Increasing Biogas generation by 30% using Bio-Catalysis in a 55 MGD facility: A Full-Scale Case Study

Wastewater treatment plants are increasingly adopting the paradigm of resource recovery by using sludge (biosolids) as sources of energy and nutrients. Anaerobic digestion is utilized for the treatment of biosolids to generate biogas and a nutrient rich digestate. A major limitation to the anaerobic digestion process is the limitation of volatile solids destruction to ranges between about 30-55%. While various approaches can be used to improve solids destruction in digesters, all of them rely on the design and installation of capital-intensive technologies and require process changes to be made to the digester operations. This paper describes a biocatalytic method for increasing biogas generation by up to 30% and at a 55 MGD facility. Biogas was boosted by 30% with the incremental gas generation reaching a peak of 300,000 ft3/day at the facility. Biogas composition was maintained, with incremental gas generation being observed within 1-2 solids retention times. The results demonstrate that Biocatalysis is a viable and reliable alternative for boosting VSR in anaerobic digestion processes.