New insights into the enhancement of biochemical degradation potential from waste activated sludge with low organic content by Potassium Monopersulfate treatment.

Waste activated sludge with low organic content (WAS-LOC) always led to the failure of anaerobic fermentation. A potentially practical technology based on SO4-, i.e. Potassium Monopersulfate (PMS) was used into WAS-LOC anaerobic fermentation system and had been presented to greatly improve both the intracellular and extracellular constituents, which improved the biological enzyme activity and produced a mass of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Results showed that the maximal SCFAs production was 716.72 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L (0.08 mg PMS/mg SS), which increased to 43.70 times comparing to that of 0.00 mg PMS/mg SS level (16.40 mgCOD/L). The activities of biological enzymes increased 1.42 times for protease, 4.38 times for α-glucosidase, 2.1 times for alkaline phosphatase, 1.70 times for acidic phosphatase and 1.37 times for dehydrogenase respectively comparing to natural fermentation system, but the coenzyme 420 was restrained prominently. PMS positively enriched the abundance of microbial community responsible for WAS-LOC hydrolysis and SCFAs production.