Joan Mata Alvarez

Food waste (FW) collected from a university canteen was treated in acidogenic fermenters to produce volatile fatty acids (VFA) under biological pretreatment with mature compost. Batch assays working at pH 6 revealed an increment of 9.0%, 7.9%, and 4.1% (on COD basis) of VFA concentration when adding 2.5%, 3.5%, and 4.5% w/w of mature compost, respectively, even though the volatile solids (VS) concentration of food waste was lower in the tests with increasing doses of mature compost. For batch tests at pH 7, this VFA generation improvement was lower, even though enhanced COD solubilization was recorded. Operating in semi-continuous conditions at 35 °C, pH of 6, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3.5 days, the addition of 2.5% w/w of mature compost led to a VFA concentration up to 51.2 ± 12.3% more (on VS basis) when compared to a reference reactor without compost addition. Moreover, the percentage of butyric acid on VS basis in the fermentation broth working at a pH of 6 increased from up to 12.2 ± 1.9% (0% compost addition) to up to 23.5 ± 2.7% (2.5% compost addition). The VFA production was not improved when a higher percentage of mature compost was used (3.5% instead of 2.5% w/w), and it slightly decreased when mature compost addition was lowered to 1.5% w/w. When working at a pH of 7 in the semi-continuous fermenters with the addition of 2.5% w/w mature compost at an HRT of 3.5 days, an improvement of 79% and 104% of the VFA concentration (on VS basis) were recorded as compared to fermenters working at a pH of 6 with 2.5% and 0% w/w of mature compost addition, respectively. At a pH of 7, higher production of propionic and valeric acids was found with respect to the reactor working at a pH of 6. The effect of pH on VFA generation was estimated to have greater contribution than that of only biological pretreatment using mature compost. At a pH of 7, the VFA yield was higher for the fermenter working with 2.5% w/w mature compost but at a pH of 7 and HRT of 5 days, the effect of mature compost on VFA production improvement was lower than that obtained at a pH of 6. Moreover, higher solubilization in terms of soluble chemical oxygen demand and total ammonium was detected when biological pretreatment using mature compost was applied at both a pH of 6 and a pH of 7, which indicates enhanced hydrolysis in both conditions.

Municipal solid waste is broadly generated in everyday activities and its treatment is a global challenge. Total solids (TS) and volatile solids (VS) are typical control parameters measured in biological treatments. In this study, the TS and VS were determined using the standard methods, as well as introducing some variants: (i) the drying temperature for the TS assays was 105°C, 70°C and 50°C and (ii) the VS were determined using different heating ramps from room tempature to 550°C. TS could be determined at either 105°C or 70°C, but oven residence time was tripled at 70°C, increasing from 48 to 144 h. The VS could be determined by smouldering the sample (where the sample is burnt without a flame), which avoids the release of fumes and odours in the laboratory. However, smouldering can generate undesired pyrolysis products as a consequence of carbonization, which leads to VS being underestimated. Carbonization can be avoided using slow heating ramps to prevent the oxygen limitation. Furthermore, crushing the sample cores decreased the time to reach constant weight and decreased the potential to underestimate VS.

En esta investigación se realizó la digestión anaeróbica de residuos de alimentos preparados (RAP) en un reactor anaeróbico de mezcla completa (RAMC) de 3,5 L, con flujo discontinuo bajo condiciones mesofílicas (CM) a 37 ºC y termofílicas (CT) a 55 °C. El objetivo fue evaluar la biodegradabilidad de RAP con distintos lodos biológicos y tiempos de retención hidráulicos (TRH). Antes de la degradación, se realizó un ensayo de biodegradabilidad con diferentes proporciones de carbohidratos (C) frutas y vegetales (FV) y proteínas (P) en el que se obtuvo una mayor producción de biogás al trabajar con la proporción C:FV:P 24:71:5 en CM y CT. La misma se utilizó en el RAMC con TRH de 30, 25 y 15 d en CM y CT. Para la CM se obtuvieron remociones en ST de 59 % y 67 %, SV de 76 % y 81 % para los TRH de 30 y 25 d, con producciones de metano de 0,64 L/gSVremovido y 0,31 L/gSVremovido. Durante el TRH de 15 d se registró una inestabilidad debido a concentraciones de CO2 del 60 %. Durante la CT (TRH de 30 d) se removieron 67 % de ST, 80 % de SV y se registraron producciones de metano de 0,58 L/gSVremovido. Cuando se implementó el TRH de 25 d se incrementaron los ácidos grasos volátiles hasta 2916 mg/L y se detuvo el tratamiento. Las mejores remociones y producción de biogás se generaron durante el TRH de 30 d en CM con el lodo EFLUENTE CACHAZA.

An anaerobic membrane bioreactor and aerobic granulation technologies were tested at laboratory scale to treat winery wastewater, which is characterised by a high and variable biodegradable organic load. Both technologies have already been tested for alcohol fermentation wastewaters, but there is a lack of data relating to their application to winery wastewater treatment. The anaerobic membrane bioreactor, with an external microfiltration module, was started up for 230 days, achieving a biogas production of up to 0.35 L CH4L−1d−1 when 1.5 kg COD m−3d−1 was applied. Average flux was 10.5 L m−2 h−1 (LMH), obtaining a treated effluent free of suspended solids and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration lower than 100 mg COD L−1. In contrast, the aerobic granular sequencing batch reactor coped with 15 kg COD m−3d−1, but effluent quality was slightly worse. Aerobic granulation was identified as a suitable technique to treat this kind of wastewater due to excellent settleability, high biomass retention and a good ability to handle high organic loads and seasonal fluctuations. However, energy generation from anaerobic digestion plays an important role, favouring anaerobic membrane bioreactor application, although it was observed to be sensitive to sudden load fluctuations, which led to a thorough pH control and alkali addition.