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Analysis of institutional authors

Rodriguez-Chueca, JorgeCorresponding Author

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June 12, 2020
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Microbiological quality of sewage sludge after digestion treatment: A pilot scale case of study

Publicated to: JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION. 254 (120101): 120101- - 2020-05-01 254(120101), DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120101

Authors:

López, A; Rodríguez-Chueca, J; Mosteo, R; Gómez, J; Ormad, MP
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Affiliations

NILSA, Baranain 22, Pamplona 31008, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Escuela Tecn Super Ingenieros Ind, Dept Ind Chem & Environm Engn, Calle Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Zaragoza, Dept Chem Engn & Environm Technol, Inst Environm Sci Aragon, Water Qual & Treatment Res Grp, Maria de Luna 3, Zaragoza 50018, Spain - Author
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Abstract

In the frame of the water circular economy, the reuse of the treated sewage sludge supposes a good action. Nevertheless, the reuse might suppose a human health risk because of the presence of pathogen germs, concentrated in the generated sludge during urban wastewater treatment. For this reason, sludge treatments, conventional or advanced, should be focused on the reduction of fermentation capacity and microorganisms presence. This research assess the microbiological quality of the treated sludge, based on the use of faecal pollution indicators such as total coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Staphylococcus aureus and total mesophilic bacteria, after the application of different digestion treatments, and their final aptitude to be reused. Three different pilot scale plants were used: two anaerobic digestion plants with a volume of 2.75 m(3) working in mesophilic (35-37 degrees C) and thermophilic (55-57 degrees C) conditions, and hydraulic retention times (HRT) ranging from 5 to 20 days; and a autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion plant (ATAD) with a volume of treatment of 3.9 m(3) working at 55-57 degrees C for an HRT of 5-15 days. The raw sludge to be treated came from a full-operative WWTP located in the region of Navarra (Spain), laid within Ebro River Basin. It was concluded that both treatments studied obeyed the current European legislation in therms of E. coli concentration and absence of Salmonella spp., being available for agricultural purposes. Considering other microbiological parameters, the anaerobic thermophilic treatment had the best conditions to reduce the Enterococcus sp. concentrations and the aerobic thermophilic treatment was the best one reducing E. coli, being non-significant the influence of HRT to microbial reduction. For this reason, it is strongly recommended the use of both faecal indicators to assess the microbial quality of the treated sludge. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Keywords

Aerobic digestionAnaerobic digestionAnaerobic-digestionAutothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (atad)BiosolidsBiowasteDisinfectionIndicatorsLandMicrobial qualityMicroorganismsPathogensSewage sludgeSingle-stageSurvivalTemperature

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position 3/44, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Green & Sustainable Science & Technology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.07, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-24, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 26
  • Scopus: 31
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-24:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 102.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 102 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/95403/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 16
  • Downloads: 1
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been RODRIGUEZ CHUECA, JORGE JESUS.

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Awards linked to the item

The project has been developed in collaboration with NILSA (Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales, SA), a Navarra Governmentowned company dependent on the Local Administration Department. This work was financed by Gobierno de Aragon (Spain) (Research Reference Team Water and Environmental Health T51_17R) and co-financed by Feder 2014-2020 Building Europe form Aragon. Jorge Rodriguez-Chueca acknowledges the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid for the research project for postdoctoral researchers VJIDOCUPM19JJRC.
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