Lajos Ludányi

Microwave (MW) irradiation as a method for sludge treatment has gained widespread popularity, mainly due to enhance biodegradability and increase yield of biogas. In this study energetic investigation of MW treatment was carried out using whey as test substance. Treatment was performed in a continuous flow treating system at different irradiation power levels, whey concentrations and flow rates. Experiments indicated that pre-treated whey gave higher yield of biogas compared to untreated whey. Moreover, the results of this study demonstrated that the flow rate and the duration of treating caused perceptible difference in yield of biogas. The most energy-efficient treatment was at low flow-rate, low power of magnetron, low treating time.

Anaerobic digestion of cheese whey is a cost ‐ effective way to dispose the wastewater safely and at the same time benefit could be realized directly from the energy recovered in the form of biogas. Microwave irradiation as a method for sludge treatment has gained widespread popularity, mainly due to enhance biodegradability and increase yield of biogas. In this study the effect of the final temperature of the microwave treated whey on biogas yield was investigated. Treatment was performed in a continuous flow treating system at different irradiation power levels, whey concentrations and flow rates. Experiments indicated that both the yield of biogas and the final temperature of the concentrated whey were higher than the whey’s at the same set treating parameters. But the energy demands were higher in cases of concentrated whey because of the energy demand of membrane separation. Keywords : microwave pre ‐ treatment, biogas production (BP), anaerobic digestion.

Az utobbi evtizedekben a sz ennyvizkezelesben keletkez ő iszap mennyisege folyamatosan novekszik. Az iszapkezel esi eljarasok kozo tt egyre inkabb el ő terbe kerulnek az energetikai es egyeb hasznositast lehet ő ve tev ő modszerek. A termikus iszapkezelesi eljarasokhoz kapcsolodo kutatas ok egyik legujabb terulete a mikrohullamu energiakozlesen alapulo modszerek fejlesztese es hatekonysag-vizsgalata. A munkank soran az elelmiszer ipari iszap alapanyag eseteb en vizsgaltuk a mikrohullamu energiakozles hatasat a biologi ai hasznositasi eljarasok el ő kezelesekent. A kutatasunk soran az iszapok szerkezeti valto zasainak es a biologiai lebontha tosaganak jellemzesere szolgalo mutatoknak a dielektromos jellemz ő kkel valo osszefuggeseit vizsgaltuk.

Most branches in the food industry have a considerable wastewater output. The problem is not only the total amount of wastewater production, but also the high content of organic matter. Anaerobic digestion is an effective way of treating wastewater for yielding profitable biogas and alleviating environmental concerns. Pre-treatment of sludge to break down its complex structure can be used for enhancing anaerobic digestibility. Research group of the Department of Process Engineering at the University of Szeged has investigated the applicability and the efficiency of microwave pre-treatment for food industry sludge. The results showed that the microwave treatment of sludge solution resulted in higher biodegradability and enhanced biogas production as well. According to these results a continuous-flow microwave toroidal cavity resonator treating-system was developed.