sludge (biosolids) for evaluation of the quality of composting materials.

7.7

7.3

C/N ratio

6.9

6.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Treatment period, day

Fig. 4. C/N ratio in dry biosolids after fungal treatment of DWTP sludge.

the C/N ratio of 7.28 in untreated sludge (0 days). The values were decreased initially up to 4 days of microbial treatment and it was increased to 7.13 at 10 days of

K, g/kg

1.2

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100
6000

100 80

TSS removal (%)

TDS, mg/L

6000

4000

Treatment Control Removed (%)

3000

60 40 20

60 Treatment Control Removed (%) 40 20

0

2000

0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Treatment period, day

Fig. 5. Total suspended solids (TSS) in supernatant of microbially treated sludge using batch culture.

Treatment period, day

Fig. 6. Effect of fungal mixed culture on removal of total dissolved solids (TDS) of DWTP sludge in a batch fermenter.

fungal treatment. The nal C/N ratio was almost same as observed in control. From this point of view, no signicant difference was recorded by using the microbial treatment of sludge. Initial C/N ratio is a key factor for fungal proper growth and degradable activities, and in controlling ammonia loss within the composting process [45,50,51]. Rapid and entire humication of a substrate essentially depends on it initially having a C/N ratio which should be 2535 [52]. The C/N ratio can be increased to >25 from the recorded value of about 7 by supplementing carbon and nitrogen sources which was the objective to determine it. 3.2. Biodegradation of DWTP sludge Total suspended solids (TSS) was determined in treated supernatant to evaluate the bioconversion of DWTP sludge. The microbial treatment effect on removal of TSS is shown in Fig. 5. The results indicated that the lamentous fungi highly inuenced the reduction of TSS in supernatant of treated sludge. The minimum value of TSS estimated was 93 mg/l after 8 days of fermentation. The higher reduction rate was recorded after 6 days of treatment and no marked difference was observed after that. The maximum removal of 98.8% was recorded after 8 days of microbial treatment. The lamentous fungi entrapped the suspended solid particles in sludge and enhanced the TSS reduction process signicantly [15,32]. The total dissolved solids (TDS) in DWTP sludge was highly inuenced by the fungal treatment as compared to control (untreated sludge). The removal rate of TDS is shown in Fig. 6. The results indicated that for rst 6 days, the removal rate was higher in fungal treatment. The lowest value of TDS was observed with 95 mg/l after 10 days of fermentation. The increasing rate of reduction of TDS observed up to 6 days of fermentation and no signicant difference was recorded thereafter. Maximum reduction recorded was 98.2% after nal days of microbial treatment. During treatment, the

Optical density (OD), 660 nm

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Treatment Control Removed (%)

100 80 60 40 20 0

Treatment period, day

Fig. 7. Turbidity (optical density at 660 nm) removal by fungi in 4% w/w of sludge using batch fermenter.

fungal strains utilized the dissolved substances as food and energy sources in sludge and enhanced the reduction of TDS of treated sludge [15,23]. The optical density (OD) against distilled water at 660 nm was considered as turbidity of supernatant of DWTP sludge (treated and untreated sample). The closer value of OD in sample against distilled water was estimated as lower turbidity of fungal treated sludge [23]. The effect of fungal treatment on removal of turbidity is shown in Fig. 7. Effective removal of turbidity (OD, 0.045) was observed after 4 days of fermentation. The lowest optical density (OD, 0.023) was recorded after 8 days of treatment and after that no signicant difference was observed in 10 days of sludge treatment. The maximum reduction of turbidity of treated sludge was recorded with 97.3% after 8 days of treatment. The fungal cultures utilized the soluble suspended matters resulting in higher reduction of turbidity. The similar observation has been done by Alam et al. [15] and Fakhrul-Razi et al. [16] for the bioconversion of domestic wastewater sludge in shake ask. Soluble protein (SP) was determined to evaluate the reduction of organic matters in supernatant of treated

Turbidity removal (%)

TDS removal (%)

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TSS, mg/L

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Protein in supernatant, mg/L

400

90

15000

Protein (S) removal (%)

75 300 60 200 Treatment Control Removed (%) 45 30 15 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0

10000
Treatment Control Removed (%) 60 40 20

5000

100

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Treatment period, day

Treatment period, day

Fig. 8. Effect of fungal treatment on soluble protein reduction in DWTP sludge using bioconversion process.

