The potential to recover bioenergy from anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth (WH) and from its co-digestion with fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) was investigated. Initially, biogas and methane production were studied using the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test at 2 g volatile solids (VS) L(-1) of substrate concentration, both in the digestion of WH alone and in its co-digestion with FVW (WH-FVW ratio of 70:30). Subsequently, the biogas production was optimized in terms of total solids (TS) concentration, testing 4 and 6% of TS. The BMP test showed a biogas yield of 0.114 m(3) biogas kg(-1) VSadded for WH alone. On the other hand, the biogas potential from the WH-FVW co-digestion was 0.141 m(3) biogas kg(-1) VSadded, showing an increase of 23% compared to that of WH alone. Maximum biogas production of 0.230 m(3) biogas kg(-1) VSadded was obtained at 4% of TS in the co-digestion of WH-FVW. Using semi-continuously stirred tank reactors, 1.3 m(3) biogas yield kg(-1) VSadded was produced using an organic loading rate of 2 kg VS m(-3) d(-1) and hydraulic retention time of 15 days. It was also found that a WH-FVW ratio of 80:20 improved the process in terms of pH stability. Additionally, it was found that nitrogen can be recovered in the liquid effluent with a potential for use as a liquid fertilizer.

Anaerobic digestion of spent cow bedding in batch leach-bed reactors (LBRs) was compared in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions for the first time. Results show that the use of thermophilic conditions enhanced only the degradation kinetics of easily-degradable matter during the first days of the digestion, whereas similar methane yields (80% of the Biomethane Potential) were reached after 42days at both temperatures. Therefore, the anaerobic digestion in LBRs of spent cow bedding, a substrate rich in slowly-degradable compounds, was not improved in term of methane production considering the overall digestion time. Moreover, the high initial biogas production rate in thermophilic reactors was found to significantly reduce the energetic performance of the cogeneration unit at industrial scale, leading to a 5.9% decrease in the annual electricity production when compared to a mesophilic one.

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