Anaerobic Digestion of Wastewater and Resource Recovery

Rapid industrialization, population growth, and excessive resource consumption significantly challenge the world for sustainable resources. It is imperative to use sustainable technologies for resource recovery from the wastewater stream to reduce the burden on natural resources. Anaerobic digestion is a promising resource and nutrient recovery technology for wastewater treatment plants. In anaerobic digesters, bacteria and archaea break down organic compounds present in wastewater, converting them into biogas and digestate. This biological treatment process effectively reduces the organic pollutant load in the wastewater, making it safer for release into the environment or for further treatment. The most significant resource recovered during anaerobic digestion is biogas. By capturing and utilizing biogas, not only can harmful emissions be reduced, but valuable energy can also be generated. Alternatively, the Implications of biogas for clean fuel in vehicles is also the need of the day apart from heat generation and electricity. In addition to biogas, anaerobic digestion can aid in nutrient recovery. The digestate produced during the process has abundant amounts of Nitrogen and Phosphorus, nutrients which are essential for agriculture. By properly treating and managing digestate, these nutrients can be reclaimed and reused as fertilizers, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers, and minimizing nutrient pollution in water bodies. This chapter delves into the current state of resource and nutrient recovery technologies from wastewater and explores recent advancements in the field addressing challenges, perspective, and techno-economic feasibility.