Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Review

Sludge treatment: Current research trends

Quanguo Zhang a, Jianjun Hu a, Duu-Jong Lee a,b,c,, Yingju Chang c, Yu-Jen Lee c
a
Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy, Henan Agriculture University, Henan Province, Zhengzhou 450002, China
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
c
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan

h i g h l i g h t s

 Review papers on sludge treatment studies were reviewed.

 Sludge production rate and associated emergent contaminants were studied.
 Thermal processes on sludge with involved heavy metals were research focuses.
 Mesophilic and hyperthermophilic co-digestion of sludge was studied.
 Recovery of phosphorus at low costs was research highlight.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Sludge is produced during wastewater treatment as a residue containing most insoluble and adsorbed
Received 14 June 2017 soluble impurities in wastewaters. This paper summarized the currently available review papers on
Received in revised form 12 July 2017 sludge treatments and proposed the research trends based on the points raised therein. On partition
Accepted 13 July 2017
aspect, sludge production rate and the reduction of production rate and the fate and transformation of
Available online 15 July 2017
involved emergent contaminants including endocrine disrupting chemicals and pharmaceuticals and per-
sonal care products are widely studied. On release aspect, development of thermal processes on sludge
Keywords:
with migration and transformation of heavy metals in sludge during treatment is a research focus. The
Sludge
Production
use of detailed fluid and biological reaction models and advanced instrumentation and control systems
Contaminants is studied to optimize treatment performances. On recovery part, co-digestion of sludge with co-
Thermal treatment substrates at mesophilic and hyperthermophilic conditions and the recovery of phosphorus at low costs
Recovery are research highlights.
Co-digestion 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Phosphorus

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1160
2. Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1160
2.1. Sludge production-status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1160
2.2. Reduction in sludge production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168
2.3. Contaminants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168
3. Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168
3.1. Pretreatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168
3.2. Process intensification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1169
4. Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1169
4.1. Carbon recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1169
4.1.1. Thermal processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1169
4.1.2. Anaerobic digestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1169
4.2. Nitrogen recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170
4.3. Phosphorus recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170

Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
E-mail address: djlee@ntu.edu.tw (D.-J. Lee).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.070
0960-8524/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1160 Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172

5. Research perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170

6. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171

1. Introduction research groups to summarize contemporary studies with signifi-

cant impacts on the specific field. Since the references summarized
Sludge is the residue produced during wastewater treatment in review articles are highly selective, to summarize the perspec-
(Edwards et al., 2017). The conventional activated sludge process tives listed in contemporary reviews can provide a qualitative
yield primary sludge from settling tank and excess activated sludge overview on the current research trend. This mini-review reviews
from aerated activated sludge tank, totally named sewage sludge the current research trends on sludge management papers based
(Wu et al., 1998). The coagulation-sedimentation process in drink- on the contemporary 51 reviews on sludge treatments (Table 1).
ing water produces alum or ferrous sludge that is principally inor- These reviews cited a total of 5365 relevant sludge treatment
ganic matrix with sand particles and coagulants (Chang et al., papers, so the present mini-review can be regarded as a summary
1997). The residues from industrial wastewater treatment units of these relevant cited papers.
are the industrial sludge (Chang et al., 2004), many of which Sludge is composed of most residual substances after wastewa-
contain priority chemicals or heavy metals hence are regarded as ter treatment plants. To use the sludge as a carrier, the scheme of
hazardous waste in their handling. partitionreleaserecover (PRR) discussed by Batstone et al. (2015)
The sludge is composed of aggregates made of constituent com- can be employed as a general platform for discussion. For instance,
ponents including functional microbes and secreted extracellular in partition stage, the microbes move nutrients and carbon to solid
polymeric substances (EPS) that are suspended in wastewater, phase that ends up in residue sludge, and then the sludge is col-
with the bioaggregates in activated sludge basin being named as lected and is subjected to release stages such as thermophilic
flocs (Wu and Lee, 1998). The flocs have very complicated interior anaerobic digestion stage. The nutrients in the yielded concen-
structure (Chu and Lee, 2004) with water strongly bound with the trated digestate are recovered by stages such as chemical precipi-
solid phase that is difficult to be released from solid surface via tation. Mehta et al. (2015) reviewed a similar scheme with
mechanical means (Lee, 1994; Hung et al., 1996). Therefore, the accumulation (plants, microbes, precipitation, physical
sludge has non-Newtonian fluid-like behavior in suspension form enrichments)-release (digestion, leaching, thermochemical
(Yen et al., 2002) and has visco-elastic characteristics in dewatered treatments)-extraction (crystallization, gas stripping, membrane
cake form (Zhao et al., 2003). Generally, if the bond energy separation). The nutrients in concentrated form such as struvular
between incorporated moisture and the biomass matrix exceeds feces are recommended for wide use options. We used the former
70 kJ/kg, the moisture would remain in the mechanically dewa- scheme as the basis for further discussions on the reviewed
tered sludge cake (Chen et al., 1997). Physical or chemical condi- reviews in this paper. Briefly, more than half of pollutants in
tioning can release part of the moisture with high bond energy wastewater are transformed to the sludge, hence the partition
to free form so the moisture content in dewatered cake can be incorporates the production of sludge and the enrichment of con-
reduced (Chang et al., 2001). taminants to the sludge biomass. In release section, the pretreat-
In the US, the land application, landfill and incineration are the ment technologies and the fate and transformation of the
major ways of handling sewage sludge (Gude, 2015). The sewage pollutants in the pretreated sludge are discussed. In the recovery
sludge production in Lithuania was 82,000 tons/year with 60% to section, the carbon and other nutrient recovery from sludge bio-
storage and landfills, 14% to agriculture, 26% to be composted mass is reviewed.
(Praspaliauskas and Pedisius, 2017). Database ISI search on May
28, 2017 using [(sludge or biosolids) and (dewatering or 2. Partition
conditioning or digestion or thermal or landfill or
management)] as topic during year period 19672007 led to 2.1. Sludge production-status
5638 papers, with top journals being Water Science and Technol-
ogy (1007), Water Research (374) and Bioresource Technology The sludge production quantity is rapidly increased this decade.
(197). The top country contributors were USA (1200), Canada An emerging sludge market is in China (Jain et al., 2015). There
(404), UK (344), Spain (322) and Japan (318). These papers received were 3508 wastewater treatment plants in China by the end of
a total of 166,407 citations, giving average citation number of 29.5. 2013 which yielded large quantity of sewage sludge; however,
The search using the same criterion during year 20082016 led to merely 25% of the produced sludge was properly treated (Zhang
9731 papers, with top journals being Bioresource Technology et al., 2016). The number of wastewater treatment plants in China
(1102), Water Science Technology (461), and Water Research reached 5300 in 2016, yielding about 30 million tons of wet sludge
(439) and top countries being China (2179), USA (1104), Spain (80% moisture content) annually (Wang et al., 2017a,b). With the
(820), Canada (488) and Japan (449). These papers received a total implementation of their 13-5 project to widespread installation
of 120,182 citations, giving average citation number of 12.3. Res- of more wastewater treatment plants over the country, the sludge
tated, the Bioresource Technology has become the leading platform production rate is estimated to reach 60 million tons of wet sludge
for sludge management papers, while China takes the lead on pub- per year that needs comprehensive sludge treatment facility for
lication while UK is out of the shortlist. proper handling (Lee, 2017b). The current global sewage sludge
To monitor the research and development trend of a specific production rate is about 45 million dry ton sludge per year, equiv-
topic, meta-analysis on all publications including regular papers alent to about 2.0-billion population equivalent (PE) covered by
and review articles can provide a quantitative overview on the full sanitation at secondary wastewater treatment facility, if taking
current efforts for sludge studies. This mini-review however conversion factor of 70 g dry sludge produced/PE-day (Lee, 2017a).
adopted another approach based on the following proposal: review Sludge handling other than for sewage sludges are also
articles are generally composed based on digest of prestigious reviewed. Salihoglu and Salihoglu (2016) discussed the treatment
Table 1
The review papers during 20152017 covered in the present review.

