현재 국내에서 발생하는 유기성폐기물은 에너지화 정책에 따라 육상처리의 일환으로 혐기소화를 통한 바이오가스화 시설에서 처리 및 에너지원으로 전환되고 있다. 이러한 유기성폐기물 중 음식물쓰레기는 처리 단가가 높고, 바이오가스 회수 잠재력 또한 높아 바이오가스화 시설의 경제성을 높여줄 유용한 폐자원으로 여겨지고 있다. 하지만 국내에서 발생하는 음식물쓰레기의 평균 고형물함량(TS)은 18~20% 수준으로 혐기소화를 통한 바이오가스화를 위해서는 전처리가 필수적이다. 또한, 음식물쓰레기는 구성성분이 다양할 뿐만아니라 섬유질도 다량 포함하고 있어 혐기소화를 통해 바이오가스로 전환하기 위해서는 보통 30일 전후의 소화기간을 필요로 하고 있고, 특히 파쇄/선별의 단순 물리적 전처리만 거친 음식물쓰레기의 경우에는 30일 이상의 혐기소화 기간이 필요한 것으로 알려져 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 사전 연구를 통해 도출된 음식물쓰레기 열가수분해 운전조건을 적용해 습식 혐기소화 반응조에 적합하도록 U원 구내 식당에서 발생한 음식물쓰레기를 전처리하였고, 이렇게 얻어진 음식물쓰레기 가용화물을 실험실 규모의 중온 단상 혐기소화 반응조에 투입해 일반적인 중온 이상습식 혐기소화 체류시간(35일)의 절반 수준인 18일의 체류시간으로 운전하는 조건에서 바이오가스 수율 및 반응조 안정성 등을 평가하고자 하였다.

현재 국내에서 발생하는 음폐수의 해양투기 금지 및 음식물류 폐기물의 에너지화 정책에 따른 유기성 폐기물 육상처리의 일환으로 혐기소화를 통한 바이오가스화 시설이 지속적으로 설치 및 운영되고 있다. 그중에서도 음식물쓰레기는 처리 단가가 높고, 바이오가스 회수 잠재력 또한 높아 바이오가스화 시설의 경제성을 높여줄 유용한 폐자원으로 여겨지고 있다. 하지만 국내 발생 음식물쓰레기의 평균 고형물함량(TS)이 18~20% 수준으로 혐기소화를 통한 바이오가스화 이전에 전처리가 필수적이며, 단순 파쇄/선별을 통한 물리적 전처리만으로는 충분한 가용화가 어려운 부분이 있다. 이러한 유기성폐자원의 가용화를 위한 전처리 방법에는 가수분해/산발효를 통한 생물학적 처리, 산, 알칼리, 오존 등을 통한 화학적 처리, 초음파, 열, 압축 등에 의한 물리적 처리 등이 있는데 본 연구에서는 물리적 처리방법 중 하나인 열가수분해를 통한 음식물쓰레기의 가용화효율을 분석하였다. 이를 위해 1차로 물리적 파쇄/선별 처리한 음식물쓰레기에 대해 다양한 운전 조건(온도, 압력 변화)으로 열가수분해를 실시하여 각 운전조건별 음식물쓰레기 성상변화를 분석함으로써 음식물쓰레기 열가수분해를 위한 최적 운전조건을 도출하고자 하였다.

Recently, production of sewage and wastewater sludge have increased sharply with the population density and related industrial activity. As a result, studies of sludge treatment and reduction have been conducted and a pre-treatment method that uses thermal hydrolysis has emerged as a solution to this problem. To address problems with the thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment process, the deaeration and nitrogen recovery processes have been set up together, thus generating factors that inhibit dewaterability. In this study, the effect of pre-treatment, deaerated sludge on dewaterability-inhibiting factors (pH, temperature, aeration rate) was evaluated and alternative solutions were prepared. First, the dewaterability improvement effect increased rapidly at 190°C or higher when thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment was applied. Then, 1 L of thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment reactants at 190°C were injected into 1, 5, and 10 L/min air flows at 50°C, but no significant difference in capillary suction time (CST) or time to filter (TTF) was found. The dewaterability improved when the temperatures of the pre-treatment reactants varied between 30, 50, and 70°C under aeration at 5 L/min. However, when the pH was increased to 7, 9, or 11 at 5 L/min and 50°C, the dewaterability worsened by at least 10 times relative to the hydrolysis pre-treatment reactants. The zeta potential decreased from -30 mV to -50 mV as the pH increased. Thus, the stabilities and dispersities of the reactants increased due to the repulsive force of the particles. This was confirmed to be the cause of poor dewaterability. A coagulant can be used to solve to this problem, or the deaeration process can be placed after solid-liquid separation and the heat of thermal hydrolysis can be extracted via heat exchanger.

