Influence of volatile fatty acids in anaerobic bioleaching of potentially toxic metals

Potentially toxic metals are common contaminants associated with sewage sludge, and limited information is available on migration and transformation behavior of potentially toxic metals during anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The aim of this study was to reveal the influence of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) on the solubilization of metals through VFAs-metal complexation. Addition of readily biodegradable extra carbon source at organic loading rate (OLR) of 17.65 gVS/L.d resulted in accumulation of 67,255 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L as VFAs. Low pH values due to VFAs accumulation enhanced the solubilization of Ni and more than 22% of its total concentration became soluble. Subsequent to consumption of VFAs and increase of pH to neutral levels (similar to 7.5), solubility of Ni decreased below 10% of its total concentration. Contrarily, the solubility of Cr reached to 25% of its total concentration at neutral pH values. Presumably the complexation of Cr with dissolved organic matter (DOM) have increased its concentration in the liquid fraction at neutral pH values. Fractionation analysis of metals revealed that AD process altered Cu and Zn speciation between organically-bound and residual fractions, and hence solubility of Zn and Cu remained consistently low over the entire period of the AD process.

Automated summary

This study investigated the influence of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) on the solubilization of potentially toxic metals during anaerobic digestion (AD) process, and found that VFAs enhanced the solubility of Ni while Cr exhibited higher solubility at neutral pH values. The addition of readily biodegradable carbon source resulted in accumulation of VFAs, altering the speciation of Cu and Zn between organically-bound and residual fractions, leading to consistently low solubility of Zn and Cu throughout the AD process.