Authors Title Year Topic Citing Highlights

Refs
Ajeej A., Thanikal J.V., Narayanan C.M., An overview of bio augmentation of methane by anaerobic co- 2015 Treatment-AD 53  Coupling of wastewater treatment plants with microalgal cultivation has
Kumar R.S. digestion of municipal sludge along with microalgae and been proposed
waste paper  Addition of co-substrate including sewage sludge is effective for enhancing
anaerobic digestion methane production from microalgae biomass
Chernicharo C.A.L., Van Lier J.B., Noyola Anaerobic sewage treatment: state of the art, constraints and 2015 Treatment-AD 157  Presented a review for the use of high-rate upflow anaerobic sludge blan-
A., Ribeiro T.B. challenges ket reactor to treat sewage. Recent challenges in relation to energy recov-
ery from biogas, sludge and scum are discussed, alongside with advances
related to recovery of dissolved methane and sludge management
Shen Y., Linville J.L., Urgun-Demirtas M., An overview of biogas production and utilization at full-scale 2015 Treatment-AD 78  Less than 10% of WWTPs in the US have currently produced biogas for ben-
Mintz M.M., Snyder S.W. wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States: eficial use
challenges and opportunities towards energy-neutral WWTPs  Some of the critical challenges to the economics of digester operations are
the slow rate of biogas generation, the low energy content of the biogas,
and the costs to upgrade the biogas
Budzianowski W.M. A review of potential innovations for production, conditioning 2016 Treatment-AD 204  Biogas plants are widely installed but their operations mostly need signif-

Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172

Xie S., Hai F.I., Zhan X., Guo W., Ngo H.H.,
Price W.E., Nghiem L.D.
Yuan H., Zhu N.
Chien Bong C.P., Ho W.S., Hashim H., Lim
J.S., Ho C.S., Peng Tan W.S., Lee C.T.
Kurahashi K., Kimura C., Fujimoto Y.,
Tokumoto H.
Joo S.H., Monaco F.D., Antmann E.,
Chorath P.
and utilization of biogas with multiple-criteria assessment
Anaerobic co-digestion: a critical review of mathematical 2016
modelling for performance optimization
Progress in inhibition mechanisms and process control of 2016
intermediates and by-products in sewage sludge anaerobic
digestion
Review on the renewable energy and solid waste management 2017
policies towards biogas development in Malaysia
Value-adding conversionand volume reduction of sewage 2017
sludge by anaerobic co-digestion with crude glycerol
Sustainable approaches for minimizing biosolids production 2015
and maximizing reuse options in sludge management: a
review
icant financial incentives. This review compared and comments the inno-
vative processes for enhancing biogas production, biogas conditioning,
biogas utilization, and biogas-industrial symbiosis. Based on the discus-
sions this review highlighted the research needs for further development
on biogas industries
Treatment-AD 100  Compared to mono-digestion, AcoD is more susceptible to process instabil-
ity, as it operates at a higher organic loading and significant variation in
substrate composition
 Data corroborated here reveal that it is essential to model the transient
variation in pH and inhibitory intermediates (e.g. ammonia and organic
acids) for AcoD optimization
Treatment-AD 173  Detailed summary of the researches was discussed on the inhibition of the
anaerobic digestion process
 The controlling and recovery of the inhibitors as valuable products were
also reviewed in detail
 Co-digestion with other wastes, acclimation of microorganisms, and incor-
poration of methods could significantly improve the efficiency of sewage
sludge anaerobic digestion
Treatment-AD 56  The biogas network is divided into three phases on a life cycle basis,
namely MSW as feedstock, biogas production and biogas utilization
 It was envisioned that with proper SWM policies, in terms of waste collec-
tion, waste segregation and allocation of resource, the biogas development
in Malaysia can progress more efficiently
Treatment-AD 32  Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and a crude glycerol was
evaluated
 Co-digestion yielded methane, hydrogen, and 1,3-PDO as value-added
products
 Increasing glycerol levels significantly increased hydrogen and 1,3-PDO
production
 By adjusting glycerol content, hydrogen and methane fermentation was
controlled
 Addition of crude glycerol promoted the solubilization of sewage sludge
Sludge 105  Reviewed the use of combined sludge quantity reduction and reuse system
reduction as the sustainable management practice for sludge management
 Two systems were examined and compared: pretreatment for low-inten-
sive sludge treatment, and sludge recycling and reuse with high-intensity
pretreatment.

(continued on next page)