Fig. 9. Decreased reducing sugar in sludge medium containing co-substrate of wheat our by the microbial mixed culture in the fermenter.

sludge after fungal treatment (Fig. 8). SP was correlated with nitrogen content and fungal biomass. It can be developed an idea on presence of nitrogen in sludge roughly from observed SP values. The soluble organic substances were consumed by fungal strains as nutrient and energy sources during the growth and enhanced the removal rate of SP. The SP in supernatant was signicantly removed by microbial treatment after 6 days of treatment compared to untreated sludge. Very little increased removal rate was observed thereafter. The maximum removal rate was recorded with 80.2% at nal day 10 of treatment. Several authors have studied the utilization of dissolved protein in different waste materials with different microfungal treatments [15,30,37]. The parameter reducing sugar was observed to determine the substrate utilization after microbial treatment of sludge. Reduction of substrate concentration by microfungi is shown in Fig. 9. The results presented in this study revealed that the maximum substrate utilization observed was 98.8% after 10 days of treatment. The removal rate was signicantly inuenced by microbial treatment for rst 6 days of treatment and the increasing rate of removal was minimum up to nal days of treatment. The microbes utilized the substrate for their proper growth as food and energy sources. It also released secondary metabolites during growth which reduced the substrate in terms of bioconversion/biodegradation and as a result the substrate was removed effectively. Alam et al. [15] observed the RS utilization and achieved 98% removal in 1% w/w of domestic wastewater sludge. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) was an important factor to evaluate the organic content of DWTP sludge. The effect of mixed culture of A. niger and P. corylophilum on removal of COD in sludge was illustrated in Fig. 10. The results suggested that COD removal was highly inuenced by the microbial treatment of sludge. The highest removal of COD recorded

1600

100

1200

800

Treatment Control Removed (%)

60 40 20 0

400

10

12

Treatment period, day

Fig. 10. Reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in microbially treated sludge in LSB process.

was 92.7% compared to uninoculated sludge after nal days of treatment (10 days). The effective increasing rate of reduction of COD observed in experiment was 82.1% after 6 days of fermentation followed by 88.1% and 92.7% after 8 and 10 days of treatment, respectively. The results showed no signicant difference after 8 days of fungal treatment. Fungal growth and its secondary metabolites helped to reduce the soluble and insoluble organic substances in sludge signicantly [16,29]. COD removal of waste materials by fungal treatment have been studied by many authors and they found that COD were reduced by mixed culture of A. niger and P. corylophilum, A. awamori and Trichoderma reesei, and single culture of Penicillium spp., A. oryzae and Rhizopus oligosporus in domestic wastewater [15], apple distillery waste [30], olive mill wastewaters [31,53], and starch processing wastewater [32] with a considerable values (6090%). 3.3. Filterability/dewaterability of microbially treated sludge Specic resistance to ltration (SRF) was determined to assess the dewaterability/lterability of treated sludge.

COD removal (%)

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COD, mg/L

Substrate utilization (%)

Reducing sugar, mg/L

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SRF decreased (%)

SRFx10 12 , m/kg

pretreatment material for effective composting by solid state bioconversion (SSB) process, and (ii) biodegradation of sludge supernatant that can be disposed without any further treatment that meets the standard values of discharge.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to convey their heartfelt gratitude to the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) for their kind supports and IWK for their research grant and for providing the sludge sample during this study.

Treatment period, day

Fig. 11. Specic resistance to ltration (SRF) of fungal treated biosolids for the evaluation of lterability/dewaterability.

The lterability of treated sludge was highly inuenced by the fungal treatment as compared to untreated sample (Fig. 11). The lowest SRF (1.4 1012 m/kg) value for ltration was observed after 6 days in microbially treated sludge. No signicant difference was accounted thereafter. Highest decreased value of SRF by 98.4% was recorded compared to untreated sludge (85 1012 m/kg). The lamentous fungi entrapped the solid particles of DWTP sludge and compressed sludge solids by lamentous mycelia which modied the porosity structure of sludge cake, and accelerated the ltration process [17]. Fakhrul-Razi et al. [16] has studied the lterability test of higher solid content of domestic wastewater sludge in shake ask using Aspergillus and Penicillium to evaluate its potentiality for bioconversion of wastewater sludge and received effective results.

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4. Conclusion The potential mixed fungal inoculum had a high microbial and enzymatic effects which led to an increase of biosolids enriched with fungal biomass protein and lterability/dewaterability of treated DWTP sludge, and decrease of TSS, TDS, turbidity, dissolved protein, reducing sugar, and COD in supernatant signicantly in developed bioconversion process. The results showed that treated biosolids containing nutrients (N, P, K), C/N ratio value and trace elements exhibited pretreatment materials for rapid and effective composting process. Generally, it can be concluded that this study open a new biotechnological approach in considering the economic importance for the treatment of higher (p4% w/w of TSS) DWTP sludge by enhancing the biosolids accumulation, bioseparation and biodegradation of treated sludge. This study may contribute to better sludge management strategy in more than one way (i) biosolids accumulation that can be used as

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