ABSTRACT
Aerobic-thermophilic treatment and stabilisation (ATS) of highly concentrated organic liquids is in Germany derived from agriculture where that type of aeration process was originally used for deodoration of pig slurry (3, 8, 9, 10, 12). The observation that by the aeration also thermophilic processes are initiated was at first of secondary importance. Only when it was found that by the thermophilic effects stabilisation of the substrate and possibly disinfection could be achieved the technology became interesting for sewage sludge engineering. Before the term “aerobic-thermophilic stabilisation” was introduced other terms like “liquid composting”, “hot aeration” and “rotating or circulating aeration” were used. To date the system developed by Hubert Fuchs is the one on which most of the published technical and hygienic investigations have concentrated.