1161

Table 1 (continued)
Authors
Choong Y.Y., Norli I., Abdullah A.Z., Yhaya
M.F.
Ferrentino R., Langone M., Merzari F.,
Tramonte L., Andreottola G.
Arvaniti O.S., Stasinakis A.S.
de Arespacochaga N., Valderrama C.,
Raich-Montiu J., Crest M., Mehta S.,
Cortina J.L.
Kunhikrishnan A., Shon H.K., Bolan N.S.,
Saliby E.l., Vigneswaran S.
Net S., Sempr R., Delmont A., Paluselli
A., Ouddane B.
Net S., Delmont A., Sempr R., Paluselli
A., Ouddane B.
Title
Impacts of trace element supplementation on the performance
of anaerobic digestion process: a critical review
A review of anaerobic side-stream reactor for excess sludge
reduction: Configurations, mechanisms, and efficiency
Review on the occurrence, fate and removal of perfluorinated
compounds during wastewater treatment
Understanding the effects of the origin, occurrence,
monitoring, control, fate and removal of siloxanes on the
energetic valorization of sewage biogasa review
Sources, distribution, environmental fate, and ecological
effects of nanomaterials in wastewater streams
Occurrence, fate, behavior and ecotoxicological state of
phthalates in different environmental matrices
Reliable quantification of phthalates in environmental
matrices (air, water, sludge, sediment and soil): a review
1162
Year Topic Citing Highlights
Refs
2016 Sludge 75  The in-depth knowledge of trace elements as micronutrients and metal-
reduction loenzyme components justifies trace element supplementation into the
anaerobic digestion system
 Trace elements addition at (sub)optimum dosages had positive impacts
mainly longer term on digester stability with greater organic matter degra-
dation, low volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration and higher biogas pro-
duction. Iron (Fe), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) are the most studied and
desirable elements
2016 Sludge 63  A portion or all returned sludge is fed to aerobic/anoxic/anaerobic zones to
reduction reduce the sludge yield by 4060% without compromise of deteriorating
effluent quality or settling performances
 Provides a list of existing applications of anaerobic side-stream reactor
considering the sludge reduction, pollutant removals and associated mech-
Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
anisms proposed
2015 Sludge 97  22 PFCs have been detected in STPs; most of the data is for PFOS and PFOA
contaminants  Their biodegradation during wastewater treatment does not seem possi-
ble; PFCs sorption onto sludge has been studied in depth, concerning ter-
tiary treatment technologies, significant PFCs removal has been observed
using activated carbon, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis or applying
advanced oxidation and reduction processes
2015 Sludge 95  Siloxanes are subsequently introduced into wastewater treatment plants,
contaminants they are first transferred from wastewater into sludge and later volatilized
in biogas in anaerobic digesters.
 Biogas treatment technologies can reduce siloxane concentrations to less
than 0.1 mg/m3; adsorbent materials with micro- and mesoporous struc-
tures appear to be the most relevant technology in technical and economic
terms. the development of more selective and regenerative removal tech-
nologies from biogas to reduce operating costs and even to recover silicon
2015 Sludge 163  500 and 50,000 tons per year for silver and titanium dioxide (TiO2) alone,
contaminants respectively. Nanomaterials enter the wastewater stream during the pro-
duction, usage, and disposal of nanomaterial-containing products
 The predicted values of nanomaterials range from 0.003 (fullerenes) to
21 ng L 1 (nano-TiO2) for surface waters, and from 4 ng L 1 (fullerenes)
to 4 lg L 1 (nano-TiO2) for sewage treatment effluents
2015 Sludge 133  This paper is a synthesis of the extensive literature data on behavior, trans-
contaminants port, fate and ecotoxicological state of PAEs in environmental matrices: air,
water, sediment, sludge, wastewater, soil, and biota, the compilation of
data on transport and fate
2015 Sludge 165  Reviews the extensive literature data on the techniques for PAE quantifica-
contaminants tion in natural media. Sampling, sample extraction/pretreatment and
detection for quantifying PAEs in different environmental matrices (air,
water, sludge, sediment and soil) have been reviewed and compared
 Concept of green analytical chemistry for PAE determination is also dis-
cussed. Moreover useful information about the material preparation and
the procedures of quality control and quality assurance are presented to
overcome the problem of sample contamination and these encountered
due to matrix effects in order to avoid overestimating PAE concentrations
in the environment
Table 1 (continued)
Authors
Petrie B., Barden R., Kasprzyk-Hordern B.
Zhang C., Cui F., Zeng G., Jiang M., Yang
Z., Yu Z., Zhu M., Shen L.
Bondarczuk K., Markowicz A.,
Piotrowska-Seget Z.
da Rocha M.C.V., Bars M.E., Braga M.C.B.
Meng X.Z., Venkatesan A.K., Ni Y.L.,
Steele J.C., Wu L.L., Bignert A.,
Bergman A., Halden R.U.
Melvin S.D., Leusch F.D.L.
Mulchandani A., Westerhoff P.
Neumann P., Pesante S., Venegas M.,
Vidal G.
Walden C., Zhang W.
Title Year
A review on emerging contaminants in wastewaters and the 2015
environment: current knowledge, understudied areas and
recommendations for future monitoring
Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs): a review on 2015
occurrence, fate and toxicity in the environment
The urgent need for risk assessment on the antibiotic 2016
resistance spread via sewage sludge land application
Quantification of viable helminth eggs in samples of sewage 2016
sludge
Organic contaminants in Chinese sewage sludge: a meta- 2016
analysis of the literature of the past 30 years
Removal of trace organic contaminants from domestic 2016
wastewater: a meta-analysis comparison of sewage treatment
technologies
Recovery opportunities for metals and energy from sewage 2016
sludges
Developments in pre-treatment methods to improve anaerobic 2016
digestion of sewage sludge
Biofilms versus Activated Sludge: Considerations in Metal and 2016
Metal Oxide Nanoparticle Removal from Wastewater
Topic Citing Highlights
Refs
Sludge 169  This review identifies understudied areas of emerging contaminant (EC)
contaminants research in wastewaters and the environment, and recommends direction
for future monitoring, a standardised approach to sampling is needed. This
ensures representative data is attained and facilitates a better understand-
ing of spatial and temporal trends of EC occurrence
 With respect to current toxicity testing protocols, failure to consider the
enantiomeric distribution of chiral compounds found in the environment,
and the possible toxicological differences between enantiomers is
concerning
Sludge 114  QACs are toxic to a lot of aquatic organisms including fish, daphnids, algae,
contaminants rotifer and microorganisms employed in wastewater treatment systems.
And antibiotic resistance has emerged in microorganisms due to excessive
use of QACs in household and industrial applications
 Reviews the analytical methods for determination of QACs in environmen-
tal compartments including surface water, wastewater, sewage sludge and
sediments
Sludge 60  Data on antibiotic resistance in sewage sludge fertilised soils were
Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
contaminants summarized
 Recently published results and applied methods were compared and
elaborated
 The influence of heavy metals on antibiotic resistance spread was
discussed
Sludge 109  Sanitation of sewage sludge is required for its recycle and use in soils. Hel-
contaminants minth eggs are highly resistant to the steps of disinfection of sludge
 There is no standard method for quantification of helminth eggs in sludge
samples. The accuracy of the available methods vary according to the
sludge evaluated. Methodologies currently in use have to be reassessed
to produce reliable results
Sludge 191  Conducted a meta-analysis on 159 literature works for organic contami-
contaminants nants in sludge produced in China. A total of 35 classes of chemicals with
749 compounds and one mixture were analyzed, in which antibiotics and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were the focuses
 The mega-analysis revealed that the concentration of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons in sludges declined during 1998 and 2012
Sludge 37  Highlighted the potential threat imposed by the endocrine disrupting com-
contaminants pounds and pharmaceuticals and personal care products in treated sewage
to the environment and human health. These trace organic contaminants
definitely will also be accumulated in the yielded residual sludge. How-
ever, this part was not reviewed in this paper
Treatment- 75  Hydrothermal liquefaction reduces sludge mass by 50% and produces bio-
Pretreatment oil
Resource  Considered replacing or augmenting extensive dewatering, anaerobic
recovery - digestion, and off-site disposal with new thermo-chemical and liquid
Energy extraction processes. These technologies may better recover energy and
metals while inactivating pathogens and destroying organic pollutants
Treatment- 181  Pretreating organic solid wastes leads to an enhanced anaerobic digestion
Pretreatment process
 Because of the high solid content and complex structure of sludge derived
organic matter, methane production during digestion is limited at the
hydrolysis step. Therefore, large digester volume and long retention times
of over 20 days are necessary to achieve adequate stabilization
Sludge 151  The review addressed the concerns of taking metal and metal oxide
contaminants nanoparticles as emergent pollutants in wastewaters
 These nanoparticles definitely will be accumulated in the residual sludge,
this review overlooked the potential hazard yielded by the NPs in the
sludge to the receiving bodies
1163
(continued on next page)
 1164
Table 1 (continued)