Slaughter of cattle, pigs, and chickens has increased continuously. In particular, slaughter of chickens has been grown up about 150% in 2010 than that in 2003, that is approximately 120,000 tons. All of them are underwent consigned treatment even though those can be used as a resource and an energy source. With this regards, THR (Thermal Hydrolysis Reaction) leads to reduce water content drastically (<30% in sludge cakes). In addition, Dehydrated solid would be re-used as solid fuels (SRF) as well. In this study, We have applied THR to a plant (10 ton/day) on the basis of our lab and pilot results. Water content of sludge cakes showed with a ranges of 30 to 40% after solid-liquid separation. Dairy SRF produced 1.5 ton/day and its heat capacity for SRF has 6,500 kcal/kg. This gave the steam produced about 12 ton/day throughout the plant operation, suggesting that THR system would expect energy savings.

Diverse studies are being conducted on sewage sludge treatment and recycling methods, but the demand for a lowcost treatment technology is high because the sewage sludge has an 80% or higher water content and a high energy consumption cost. We want to apply the thermal hydrolysis reaction that consumes a small amount of energy. The purpose of this study is to quantify the thermal conductivity of sewage sludge according to reaction temperature for optimal design of thermal hydrolysis reactor. We quantified continuously the thermal conductivity of dewatered sludge according to the reaction temperature. As the reation temperature increased, the dewatered sludge is thermally solubilized under a high temperature and pressure by the thermal hydrolysis reaction. Therefore, the bond water in the sludge cells comes out as free water, which changes the dewatered sludge from a solid phase to slurry of a liquid phase. As a result, the thermal conductivity of the sludge was more than 2.6 times lower than that of the water at 293 K, but at 470 K and above, became 0.708 W/m·K, which is about 4% lower than that of the water.

Slaughter of cattle, pigs, and chickens is continuously increasing. Slaughter of chickens has especially increased by approximately 50% from 2003. The quantity of poultry slaughter waste is currently approximately 120,000 tons/year, and undergoes consigned treatment. Via this process, the waste must be used as a resource and an energy source. For this purpose, the waste volume can be reduced and solid fuel can be obtained from the THR (Thermal Hydrolysis Reaction) that consumes a small amount of energy. In this study, The test was conducted at a reaction temperature of 170-220oC and for 1h at the final temperature. According to the CST (Capillary Suction Time) and TTF (Time to Filter) evaluation, the dehydrating efficiency was good after the temperature reached 190oC, and did not significantly differ at the 190oC and higher reaction temperatures. The heating value of the dehydrated solid product was 7,000-7,700 kcal/kg, and its yield rate decreased from approximately 80% to 60% with the increase in the reaction temperature. The results of the BMP test also showed that the anaerobic digestion efficiency decreased at the reaction temperatures of 200oC and higher. From the overall evaluation of the dehydrating efficiency, solid fuel quality, and anaerobic digestion efficiency during the thermal hydrolysis of poultry slaughter waste, it is concluded that the optimal operating temperature is 190oC.

Diverse studies are being conducted on sewage sludge treatment and recycling methods, but the demand for a lowcost treatment technology is high because the sewage sludge has an 80% or higher water content and a high energy consumption cost. For this purpose, the waste volume can be reduced and solid fuel can be obtained from the Thermal Hydrolysis Reaction (THR) that consumes a small amount of energy. The experiment was conducted at a reaction temperature of 170-220oC and maintain for 1 hour at the final temperature. According to the Capillary Suction Time (CST) and Time to Filter (TTF) evaluation, the dewater ability was good after the temperature reached 200oC and did not significantly differ at the 200oC and higher reaction temperatures. The heating value of the dehydrated solid product was 3,800-4,200 kcal/kg, and its yield rate decreased from approximately 80% to 60% with the increase in the reaction temperature. To evaluate the efficiency of anaerobic digestion, the water quality of the liquid product was analyzed based on the reaction temperature. At the temperatures of 200oC and higher, the concentration of ammonia, which increases the pH and hinders anaerobic digestion rapidly increased. From the overall evaluation of the dehydrating efficiency, solid fuel quality, and anaerobic digestion efficiency during the thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge, it is concluded that the optimal operating temperature is 200oC.