A novel chitosan and polyferric sulfate composite coagulant for biogas slurry pretreatment by simultaneous flocculation and floatation: Performance and underlying mechanisms

Biogas slurry from anaerobic digestion is rich in active nutrients but has not been fully utilized due to a high content of suspended solids (SS) causing clogging during agricultural irrigation. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of a novel chitosan and polyferric sulfate (CTS-PFS) composite coagulant for simultaneous flocculation and floatation to enhance SS removal while preserving nutrients in biogas slurry. Orthogonal method was used for experimental design to determine the optimal synthesis and operational conditions of CTS-PFS. Results show that CTS-PFS outperformed individual CTS and PFS coagulant in terms of SS removal and nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) preservation. Compared to individual CTS and PFS coagulation, the combination of CTS and PFS at the mass ratio of 1:6 showed significantly higher performance by 41.5% increase in SS removal and 5.2% reduction in nutrient loss. The improved performance of CTS-PFS was attributed to its formation of polynuclear hydroxyl complexes with ferric oxide groups (e.g. Fe-OH, Fe-O-Fe, Fe-OH-Fe and COO-Fe) to strengthen charge neutralization and adsorption bridging. Data from this study further confirm that CTS-PFS enhanced the removal of small suspended particles and dissolved organic matter in the molecular weight range of 0.4 – 2.0 kDa and preserved ammonia and potassium better in biogas slurry. Bubbles were generated as hydrogen ions from coagulant hydrolysis interacted with bicarbonate and carbonate in biogas slurry for removing the produced flocs by floatation. Floc flotation was more effective in CTS-PFS coagulation due to the significant production of uniform bubbles, evidenced by the reduction in the viscosity of biogas slurry.