Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors
Anaerobic co-digestion often improves the yields and stability of single anaerobic digestion. However, finding the right substrate proportions within mixtures and corresponding optimal operating conditions using a particular reactor technology often presents a challenge. This research investigated t...
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/5/2295 |
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| author | Roberto Eloy Hernández Regalado Jurek Häner Daniel Baumkötter Lukas Wettwer Elmar Brügging Jens Tränckner |
| author_facet | Roberto Eloy Hernández Regalado Jurek Häner Daniel Baumkötter Lukas Wettwer Elmar Brügging Jens Tränckner |
| author_sort | Roberto Eloy Hernández Regalado |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anaerobic co-digestion often improves the yields and stability of single anaerobic digestion. However, finding the right substrate proportions within mixtures and corresponding optimal operating conditions using a particular reactor technology often presents a challenge. This research investigated the anaerobic digestion of three mixtures from the liquid fractions of piglet manure (PM), cow manure (CWM), starch wastewater (SWW), and sugar beet (SBT) using three 30 L expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors. The synergistic effects of two three-substrate mixtures (i.e., PM+CWM+SWW and PM+CWM+SBT) were studied using the PM+CWM mixture as a benchmark. These were used to detect the predicted synergistic interactions found in previous batch tests. The methane productivity of both three-substrate mixtures (~1.20 L<sub>CH4</sub>/L<sub>react</sub>/d) was 2× the productivity of the benchmark mixture (0.64 L<sub>CH4</sub>/L<sub>react</sub>/d). Furthermore, strong indications of the predicted synergistic effects were found in the three-substrate mixtures, which were also stable due to their appropriate carbon-to-nitrogen ratio values. Moreover, the lowest averaged solid to hydraulic retention times ratio calculated for samples obtained from the top of the reactors was > 1. This confirmed the superior biomass retention capacity of the studied EGSB reactors over typical reactors that have been used in agricultural biogas plants with a continuous stirred tank reactor. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:48:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
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| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-59cd7c91852c4ace913eee58ecbfefc92023-11-23T22:38:34ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-02-01125229510.3390/app12052295Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed ReactorsRoberto Eloy Hernández Regalado0Jurek Häner1Daniel Baumkötter2Lukas Wettwer3Elmar Brügging4Jens Tränckner5Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Justus-Von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, GermanyFaculty of Energy Building Services Environmental Engineering, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Stegerwaldstr. 39, 48565 Steinfurt, GermanyFaculty of Energy Building Services Environmental Engineering, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Stegerwaldstr. 39, 48565 Steinfurt, GermanyFaculty of Energy Building Services Environmental Engineering, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Stegerwaldstr. 39, 48565 Steinfurt, GermanyFaculty of Energy Building Services Environmental Engineering, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Stegerwaldstr. 39, 48565 Steinfurt, GermanyFaculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Justus-Von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, GermanyAnaerobic co-digestion often improves the yields and stability of single anaerobic digestion. However, finding the right substrate proportions within mixtures and corresponding optimal operating conditions using a particular reactor technology often presents a challenge. This research investigated the anaerobic digestion of three mixtures from the liquid fractions of piglet manure (PM), cow manure (CWM), starch wastewater (SWW), and sugar beet (SBT) using three 30 L expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors. The synergistic effects of two three-substrate mixtures (i.e., PM+CWM+SWW and PM+CWM+SBT) were studied using the PM+CWM mixture as a benchmark. These were used to detect the predicted synergistic interactions found in previous batch tests. The methane productivity of both three-substrate mixtures (~1.20 L<sub>CH4</sub>/L<sub>react</sub>/d) was 2× the productivity of the benchmark mixture (0.64 L<sub>CH4</sub>/L<sub>react</sub>/d). Furthermore, strong indications of the predicted synergistic effects were found in the three-substrate mixtures, which were also stable due to their appropriate carbon-to-nitrogen ratio values. Moreover, the lowest averaged solid to hydraulic retention times ratio calculated for samples obtained from the top of the reactors was > 1. This confirmed the superior biomass retention capacity of the studied EGSB reactors over typical reactors that have been used in agricultural biogas plants with a continuous stirred tank reactor.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/5/2295anaerobic co-digestionsynergistic effectsexpanded granular sludge bed reactoragro-industrial substrates |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Eloy Hernández Regalado Jurek Häner Daniel Baumkötter Lukas Wettwer Elmar Brügging Jens Tränckner Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors Applied Sciences anaerobic co-digestion synergistic effects expanded granular sludge bed reactor agro-industrial substrates |
| title | Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors |
| title_full | Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors |
| title_fullStr | Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors |
| title_short | Continuous Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Mixtures in Laboratory Scale Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactors |
| title_sort | continuous co digestion of agro industrial mixtures in laboratory scale expanded granular sludge bed reactors |
| topic | anaerobic co-digestion synergistic effects expanded granular sludge bed reactor agro-industrial substrates |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/5/2295 |
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