Authors Title Year Topic Citing Highlights

Wei G.L., Liang X.L., Li D.Q., Zhuo M.N.,
Zhang S.Y., Huang Q.X., Liao Y.S., Xie Z.
Y., Guo T.L.
Pilli S., Yan S., Tyagi R.D., Surampalli R.Y.
Barber W.P.F.
Occurrence, fate and ecological risk of chlorinated paraffins in
Asia: a review
Thermal pretreatment of sewage sludge to enhance anaerobic
digestion: a review
Thermal hydrolysis for sewage treatment: a critical review
Refs
2016 Sludge 111  Listed the origin, fate and threat to environment of chlorinated paraffins in
contaminants sewage, and proposed that the pathways including sewage sludge applica-
tion for dispersion of chlorinated paraffins. This paper discussed the needs
for future research works on analysis tools, removal, and environmental
risks for the chlorinated paraffins
2015 Treatment- 77  Lists the effect of thermal treatments at low and high temperature on
Pretreatment sludge dewaterability and biogas production rates
 In particular, this review concluded that the thermal treatment process at
>3% solids concentration can be energetically self-sustainable and the sur-
plus energy produced can be increased with solids concentration
2016 Treatment- 91  Concerned thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge for improving efficiencies
Pretreatment for subsequent anaerobic digestion stage
 Thermal hydrolysis can reduce sludge viscosity reported benefits of ther-
mal hydrolysis relate to: increased digestion loading rate due to altered
rheological properties, improved biodegradation of (especially activated)
sludge and enhanced dewaterability. In spite of its relative maturity, there

Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172

Bach Q.V., Skreiberg . Upgrading biomass fuels via wet torrefaction: a review and
comparison with dry torrefaction
Carrere H., Antonopoulou G., Affes R., Review of feedstock pretreatment strategies for improved
Passos F., Battimelli A., Lyberatos G., anaerobic digestion: from lab-scale research to full-scale
Ferrer I. application
Huang H., Yuan X. The migration and transformation behaviors of heavy metals
during the hydrothermal treatment of sewage sludge
Qian L., Wang S., Xu D., Guo Y., Tang X., Treatment of municipal sewage sludge in supercritical water: a
Wang L. review
Devi P., Saroha A.K. Utilization of sludge based adsorbents for the removal of
various pollutants: a review
has been no attempt to perform a critical review of the pertinent literature
relating to the technology
2016 Treatment- 131  Wet torrefaction has the capacity to work with wet or even extremely wet
Pretreatment biomasses and enhance the ash removal from the biomass
 Moreover, a brief introduction to dry torrefaction, a more conventional
thermal pretreatment of biomass in the absence of oxygen under atmo-
spheric pressure and in a temperature range of 200300 C, is also given
and compared with wet torrefaction. Main differences in the properties
of the solid products from the two torrefaction methods are also discussed
2016 Treatment- 75  Thermal pretreatment with steam explosion being most recommended as
Pretreatment it increases the methane potential and digestion rate, ensures sludge san-
itation and the heat needed is produced on-site
 Fatty residues saponification is preferred, with animal by-products steril-
ization. For lignocellulosic biomass alkali or biological pretreatments are
most promising
 Microalgae thermal pretreatment seems most promising so far
2016 Treatment- 39  Reviewed the migration and transformation of heavy metals during
Pretreatment hydrothermal treatment (carbonization, liquefaction, supercritical water
gasification) on sewage sludge. The effects of operational parameters
including reaction temperature, adding catalysts/biomass/solvent and
reaction time on heavy metal forms/availability are addressed
2016 Treatment- 107  Reviewed the use of supercritical water treatments on sewage sludge,
Pretreatment including gasification, partial oxidation and oxidation as oxidant concen-
tration increases. The former two can produce hydrogen-rich gases while
the latter can completely oxidize the sludge samples. Interestingly, the
supercritical water oxidation process can alter speciation of metals incor-
porated in the sludge
2017 Treatment- 183  The variation in pyrolysis and activation conditions found to directly affect
Pretreatment the adsorbent properties, adsorption capacity and the mechanism of pollu-
tant removal by sludge based adsorbents
 The interaction mechanisms of pollutants with adsorbent surface found to
have a detrimental effect on desorption and regeneration of the adsorbents
and its recycling potential, and regeneration technique used for recycle of
the adsorbents
 Life cycle and cost analysis of sludge based adsorbents is assessed to
ensure the cost effectiveness of their application in water treatment
operations
Table 1 (continued)
Authors
Jimenez J., Latrille E., Harmand J., Robles
A., Ferrer J., Gaida D., Wolf C., Mairet
F., Bernard O.
Liotta F., Chatellier P., Esposito G.,
Fabbricino M., van Hullebusch E.D.,
Lens P.N.L., Pirozzi F.
Karpinska A.M., Bridgeman J.
Samstag R.W., Ducoste J.J., Griborio A.,
Nopens I., Batstone D.J., Wicks J.D.,
Saunders S., Wicklein E.A., Kenny G.,
Laurent J.
Meister M., Winkler D., Rezavand M.,
Rauch W.
Rigby H., Clarke B.O., Pritchard D.L.,
Meehan B., Beshah F., Smith S.R.,
Porter N.A.
Xu G., Yang X., Spinosa L.
Title
Instrumentation and control of anaerobic digestion processes:
a review and some research challenges
Current views on hydrodynamic models of nonideal flow
anaerobic reactors
CFD-aided modelling of activated sludge systemsA critical 2016
review
CFD for wastewater treatment: an overview
Integrating hydrodynamics and biokinetics in wastewater
treatment modelling by using smoothed particle
hydrodynamics
A critical review of nitrogen mineralization in biosolids-
amended soil, the associated fertilizer value for crop
production and potential for emissions to the environment
Development of sludge-based adsorbents: preparation,
characterization, utilization and its feasibility assessment
Year Topic Citing Highlights
Refs
2015 Process 90  From sewage sludge to industrial liquids to organics in solid/agricultural
intensification wastes; control objective from regulating on-line variables to predictive
control wit off-line variables; and on time constants for processes from
min/hr to wk/month with incorporation of human operator in the control
loop
 Highlighted the need for detailed characterization of feedstocks to fit the
need of comprehensive control algorithms and recommended new tech-
nologies for enhanced characterization on the waste bioaccessibility for
anaerobic digestion processes
2015 Process 93  The review highlights the role of mathematical modelling on design and
intensification operational optimization of organic waste and wastewater treatment
plants
 For each reactor configuration the following approaches, proposed by var-
ious authors, are presented and compared: (a) plug flow model, (b) tank in
series model, (c) dispersion model, and (d) computational fluid dynamic
model
Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
Process 127  Rationale behind the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to model
intensification aeration, facilitating enhancement of treatment efficiency and reduction of
energy input
 Examples and methods of coupling of CFD data with biokinetics, account-
ing for the actual flow field and its impact on the oxygen mass transfer and
yield of the biological processes occurring in the aeration tanks, are also
critically discussed
2016 Process 99  The level of CFDs capability varies between different process units, with a
intensification high frequency of application in the areas offinal sedimentation, activated
sludge basin modelling and disinfection, and greater needs in primary sed-
imentation and anaerobic digestion. While approaches are comprehensive,
generally capable of incorporating non-Newtonian fluids, multiphase sys-
tems and biokinetics
2017 Process 59  Significant outcomes of this work are the computation of a detailed spatial
intensification distribution of compounds in WWT basins and the quantification of the
effects of the stirrer induced mixing on the evolution of compounds. SPH
is a meshfree particle method which herein is applied to compute a treat-
ment plants reactor hydraulics. The characteristic feature of SPH is to
describe a fluids dynamics by particles that move along with the flow
 A full-scale treatment plant simulation with a variable stirrer induced mix-
ing intensity in the denitrification basin is performed. A spatial distribution
of the compounds concentrations, which up to now was unknown for
unsteady flows, is computed and analyzed
2016 Resource 186  Reviewed the nitrogen in sludge at different forms, total, mineral and min-
recovery N eralizable under different climatic and experimental conditions. For differ-
ent sludges, the total nitrogen concentration ranges 1.5% for air-dried
sample to 7.5% in mesophilic anaerobic digestion sludge
 Air-dried sludge has lower nitrogen contents than mechanically dewatered
sludge. This review also recommended the quantities of mineralized nitro-
gen in fertilizers for minimizing the potential risk of releasing nitrogen to
groundwater
2015 Resource 102  Listed the use of sludge as raw materials for producing adsorbents via car-
recovery - C bonization, physical and chemical activation pathways for pollutant
removal. The yielded adsorbents can effectively remove dyes and metal
ions
(continued on next page)
1165

