Biodegradability of Residual Organics in the Effluent of Anaerobic Processes

The energy sector is an essential part of a country’s economy – it drives innovation and advances in industrialisation. Coal is the primary source of energy in South Africa. Coal contributes 95% of energy production; coal-fired power also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and is thus a hazard to human health and the environment. This calls for an energy mix that is renewable, sustainable, and affordable and that is carbon neutral (climate action). We investigated the potential of anaerobic mono-and co-digestion of goat manure, chicken manure, potato peels, maize pap, and cow manure inoculum for mesophilic recovery of renewable energy using the biomethane potential test. The substrates were characterised through proximate and ultimate analyses to determine the composition preferable for mono- and co-digestion. The key considerations in the determination of both the yield and production rate of methane from digestion of biomass are the substrate composition and characterisation. A high percentage of volatile solids favoured optimum biomethane production as highly volatile components provide microbes with balanced nutrients that enhance metabolic processes to produce biomethane. The mono-digestion process produced lower biomethane than did co-digestion. Higher production of biomethane by co-digestion was due to the balance of the micronutrients and macronutrients that favoured microbial metabolism and regulation of pH.

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“…Co-digestion of substrates assisted in adjusting the pH to 7.31, within the optimum range. [48][49][50][51]…”

Section: Co-digestion Of Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Renewable energy potential of anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of chicken manure, goat manure, potato peels and maize pap in South Africa

et al. 2021

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“…Preparation cost is also a barrier, which is stated in the ASTM SWW recipe protocol [13]. Some recipes replace laboratory chemicals with less expensive commercial products such as whey, milk powder, soybean oil [6,14] or molasses [15]. Others have utilized waste products, including watermelon peels [16], cheese whey water, and sweet potato extract [17] to reduce costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we describe the development of a SWW recipe using dry dog food as the base ingredient. Commercially available dog food has previously been explored as a way to simulate biosolids [15] and food waste [3], and to increase particulate concentration in colloidal wastewater [19], but has not been used as the main carbon and nitrogen source in a synthetic wastewater. The formulation of dog food combining protein, fats, and simple carbohydrates makes this an ideal candidate for SWW.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic wastewater prepared from readily available materials: Characteristics and economics

Kargol,

Burrell,

Chakraborty

et al. 2023

PLOS Water

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The wastewater used for experimental research is typically collected from a wastewater treatment plant or prepared as a synthetic solution in the lab. These options represent transportation and cost challenges, respectively, particularly for experiments requiring large volumes of wastewater. Here, we describe a method for creating inexpensive synthetic wastewater from readily available household products. The base solution, synthesized by soaking dog food pellets for 24 hours and straining the solution, had average nutrient values of 9.7 mg/L ammonia as N, 12.2 mg/L nitrate as N, 227 mg/L total nitrogen, and 4870 mg/L chemical oxygen demand (COD). Degradation tests demonstrated that soluble COD was biodegradable. The base solution was then used to prepare synthetic wastewater that met the requirements for two experimental applications; (1) anaerobic treatment of primary effluent and (2) land-application treatment of secondary effluent. Cost analysis indicated that the single-ingredient synthetic wastewater cost 92% less to produce than synthetic wastewater recipes that used laboratory chemicals, and reduced preparation time. These results demonstrated that use of commercial products can simplify the wastewater synthesis process and reduce experimental costs for large-volume research applications while still maintaining consistent wastewater characterization.

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“…: accumulation of propionic acid possibly due to reduction in copy numbers of Pelotomaculum sp.). This inhibition could have been caused by the presence of certain organic compounds present in the wastewater not amenable to biological transformation (recalcitrants) and which could have been toxic for certain microbial genera (Duran and Speece, 1999). They also showed that mass transfer limitations influence the degradation of a particular biodegradable compound.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the microbiology and microbial processes involved during the anaerobic degradation of high strength industrial wastewaters

Venkatakrishnan¹

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Biodegradability of Residual Organics in the Effluent of Anaerobic Processes

Cited by 7 publications

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Renewable energy potential of anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of chicken manure, goat manure, potato peels and maize pap in South Africa

Renewable energy potential of anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of chicken manure, goat manure, potato peels and maize pap in South Africa

Synthetic wastewater prepared from readily available materials: Characteristics and economics

Investigating the microbiology and microbial processes involved during the anaerobic degradation of high strength industrial wastewaters

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