A comparative analysis of biogas production from tomato bio-waste in mesophilic batch and continuous anaerobic digestion systems

Abstract

Annually, agricultural activity produces an enormous amount of plant biomass by-product. Many studies have reported the biomethane potential of agro-industrial wastes, but only a few studies have investigated applying the substrates in both batch and continuous mode. Tomato is one of the most popular vegetables globally; its processing releases a substantial amount of by-product, such as stems and leaves. This study examined the BMP of tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum Mill. L. cv. Alfred) waste. A comparative test revealed that the BMPs of corn stover, tomato waste,and their combination were approximately the same, around 280 mL methane/g Volatile Solid. In contrast, the relative biogas production decreased in the presence of tomato waste in a continuous mesophilic anaerobic digestion system; the daily biogas productions were 860 ± 80, 290 ± 50, and 570 ± 70 mL biogas/gVolatile Solid/day in the case of corn stover, tomato waste, and their mixture, respectively. The methane content of biogas was around 46–48%. The fermentation parameters of the continuous AD experiments were optimal in all cases; thus, TW might have an inhibitory effect on the microbial community. Tomato plant materials contain e.g. flavonoids, glycoalkaloids (such as tomatine and tomatidine), etc. known as antimicrobial and antifungal agents. The negative effect of tomatine on the biogas yield was confirmed in batch fermentation experiments. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the tomato plant waste caused significant rearrangements in the microbial communities in the continuously operated reactors. The results demonstrated that tomato waste could be a good mono-substrate in batch fermentations or a co-substrate with corn stover in a proper ratio in continuous anaerobic fermentations for biogas production. These results also point to the importance of running long-term continuous fermentations to test the suitability of a novel biomass substrate for industrial biogas production.

Anaerobic co-digestion of dry fallen leaves, fruit/vegetable wastes and cow dung without an active inoculum – A biomethane potential study

“…The experimental methane yield obtained in reactor 8 is almost indistinguishable from the reported values during AcoD of food wastes and heterogenous straws (maize, sorgos, and wheat). The study reported a maximum methane yield of 392 mL/g VS at food wastes to the straw mixing ratio of 5:1 at 35 • C (Yong et al, 2015) and higher than the values of 289 mL/g VS was reported during AcoD of tomato plant waste and corn stover at a ratio of 7:3 on VS and C/N ratio basis (Szilágyi et al, 2021). The studies cited that properly utilizing the released VFAs during the co-digestion resulted in increased methane yield under mesophilic conditions.…”

Inter-kingdom microbial interactions revealed by a comparative machine-learning guided multi-omics analysis of industrial-scale biogas plants

“…after removal of particles larger than 2 mm) was used for BMP measurement. A detailed description of the gas sampling and measurement procedures can be found in Szilágyi et al 2021 [35].…”

Urban Organic Waste as a Source of Bioenergy for Electricity Generation in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

“…Essential needs for the development of strategies for the management of solid waste include information on the types of wastes, as well as their composition, physical and chemical features, and the amounts of trash that are produced [19,20]. In order to effectively manage solid waste, it is required to investigate the characteristics of the waste material, in addition to determining where the trash came from.…”