Table 1 (continued)
Authors
Ashrafi O., Yerushalmi L., Haghighat F.
Gottumukkala L.D., Haigh K., Collard F.X.,
Rensburg Van R.E., Grgens J.
Praspaliauskas, M., Pediius, N.
Mehta C.M., Khunjar W.O., Nguyen V.,
Tait S., Batstone D.J.
Qian L., Wang S., Savage P.E.
Batstone D.J., Hlsen T., Mehta C.M.,
Keller J.
Title
Wastewater treatment in the pulp-and-paper industry: a
review of treatment processes and the associated greenhouse
gas emission
Opportunities and prospects of biorefinery-based valorisation
of pulp and paper sludge
A review of sludge characteristics in Lithuanias wastewater
treatment plants and perspectives of its usage in thermal
processes
Technologies to recover nutrients from waste streams: a
critical review
Hydrothermal liquefaction of sewage sludge under isothermal
and fast conditions. Bioresour
Platforms for energy and nutrient recovery from domestic
wastewater: a review
1166
Year Topic Citing Highlights
Refs
 This review discussed the commonly ignored aspect: costs and environ-
mental safety aspects for the adsorbent production and application. Addi-
tionally, these authors recommended the need for further research
including migration and transformation of compounds in sludge during
thermal treatment, economically feasible chemical activation reagents,
developing products as sludge-based coagulants/adsorbents, and regener-
ation of used adsorbents in full-scale plants
2015 Sludge 77  Reviews different wastewater treatment processes used in the pulp-and-
production paper industry and compares them with respect to their contaminant
and costs removal efficiencies and the extent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. It
also evaluates the impact of operating parameters on the performance of
different treatment processes
 Two mathematical models were used to estimate GHG emission in com-
mon biological treatment processes used in the pulp-and-paper industry.
Nutrient removal processes and sludge treatment are discussed and their
associated GHG emissions are calculated
Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
 Hybrid process is found to be the most appropriate and stable treatment
technique
2016 Sludge 72  The most mature options for paper sludge valorisation are fermentation,
production anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis
and costs  The objective of integrated biorefinery is to reduce or avoid paper sludge
disposal by landfilling, water reclamation and value addition. Assessment
of selected processes for biorefinery varies from a detailed analysis of a
single process to high level optimisation and integration of the processes
2017 Sludge 36  The current status and theory behind municipal sewage sludge disposal in
production Lithuania is presented. Heavy metal concentrations and ash melting tem-
and costs peratures were determined based on an analysis of the sludge content, and
conclusions for agricultural application and energy production were made
 For energy production, co-incineration with municipal waste or wood and
gasification are the most reliable ways to utilize sewage sludge
2015 Substances/ 138  Recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from waste streams has
energy been growing rapidly
recovery  Nutrient release can occur through biochemical (anaerobic digestion and
bioleaching) and thermochemical treatment. Nutrient extraction can occur
by crystallization, gas permeation membranes, liquid gas stripping and
electrodialysis
 The recovery of concentrated nutrients (such as inorganic precipitated
struvular feces) is considered desirable because it will allow for a wider
range of options for final re-use, with reduced pathogen risk and improved
transport convenience
2017 Resource 36  First application of fast HTL and different organic solvents for sewage
recovery sludgeshowed that water loading in reactor can influence product yields.
Energy Highest biocrude yield and energy recovery achieved with
dichloromethane
 Fast HTL produces biocrude with higher H/C and O/C ratios and lower N/C
ratio. Additives (K2CO3, Na2CO3, MoO3-CoO/c-Al2O3 and Ru/C) decrease the
biocrude yield
2015 Sludge 81  Major drivers are value and availability of phosphorous, nitrogen, and
production potassium, and increasing energy costs
and costs  Options are low energy mainline (LEM) and partitioning to a solid phase
Substances/ through biological growth. LEM generates energy, while partitioning is
energy energy consuming, but can recover nitrogen. LEM is more mature, and is
recovery likely to see increased application in the short term
Table 1 (continued)

Authors Title Year Topic Citing Highlights

Jain S., Jain S., Wolf I.T., Lee J., Tong Y.W.
Romero-Giza M.S., Vila J., Mata-Alvarez
J., Chimenos J.M., Astals S.
A comprehensive review on operating parameters and 2015
different pretreatment methodologies for anaerobic digestion
of municipal solid waste
The role of additives on anaerobic digestion: a review 2016 Sludge
Refs
Sludge 116  The present paper deals with the review of various operating parameters
production and their effects on AD
and costs  Reviews different pretreatment methods including mechanical, thermal,
Treatment-AD chemical and biological methods to improve the effectiveness of AD of
Treatment- MSW
Pretreatment
152  Reviewed inorganic additives comprise: (i) macro- (e.g. P, N and S) and
reduction micro- (e.g. Fe, Ni, Mo, Co, W and Se) nutrients supplements, (ii) ashes
Treatment-AD from waste incineration, (iii) compounds able to mitigate ammonia inhibi-
tion, and (iv) substances with high biomass immobilization capacity
 Among them, iron (Fe0 and Fe(III)) has shown particularly promising
results, which have been mainly related to their action as electron
donor/acceptor and cofactor of key enzymatic activities
 Reviewed biological additives include: (i) the dosage of microbial inocula
with high hydrolytic or methanogenic activity (bioaugmentation), and
(ii) the addition of enzymes able to facilitate particulate organic matter

Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172

solubilization
Zhang Q.H., Yang W.N., Ngo H.H., Guo W. Current status of urban wastewater treatment plants in China 2016 Sludge 41  By the end of 2013, 3508 WWTPs have been built in 31 provinces and cities
S., Jin P.K., Dzakpasu M., Yang S.J., production in China with a total treatment capacity of 1.48  108 m3/d
Wang Q., Wang X.C. and costs  The technologies mostly used in WWTPs are AAO and oxidation ditch,
Sludge which account for over 50% of the existing WWTPs
reduction  COD removal >88%. NH3N removal is >80%. The average operating load-
ing rate is 83%, and 52% of WWTPs operate at loadings of <80%, treating
up to 40% of the wastewater generated. The sludge treatment and recy-
cling rates are only 25%, and approximately 15% of wastewater is ineffi-
ciently treated
Lee E., Cumberbatch J., Wang M., Kinetic parameter estimation model for anaerobic co-digestion 2017 Sludge 49  Kinetic parameter estimation models were proposed for anaerobic co-
Zhang Q. of waste activated sludge and microalgae production digestion
and costs  The results showed that the model using a hyperbola function was better
Treatment-AD for the estimation of the first-order kinetic coefficients, while the model
using inverse tangent function closely estimated the Monod kinetic
parameters. The models could estimate kinetic parameters for the microal-
gae-WAS co-digestion
Wang Q., Wei W., Gond Y., Yu Q., Li Q., Technologies for reducing sludge production in wastewater 2017 Sludge 161  Sludge reduction technologies applied in both wastewater and sludge
Sun J., Yuan Z. treatment plants: state of the art production treatment lines were reviewed
and costs  Free nitrous acid (FNA) technology seems good in wastewater treatment
Sludge line but it is only under the lab-scale trial
reduction  The new wastewater treatment processes including SANI, high-rate acti-
Resource vated sludge coupled autotrophic nitrogen removal and anaerobic mem-
recovery brane bioreactor coupled autotrophic nitrogen removal also have a great
Energy potential to reduce sludge production

