Aerobic thermophilic digestion of fecal matter: Condensate recovery, low solids production, and water reuse

Abstract

A bench-scale thermophilic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was designed, fabricated, and tested for the recovery of clean water and the reuse of condensate. The SBR reactor was non-Fouling and membrane-free, Aerobic, low-Solids producing, and Thermophilic (FAST). Accelerated treatment of domestic wastewater organic matter enabled 99.9 % removal of total suspended solid (TSS) from influent loads and 99.8 % removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) loads. The FAST system also ensured efficient pathogen inactivation, substrate utilization, and biomass growth that aligned with experimental results. Future research will focus on scale-up of technology and assessment of performance in diverse environments.