Potential Applications of Biogas Produced in Small-Scale UASB-Based Sewage Treatment Plants in Brazil

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 13; p. 3356
• Main Authors: Passos, Fabiana, Bressani-Ribeiro, Thiago, Rezende, Sonaly, Chernicharo, Carlos A. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Anaerobic conditions; Anaerobic treatment; bioenergy; Biogas; Biosolids; By products; Cooking; Developing countries; Energy; energy assessment; Geography; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; LDCs; Liquefied petroleum gas; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear safety; Public health; Quality of life; Rural areas; rural sanitation; Sanitation; Sewage treatment; Sewage treatment plants; Sludge; Thermal energy; Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors; Urban areas; Waste treatment; wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water heating; Brazil
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en13133356

Rural sanitation is still a challenge in developing countries, such as Brazil, where the majority population live with inadequate services, compromising public health and environmental safety. In this context, this study analyzed the demographic density of these rural agglomerations using secondary data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The goal was to identify the possibilities associated with using small-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors for sewage treatment, mainly focusing on biogas production and its conversion into energy for cooking, water heating and sludge sanitization. Results showed that most rural agglomerations lacking the appropriate sewage treatment were predominant from 500 to 1500 inhabitants in both northern and southern Brazilian regions. The thermal energy available in the biogas would be enough to sanitize the whole amount of sludge produced in the sewage treatment plants (STPs), producing biosolids for agricultural purposes. Furthermore, the surplus of thermal energy (after sludge sanitization) could be routed for cooking (replacing LPG) and for water heating (replacing electricity) in the northern and southern regions, respectively. This would benefit more than 200,000 families throughout rural areas of the country. Besides the direct social gains derived from the practice of supplying biogas for domestic uses in the vicinity of the STPs, there would be tremendous indirect gains related to the avoidance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, an anaerobic-based sewage treatment may improve public health conditions, life quality and generate added value products in Brazilian rural areas.