1167
1168 Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
processes for paint sludge yielded by automotive manufacture,
which cannot be landfilled so its major treatment route is inciner-
ation as hazardous waste or combustion in the rotary kilns. The
technologies for recycling paint sludge as new paint or construc-
tion materials and to reduce paint sludge production in the paint-
ing and coating industries are discussed. The different wastewater
treatment processes including sludge handling processes in pulp-
and-paper industries considering their efficiencies and the extent
of greenhouse gas emission during processing were reviewed
(Ashrafi et al., 2015). Gottumukkala et al. (2016) commented that
the integration of most available valorization processes for paper
sludge include fermentation, anaerobic digestion and thermal
pyrolysis to reduce landfill disposal of sludge and need of water
reclamation. The ethanol fermentation followed by pyrolysis of
the residue was proposed to be a promising integrated biorefinery
system for paper sludge.
Treatment of wastewater sludge incur high costs, with USD
150350/ton in Australia or USD 165550 tons in Europe
(Batstone et al., 2011). A rough estimation for sludge handling
fee was made to be above 10 billion USD per year before 2013;
while the China market should be at a scale of 2-billion USD per
year. Hence, the high sludge management cost definitely attracts
researchers interests on enhancement of treatment efficiencies
and promotion of sludge reuse to cut down its financial and envi-
ronmental burdens.
2.2. Reduction in sludge production
Various technologies can be applied in the wastewater treat-
ment chain to reduce net partition of carbon in sludge, including
physical (mechanical, thermal, electrical), chemical (adding oxi-
dizer or uncoupler) (Xiao et al., 2016; Romero et al., 2015), and bio-
logical (with bacterial predator) (Zhu et al., 2016) methods. Joo
et al. (2015) reviewed the use of pretreatment on sludge for not
only minimizing sludge quantity but also removing hazardous sub-
stances in order to maximize the sludge management efficiencies.
Two systems were suggested and compared: dissolving most
sludge so the subsequent sludge treatment efforts can be mini-
mized; or recycling and reuse sludge in certain pathway (such as
through composting) to minimize final sludge disposal difficulty.
For instance, Ferrentino et al. (2016) reviewed the development
of an anaerobic side-stream reactor in activated sludge processes
for reducing the net sludge production. Restated, with the former
strategy by feeding part of or all returned sludge to aerobic/anox-
ic/anaerobic zones, the sludge yield can be reduced by 4060%
without marked deterioration of effluent quality. For the latter,
Wang et al. (2017a,b) reviewed and compared the technologies
in reduction of sludge production rate in conventional biological
wastewater treatment plants and recommended that heat, ultra-
sound, free nitrous acid, and temperature-phased anaerobic diges-
tion are promising technologies for sludge reduction. In this
review, an integrated system with high-rate activated sludge
+ autotrophic nitrogen removal stages or a system with anaerobic
membrane bioreactor + autotrophic nitrogen removal was sug-
gested as a promising wastewater process with low sludge produc-
tion. An interesting review suggested that direct recycle of excess
sludge back to the wastewater treatment plant prevents odorant
formation (Choong et al., 2016).
The free nitrous acid is the protonated form of nitrite, which can
dissolve extracellular polymeric substances in sludge so as to
reduce the sludge production rate in wastewater treatment chain
(Zahedi et al., 2017). The free nitrous acid can be on-site produced
hence is regarded feasible for existing wastewater treatment facil-
ity. However, the presence of high concentration of free nitrous
acid would adversely affect the methane production in the subse-
quent anaerobic digestion stage (Zhang et al., 2016).
2.3. Contaminants
Sludges are residue from wastewater treatment processes.
Hence, all insoluble or absorbed impurities in wastewaters will
be accumulated in sludge as contaminants. Presence of emergent
contaminants in sludges were highlighted, including endocrine
disrupting chemicals (EDC) and pharmaceuticals and personal care
products (PPCP) (Melvin and Leusch, 2016), phallic acid esters (Net
et al., 2015a,b), chlorinated paraffins (Wei et al., 2016), siloxanes
(de Arespacochaga et al., 2015), quaternary ammonium com-
pounds (Zhang et al., 2015), perfluorinated compounds (Arvaniti
and Stasinakis, 2015), and metal/metal oxide nanoparticles
(Walden and Zhang, 2016; Kunhikrishnan et al., 2015). Meng
et al. (2016) conducted a meta-analysis on 159 literature works
for organic contaminants in sludge produced in China and noted
that a total of 35 classes of chemicals with 749 compounds and
one mixture were analyzed, in which antibiotics and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons were the focuses. The analysis revealed
that the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Chi-
nese sludges declined over the year 19982012.
The origin, fate and threat to environment of chlorinated paraf-
fins (Wei et al., 2016) or phallic acid esters (Wei et al., 2016) were
listed. The potential threat of nanomaterials in sludge to human
health was discussed in detail (Kunhikrishnan et al., 2015). Silox-
anes (octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopen-
tasiloxane (D5) are bioaccumulative) can be transferred from
wastewater to wastewater sludge, and then to biogas in sludge
digestion process, which was recommended to be removed by
the use of microporous or mesoporous adsorbents (de
Arespacochaga et al., 2015). Perfluorinated compounds can reach
several thousand ng/g dry weight in wastewater sludge, which
are recalcitrant to biological degradation (Arvaniti and Stasinakis,
2015). Another interesting review is that Bondarczuk et al.
(2016) discussed the potential of spreading the incorporated
antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance
genes to the environment by land application of sewage sludge.
Measurement protocols of contaminants are also a hot topic of
discussion. Review (Petrie et al., 2015) discussed the standardized
sampling protocol to satisfactory characterization of emergent
contaminants in sludge since the current practice using triple
quadrupoles mass spectrometry cannot detect all contaminants
as expected. Net et al. (2015a,b) reviewed the sampling, extraction,
quantification of phthalic acid esters in environmental media. Basi-
cally, this review highlighted the green analytical chemistry con-
cept for determination of the phthalic acid esters in sludge. da
Rocha et al. (2016) commented that the use of sewage sludge as
fertilizer needs minimization of incorporated pathogenic organ-
isms, like helminth eggs; however, there are no universal method-
ology for quantifying amount of viable helminth eggs. This review
discussed the quantification protocols for measuring viable hel-
minth eggs in sewage sludge and its derived products.
3. Release
3.1. Pretreatment
The rate-limiting step of biogas production is the hydrolysis
step so the implementation of pre-treatment processes can gener-
ally enhance biogas production potential from sludges (Neumann
et al., 2016). Mechanical, chemical, thermal, thermochemical, and
biological pretreatments were applied to enhance the digestibility
of sludges with extra costs (Jain et al., 2015). The most contempo-
rary reviews on sludge pretreatments are on thermal and thermo-
chemical process (Mulchandani and Westerhoff, 2016; Barber,
2016; Qian et al., 2016; Huang and Yuan, 2016; Pilli et al., 2015;
Carrere et al., 2015; Bach and Skreiberg, 2016).
 Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
Barber (2016) reviewed and commented on thermal hydrolysis
of sewage sludge for improving efficiencies for subsequent anaer-
obic digestion stage. The thermal hydrolysis pretreatment can
reduce viscosity of sludge, increase organic loading rate to digester
and improve degradability and dewaterability of treated sludge.
Jain et al. (2015) claimed that the thermal treatment process at
>3% solids concentration can be energetically self-sustainable.
Carrere et al. (2015) compared the efficiencies for various pre-
treatments on wastewater sludges at full scales. The comparison
revealed that the thermal pretreatment with steam explosion is
the technology leading to maximum methane potential and diges-
tion rates for treated sludge.
Scale-up of lab-scale results to full-scale applications should be
a research spot. However, review (Barber, 2016) particularly high-
lighted the large differences in efficiency of thermal hydrolysis
noted between lab-scale and full-scale results, proposed as a result
of lacking sufficient knowledge of thermodynamics and rheological
properties of the treated sludge for scale-up calculations.
Some costly pretreatments were studied. Qian et al. (2016)
commented the use of supercritical water treatments on sewage
sludge, including gasification, partial oxidation and oxidation as
oxidant concentration increases. The former two are noted to pro-
duce hydrogen-rich gases while the latter completely oxidizes the
sludge samples.
The migration and transformation of heavy metals in sludge
during thermal processes is a research focus. The supercritical
water oxidation process can alter speciation of metals incorporated
in the sludge (Qian et al., 2016). Huang and Yuan (2016) reviewed
the migration and transformation of heavy metals during
hydrothermal treatment (carbonization, liquefaction, supercritical
water gasification) on sewage sludge. The effects of operational
parameters including reaction temperature, adding catalysts/
biomass/solvent and reaction time on heavy metal forms/availabil-
ity are addressed. Bach and Skreiberg (2016) commented on the
use of dry and wet torrefaction for treating biomass at 180
260 C in hydrothermal media. Wet torrefaction process can han-
dle un-dewatered sludge hence has advantage over dry version
at 200300 C. This review discussed the properties of end prod-
ucts produced by the wet and dry torrefaction processes. In gen-
eral, thermo-chemical process can immobilize most metals in the
bio-char residue (Mulchandani and Westerhoff, 2016).
3.2. Process intensification
There are reviews considering refined process configuration
for intensifying performance of wastewater treatment plant and
the associated residual sludge being produced. Karpinska and
Bridgeman (2016) reviewed the use of computational fluid
dynamics tool to model wastewater treatment processes, partic-
ularly the aeration tank with incorporated microorganisms, so
the overall process performance can be optimized with the asso-
ciated sludge production rate being estimated. The computational
fluid dynamics models were also applied to model the anaerobic
digesters so the design and operation of the reactors can be opti-
mized before making real units (Liotta et al., 2015). Samstag et al.
(2016) discussed the needs for further improvement of current
tools, including the incapability of modelling particle aggregation
