Structure of the humic acid-like compounds of raw and hydrothermally treated sewage sludge

Humic acids are of great interest in many fields; however, they are inhibitors of fermentative processes applied to hydrothermally treated sewage sludge. Hence, the structure and composition of soluble and bound humic acidlike fractions from raw and hydrothermally treated sewage sludge were studied. Lipid, polysaccharide, protein and aromatic fractions were identified, as well as a high nitrogen content (7-10 %) and low solubility in alkaline media. Thus, they do not strictly meet the chemical definition of 'humic acids'. The soluble humic acid-like compounds had more aromatic and less protein content. Thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge increased their aromaticity to the detriment of protein and polysaccharide fractions, while wet oxidation caused an increase in all structural fractions. Regarding the bound compounds, lipid, polysaccharide and aromatic fractions increased markedly during both treatments, although oxygen produced higher degradation of the protein fraction and, from 1 h, the partial degradation of aromatic compounds and an increase in the C/N atomic ratio (from 5.0 to 18.7 after 2 h). Therefore, hydrothermal treatments have a positive impact on the hydrolysate biodegradability due to the organic matter solubilisation, but also a negative impact linked to the higher solubilisation of the humic acid-like compounds and their structural changes.