Effect of the organic loading rate on the performance and microbial populations during the anaerobic treatment of tequila vinasses in a pilot‐scale packed bed reactor

Abstract

BACKGROUND Pilot‐scale studies focused on evaluating the robustness of biofilm‐based anaerobic digestion processes for further application at full‐scale are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of a 445 L packed bed reactor (PBR) operated at different organic loading rates (OLRs between 4 and 12.5 g COD L‐1 d‐1) for the treatment of tequila vinasses. The reactor performance was correlated with the microbial dynamics to elucidate the specific role of the microbial communities in the degradation pathways that govern the process. RESULTS The PBR was operated for 231 days under different OLRs showing a stable performance. The COD removal and methane yield were maintained throughout the reactor operation at 86–89% and 0.24–0.28 L CH4 g‐1 CODadded, respectively. Meanwhile, the highest volumetric methane production rate of 3.03 L CH4 d‐1 L‐1 was reached at the highest OLR, 12.5 g COD L‐1 d‐1. Regarding microbial dynamics, the Bacteria and Archaea populations were able to adapt to the OLR disturbances, favoring the interactions between syntrophic Bacteria and Methanosaeta at high OLRs. CONCLUSION This work contributes to the scarce information regarding anaerobic treatment of tequila vinasses at pilot‐scale and demonstrates that the PBR is a promising and robust configuration that allows treating higher OLRs than currently reported technologies. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry

A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential of Tequila Industry By-Products for Biohydrogen and Biomethane Production: Current Status and Future Perspectives

“…The PBR showed a stable performance exhibiting COD removals and YCH 4 in the range of 86-89% and 0.24-0.28 NL-CH 4 /g-COD removed , respectively. Meanwhile, the highest VMPR of 3.03 NL-CH 4 /L-d was reached at the highest OLR of 12.5 g-COD/L-d [47].…”

“…In a further study, Arreola-Vargas et al [46] achieved YCH 4 ranging from 0.25 to 0.29 NL-CH 4 /g-COD removed with 75-90% (v/v)CH 4 content and 85% COD removal using a bench scale AnSBR inoculated with anaerobic granular sludge and fed with diluted TV (8 g-COD/L), the reaction time varied within 3-9 d. Interestingly, later, the same research group performed a pilot scale study for the mesophilic AD treatment of TV using a 445-L packed bed reactor (PBR) which was operated for 231 d under increasing OLRs, from 4 to 12.5 g-COD/L-d [47]. The PBR showed a stable performance exhibiting COD removals and YCH 4 in the range of 86-89% and 0.24-0.28 NL-CH 4 /g-COD removed , respectively.…”

Active prokaryotic population dynamics exhibit high correlation to reactor performance during methane production from acid hydrolysates ofAgave tequilanavar.azulbagasse

“…; Arreola‐Vargas et al . , ). Results retrieved from gDNA showed a stable community since Archaea abundances values for the inoculum and at the end of stages 1 and 2 were 3·3 × 10 7 , 3·2 × 10 7 and 3·6 × 10 7 respectively.…”

Performance and microbial analysis during long‐term anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewater in a packed‐bed biofilm reactor

“…Daily and 15-days moving average values of biogas and CH 4 production were normalized and expressed www.soci.org G Enaime et al Fig. 12,32 This enables the operation under stable conditions for a long period even when the reactor is fed with the raw OMWW at high OLRs. 1(B).…”

“…The high performance of the PBBR-GAC in terms of pH stability, low VFAs accumulation and high biogas and CH 4 production, can be due to the high cell retention promoted for this kind of reactors and to the favored syntrophy between microorganisms. 12,32 This enables the operation under stable conditions for a long period even when the reactor is fed with the raw OMWW at high OLRs. Table 1 shows the average COD and phenolic compounds removal along with the CH 4 yield for the PBBR-GAC under increasing OLRs.…”