Methane recovery from the anaerobic codigestion of municipal sludge and FOG

The anaerobic biodegradability of a mix of municipal primary sludge (PS), thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) and fat, oil, and grease (FOG) was assessed using semi-continuous feed, laboratory-scale anaerobic digesters operated at mesophilic (35 °C) and thermophilic (52 °C) temperature. Addition of a large FOG fraction (48% of the total VS load) to a PS + TWAS mix, resulted in 2.95 times larger methane yield, 152 vs. 449 mL methane @ STP/g VS added at 35 °C and 2.6 times larger methane yield, 197 vs. 512 mL methane @ STP/g VS added at 52 °C. The high FOG organic load fraction was not inhibitory to the process. The results of this study demonstrate the benefit of sludge and FOG codigestion.