and breakup behavior in the coagulators/aeration tanks and the
coupling with biology for biodegradation. An interesting com-
bined model available in Meister et al. (2017) describes the flow
pattern using discrete particles which nicely fit the floc entity
noted in biological wastewater treatment together with ASM-1
model for the kinetics. By modelling numerous particles one
can couple the hydrodynamics and the kinetics. This trend of
research deserves attention on its development for other bioki-
netic models such as anaerobic digestion models to be adoptable
1169
to other systems. The incorporation of the developed algorithm
into commercial fluid dynamics solvers can accelerate the pene-
tration of the computation tools for wastewater and sludge
management.
Instrumentation and control systems to wastewater and waste
treatment plants are a must for keeping the operation at a set
point. Jimenez et al. (2015) reviewed the instrumentation and con-
trol systems for anaerobic digestion processes with highlights that
the control protocols have shifted from treatment of sewage sludge
to industrial liquids, then to organics in solid/agricultural wastes.
The control objective moves from regulating on-line variables to
predictive control with off-line variables. The control system is
evolving from with time constants of min/hr to wk/month with
incorporation of human operators. This review highlighted the
need for detailed characterization of feedstocks to make compre-
hensive control algorithms feasible. Also, these authors recom-
mended new technologies for enhanced characterization on the
waste bioaccessibility for anaerobic digestion processes that are
essential for successful robust system control.
4. Recovery
4.1. Carbon recovery
4.1.1. Thermal processes
Thermochemical processes including pyrolysis, gasification and
combustion are used to recover energy contents in sewage sludge
(Wang et al., 2017a,b). In particular, the biochar formed by sludge
pyrolysis can not only be reused as a renewable resource, but also
be a carbon sink and a nice binder for heavy metals (Jin et al., 2017).
Qian et al. (2017) applied hydrothermal liquefaction to convert
sewage sludge to biocrude. With fast processing the biocrude with
higher H/C and O/C but lower N/C fuels can be obtained.
Mulchandani and Westerhoff (2016) commented on the use of
new thermo-chemical and liquid extraction processes to recover
energy and metals from sludge with inactivation of pathogens
and destruction of organic pollutants for reducing 50% sludge bio-
mass with 30% liquefied product to bio-oil.
4.1.2. Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion is a mature stabilization technology to
recover methane from sludge (Jain et al., 2015). About 66% of sew-
age sludge produced in UK and 90% in Germany is treated using
anaerobic digestion (Tao et al., 2017). Chernicharo et al. (2015) pre-
sented a review for the use of high-rate upflow anaerobic sludge
blanket reactor to treat sewage, highlighting the obstacles for
recovery energy from sludge being discussed. However, in US,
there are <10% wastewater treatment plants produced biogas for
reuse. Shen et al. (2015) reviewed the implementation difficulties
in economical, technical, social and regulatory aspects; in particu-
lar, the low digestion rates of digesters appear as the main obstacle
for wide applications of anaerobic digestion processes in full-scale.
Budzianowski (2016) commented that biogas plants are widely
installed but their operations mostly need significant financial
incentives. This review recommended the use of co-digestion of
sludge with other organic wastes as the feasible feedstock to over-
come the barrier for insufficient digestion rate in field applications.
Detailed reviews on the use of co-digestion of sewage sludge with
crude glycerol (Kurahashi et al., 2017) or with microalgae (Lee
et al., 2017c; Ajeej et al., 2015) are available with arguments that
co-digestion is an enhanced methane production process com-
pared with mono-digestion of individual substrates. Xie et al.
(2016) reviewed the anaerobic co-digestion modelling works
developments that basically used ADM1 framework and showed
the co-digestion is more susceptible to mono-digestion system
1170 Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172
since the former is operated at higher loading rates and experi-
enced larger variations in process parameters.
Review (Budzianowski, 2016) concluded that transient
response of pH and concentrations of inhibitory intermediates sig-
nificantly affect the biogas and biosolids quantity and composition
and the conversion of sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen during
anaerobic digestion process. Yuan and Zhu (2016) detailed the
researches on controlling and recovery of the inhibitors of the
anaerobic digestion process; by doing so, the efficiencies of co-
digestion of sludge with other wastes can be markedly improved.
For instance, Romero-Giza et al. (2016) reviewed the addition of
inorganic supplements, incineration ashes, substances to mitigate
ammonia inhibition by forming struvite and bioagent with the pro-
posal that iron Fe0 and Fe(III) are the most pertinent additive since
they can be used as electron donor/acceptor and cofactor for
enzyme to enhance digestion.
The present authors noted some hot research spot not yet being
covered by contemporary review: (1) the use of fat, oil and grease
as the co-substrate with sludge can be noted since fat has high
methane production potential (Sun et al., 2014; Chien Bong et al.,
2017); (2) use of hyper-thermophic digestion to enhance biogas
production in co-digestion of grass and sewage sludge
(Alqaralleh et al., 2016); (3) multi-stage co-digestion process to
reach local optimum for individual co-digestion niches (Zhang
et al., 2017a,b). Surely the long-term practical benefits for applying
these co-digestion processes needs justification.
Xu et al. (2015) listed the use of sludge as raw materials for pro-
ducing carbon-rich adsorbents via carbonization, physical and
chemical activation pathways for pollutant removal. The yielded
adsorbents can effectively remove dyes and metal ions. This review
discussed the commonly ignored aspect: costs and environmental
safety aspects for the adsorbent production and application. Addi-
tionally, these authors recommended the need for further research
including migration and transformation of compounds in sludge
during thermal treatment, economically feasible chemical activa-
tion reagents, developing products as sludge-based coagulants/
adsorbents, and regeneration of used adsorbents in full-scale plants.
Although there are many biosorption papers published annually,
only a few comments addressed the use of pyrolysis and activation
to produce sludge-based adsorbents (Devi and Saroha, 2017).
4.2. Nitrogen recovery
Rigby et al. (2016) reviewed the nitrogen in sludge at different
forms, including total, mineral and mineralizable under different
climatic and experimental conditions. For different sludges, the
total nitrogen concentration ranges from 1.5% for air-dried sample
to 7.5% in mesophilic anaerobic digestion sludge. Air-dried sludge
has lower nitrogen contents than mechanically dewatered sludge.
This review also recommended the quantities of mineralized nitro-
gen in fertilizers to minimize the potential risk of releasing nitro-
gen to groundwater.
4.3. Phosphorus recovery
Phosphorus is a depleting resource that can be exhausted in the
next decades at its current use rate (Mew, 2016). The use of
enhanced biological phosphorus removal process followed by
incineration of collected sludge and use the ash for recovery of
phosphorus is a promising P-recovery scenario (Smol et al.,
2016), which has been applied in Poland at 43,000 tons of ash/yr
to land, which is a potential source for recycled fertilizers. How-
ever, since the heavy metals and other toxic matters exist in the
sludge ashes, certain European countries such as Switzerland for-
bid the land use of sludges or sludge ashes.
Ye et al. (2017) compared the chemical recovery methods of P
from sludge liquor or from sludge matrix/sludge ashes. The recov-
ery costs of P from liquid phase and from solid phase are USD 6.72
11.2/kg P and USD 10.0717.91/kg P, respectively, which are higher
than that from phosphate rock (USD 0.671.34/kg P) or from triple
superphosphate (USD 1.342.46/kg P) (Desmidt et al., 2015). Ye
et al. (2017) claimed that if using MgCl2 as the precipitating chem-
icals for P recovery, the operation cost can be reduced to USD 0.82/
kg P only, comparable to the mined P source. Also, if using struvite
formation as the pathway for P recovery, the operational cost can
be lowered to USD 0.86/kg P and the overall sewage sludge produc-
tion rate would be reduced.
A novel P recovery pathway was proposed via formation of FeP
precipitate. This is since the recovered P is produced at higher cost
than the mined P. Mayer et al. (2016) discussed the benefits for
recovering P from waste streams using iron ions to form FeP, and
discussed the potential methods to recover the bonded P from pre-
cipitate for reuse.
5. Research perspectives
The reviews in Table 1 can be categorized as follows: produc-
tion and cost (19.6%), contaminants (25.7%), process intensification
(9.9%), treatment technologies (17.4%), and resource recovery
(28.6%). The trends of the researches can be hence listed as follows.
(1) Partition
 Survey on rapidly growing sewage sludge market, particularly
in China, is of great interest.
 The fate and transformation of emerging sludge contaminants
including EDC, PPCP, and nanomaterials are highlighted in
recent reviews.
 Technologies to reduce sludge production in wastewater
treatment processes are of great research interests.
(2) Release
 Thermal processes on sludge including dry (gasification,
pyrolysis, carbonization) and wet (liquefaction, supercritical
water processes) are widely studied, with migration and
transformation of heavy metals in sludge during thermal pro-
cesses as a research focus.
 Knowledge of thermodynamics and rheological properties of
the treated sludge at large scale applications is needed.
 Uses of computational fluid dynamics models combined with
biological reaction models and improved instrumentation
and control systems are applied for advanced design and
operation optimization of treatment processes.
(3) Recovery
 Converting sludge into biocrude is a research topic of
attention.
 Co-digestion of sludge with other co-substrates such as fat, oil
and grease at mesophilic, thermophilic and hyperther-
mophilic conditions is a hot topic to study.
 Low-cost novel phosphorus recovery process is highly
desired.
The above qualitative overview is proposed by this mini-
review the on the current research trend on sludge treatment.
6. Conclusions
Current researches are summarized by concluding the points
raised in contemporary review papers on sludge treatment. The
concerns on increased sludge production rate and ways of reducing
it, the involved emergent contaminants and their fate, thermal pre-
treatments with process modelling and optimization, recovery of
 Q. Zhang et al. / Bioresource Technology 243 (2017) 11591172 1171

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