Treatment of Cheese Whey Wastewater Using an Expanded Granular Sludge Bed (EGSB) Bioreactor with Biomethane Production

Cruz-Salomón, Abumalé; Ríos-Valdovinos, E.; Pola-Albores, F.; Lagunas‐Rivera, Selene; Cruz-Rodríguez, Rosa Isela; Cruz-Salomón, Kelly del Carmen; Hernández-Méndez, Jesús Mauricio Ernesto; Domínguez-Espinosa, María Emperatriz

doi:10.3390/pr8080931

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the anaerobic digestion process of distinct substances, although it is environmentally friendly, is quite sensitive to several disturbances and, in many cases, leads to a low methane yield [1]. In recent years, various biotechnologies have been developed to overcome the problems associated with the instability of the anaerobic digestion process, which will ultimately make it possible to restore maximum energy and simplify the anaerobic process [2][3][4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Granular Activated Carbon on Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sugar Beet Pulp and Distillers Grains with Solubles

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anaerobic digestion is an important technology to receive energy from various types of biomass. In this work, the impact of granular activated carbon (GAC) on the mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of sugar beet pulp and distillers grains was investigated. After a short period, anaerobic reactors began to produce biomethane and were ready for completion within 19–24 days. The addition of GAC to reactors (5–10 g L−1) significantly enhanced the methane production rate and consumption of produced volatile fatty acids. Thus, the maximum methane production rate increased by 13.7% in the presence of GAC (5 g L−1). Bacterial and archaeal community structure and dynamics were investigated, based on 16S rRNA genes analysis. The abundant classes of bacteria in GAC-free and GAC-containing reactors were Clostridia, Bacteroidia, Actinobacteria, and Synergistia. Methanogenic communities were mainly represented by the genera Methanosarcina, Methanoculleus, Methanothrix, and Methanomassiliicoccus in GAC-free and GAC-containing reactors. Our results indicate that the addition of granular activated carbon at appropriate dosages has a positive effect on anaerobic co-digestion of by-products of the processing of sugar beet and ethanol distillation process.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Granular Activated Carbon on Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sugar Beet Pulp and Distillers Grains with Solubles

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The characteristics of the SMW such as pH, temperature, turbidity, color, chlorides, total solids (TS), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), total nitrogen (TN), settleable solids, acidity, COD, and BOD 5 were analyzed according to the Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater [25]. The BI was calculated according to reported by Cruz-Salomón et al [26]. In addition, two months after the Zafra season began, analysis of treated effluent was performed monthly according to Mexican regulations (NOM-001- SEMARNAT-1996) [27] and included testing of pH, temperature, TN, total phosphorus (TP), fats, oils, and grease (FOG), fecal coliforms, cyanides, settleable solids, TSS, COD, BOD 5 , and floating matter [25].…”

Section: Analytical Methods (Wastewater Characterization)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding the presence of solids, the greatest amount of pollutants are found in dissolved form (2726 mg/L) and to a lesser extent in suspended form (292 mg/L). The SMW was found to exceed Mexican environmental safety regulations for almost all water quality metrics [26]. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the wastewater before disposal.…”

Section: Smw Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Treatment of Sugar Mill Wastewater in a Coupled System of Aged Refuse Filled Bioreactors (ARFB): Full-Scale

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sugar is the most important food supplement of our daily diet. During the production, sugar mills use a large volume of water and produce a significant amount of wastewater polluted with high organic compounds. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the wastewater before their disposal. For this reason, this article presents the results obtained from the monitoring of a coupled system of aged refuse filled bioreactors (ARFB) in full scale to treat wastewater from a sugar mill. The coupled system consists of two bioreactors (a primary one -ARFB1- and a rectification one -ARFB2-) arranged in a series with identical geometries. The ARFB1-ARFB2 system was evaluated in two stages. The first stage (maintenance period) for 28 weeks, and second stage (Zafra season) for 29 weeks. The system was fed with sugar mill wastewater (SMW) with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 2787 ± 1552 mg/L and 2601 ± 722 mg/L, respectively. As results, we observed a rapid stabilization of the system over 2 months. In addition, we found the ARFB1-ARFB2 system achieved an average COD removal of 94.9%, with a final effluent (E2) concentration below the maximum permissible limits of Mexican and international regulations for all analyzed parameters. Finally, the results of this study show that the ARFB1-ARFB2 full-scale novel technology is an efficient process for removal of the main contaminants that affect the wastewater from the sugar mills.

show abstract

“…The bioreactor was covered with black cardboard and aluminum foil to avoid methane production inhibition caused by light (Chen et al, 2011). The biogas discharged from the top of the bioreactor passed through a polyethylene terephthalate gas scrubber of cylindrical shape (height 50 cm and diameter 3 cm) loaded with a 3% sodium hydroxide solution and phenolphthalein (Cruz-Salomón et al, 2020). The bioreactor was inoculated with AnGS (30% of bioreactor working volume) and operated for 130 days under a mesophilic condition (26°C), at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6 days and an organic loading rate (OLR) of 6.1 Kg COD/m 3 day.…”

Section: Experimental Setup and Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dairy agro-industry encompasses the activity dedicated to the development of products from milk, especially cheese (Fernández-Rodríguez et al, 2016) with a world production of 23.5 million tons/year from cows' milk (FAOSTAT, 2023). During the cheese-making process, cheese whey is generated as a by-product, which is the liquid fraction of milk that is obtained after the precipitation and recovery of casein by acid or enzymatic action (Cruz-Salomón et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Syntrophy between bacteria and archaea enhances methane production in an EGSB bioreactor fed by cheese whey wastewater

Domínguez-Espinosa,

Cruz-Salomón,

Ramírez de León

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The cheese-making process generates large amounts of cheese whey wastewater (CWW), which is abundant in nutrients but difficult to dispose of, contributing to the eutrophication of natural environments due to inadequate waste management. Here we show the anaerobic digestion of CCW by syntrophy between bacteria and archaea in an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) bioreactor as a low-cost alternative for bioremediation and biofuel production. The performance of the EGSB bioreactor and the composition of the natural microbial community were evaluated. During the operation of the EGSB bioreactor, physicochemical parameters such as alkalinity ratio (0.25), pH (7.5), and temperature (26°C) were attained and maintained, as well as light- and oxygen-free conditions, which favored the metabolism of oxygen-sensitive bacteria and methane-producing archaea (methanogens). Under these conditions, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate was highly efficient (> 89%). Methane (CH4) was produced from organic matter degradation by a few methanogens, mainly from Methanosaeta spp., and was enhanced by the metabolic interaction between bacteria and archaea. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) was >335 mL CH4/gCOD, indicating that the syntrophic microbial community is very efficient in removing organic matter and CH4 produced from CWW. Our results suggest that CWW could be treated in EGSB bioreactors and used as a sustainable alternative to CH4 production and also provide insights for the design of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) for bioremediation, biogas production, and other biotechnological processes.

show abstract

Treatment of Cheese Whey Wastewater Using an Expanded Granular Sludge Bed (EGSB) Bioreactor with Biomethane Production

Cited by 24 publications

References 32 publications

Influence of Granular Activated Carbon on Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sugar Beet Pulp and Distillers Grains with Solubles

Influence of Granular Activated Carbon on Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sugar Beet Pulp and Distillers Grains with Solubles

Novel Treatment of Sugar Mill Wastewater in a Coupled System of Aged Refuse Filled Bioreactors (ARFB): Full-Scale

Syntrophy between bacteria and archaea enhances methane production in an EGSB bioreactor fed by cheese whey wastewater

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About