Fractionation of Chromium and Lead in Anaerobic Co-digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a common method of waste treatment various kinds of organic waste. The most commonly used substrates for the co-fermentation process are sewage sludge and organic fraction of municipal waste. The solid residue that is produced by fermentation can be used as an organic fertilizer. Restrictions on the use of fermented organic waste may be the content of heavy metals. Fractionation of heavy metals, based on sequential extraction, allows the assessment of the degree of hazard to the environment at the time of application to the soil of digested sludge. Two anaerobic digestion process cycles were performed, using different sewage sludge and municipal waste organic fraction mixing ratios. In the first cycle M70, the materials used in the bioreactor contained 70% municipal organic waste and 30% sewage sludge. The material used in the second cycle M30 contained 30% municipal organic waste and 70% sewage sludge. The volume of each batch was 50 dm3. The sequential extraction procedure developed by Tessier et al. was used in sludge anaerobic digestion to determine the heavy metal (Cr and Pb) fractionation. The paper presents the results of studies on changes in Cr and Pb concentrations in various fractions during the process of fermentation of substrates. During the process the immobilization of the tested metals was followed, which confirms the low values of mobility factor (Mf). The aim of this work was also to present the dependence of the composition of the mixture of organic waste, which were subjected to methane fermentation, to the distribution of metals in individual fractions. A mixture of organic waste, consisting of 70% organic fraction and 30% sewage sludge, was characterized by lower Mf values for Cr than in a 70% sludge mixture. On the other hand, the higher Mf values for Pb were recorded in waste in which 70% was organic fraction. Both studied elements were mainly found in the form of compounds difficult to access for living organisms, as evidenced by low values of mobility factor.