Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge: New Insights and Future Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater treatment plants produce large quantities of biological sludge that must be subjected to treatment before utilization or disposal since it contains partially degraded organic matter, nutrients, pathogens, and various toxic organic compounds, such as surfactants, hydrocarbons, and residues derived from plastics.  In this context, anaerobic digestion (AD) can play a primary role in sludge management, as it allows for the required biological stabilization and energy recovery through biogas production at the same time. Nevertheless, due to its complex characteristics, sewage sludge is often barely degradable under conventional anaerobic processes. Therefore, adequate methodologies are necessary to overcome the digestion limitations of sewage sludge. In this regard, scientific research in recent years has taken different directions. The main approaches for the enhancement of anaerobic digestion processes can be summarized as optimization of the process parameters, co-digestion, sludge pre-treatment, additive supplementation, optimization of bioreactor configurations, development of innovative digesters, and application of genetic technologies.

The Special Issue welcomes papers focused on the latest knowledge and innovations concerning the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. The papers must be original and provide a significant contribution to the scope of the Special Issue.

Thank you for your contributions.

Dr. Alessio Siciliano
Dr. Carlo Limonti
Dr. Giulia Maria Curcio
Guest Editors

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• anaerobic digestion
• biogas
• digesters
• methane
• sewage sludge