High-load anaerobic co-digestion of cheese whey and liquid fraction of dairy manure in a one-stage UASB process: Limits in co-substrates ratio and organic loading rate

Abstract

Please cite this article as: C. Rico, N. Muñoz, J. Fernández, J.L. Rico, High-load anaerobic co-digestion of cheese whey and liquid fraction of dairy manure in a one-stage UASB process: limits in co-substrates ratio and organic loading rate, Chemical Engineering Journal (2014), doi: http://dx. AbstractCheese whey is considered an important pollutant in dairy wastewaters and an environmental problem to solve. This study aimed to develop a treatment process that combines the advantages of co-digesting cheese whey with manure and the short hydraulic retention time of a high-load anaerobic treatment system by using liquid fractions of dairy manure as a co-substrate. The proposed co-digestion process consists of a one-stage UASB reactor with an external settler and effluent recycling for alkalinity supplementation. Under a constant hydraulic retention time of 2.2 days and increasing proportion of cheese whey in the feed, the system demonstrated stable operation up to a 75% cheese whey fraction in the feed, with an applied organic loading rate of 19.4 kg COD m -3 d -1 , obtaining a 94.7% COD removal and a volumetric methane production rate of 6.4 m 3 CH 4 m -3 d -1 . Critical biomass washout was experienced when the cheese whey fraction in the feed was 85%.Operation at a constant 60% cheese whey fraction in the feed mixture enabled stable operation under an organic loading rate of 28.7 kg COD m -3 d -1 and 1.3 days HRT, with 95.1% COD removal and a volumetric methane production rate of 9.5 m 3 CH 4 m -3 d -1 . This new high-load co-digestion method proposed is a promising solution for areas where cheese factories and intensive livestock farming are responsible for environmental pollution caused by unsuitable cheese whey and manure management practices.

Treatment of dairy waste by anaerobic co-digestion with sewage sludge

“…1.5% for cheese whey (protein -up to 1%, fat -up to 0.5%) [12]. However, the volume of methane obtained in the tests with the use of CW is several percent higher compared with literature data [17,20]. This quite good result is connected with the stable course of AD for cheese whey.…”

“…In the methanogenic phase of decomposition of lactose, ethanol potentially combines with CO 2 , resulting in the formation of CH 4 and propionic acid (15) as final products. Other possible directions of the formation of CH 4 involve decomposition of the acetic acid molecules that were formed in the preceding stage (16) and bonding between CO 2 and H 2 in such amounts as are indicated by stoichiometry (17). Palmitic acid triglyceride and linoleic acid triglyceride are the major components of milk fats [35].…”

Procesos biológicos para el tratamiento de lactosuero con producción de biogás e hidrógeno. Revisión bibliográfica

“…Esta categoría de residuos se caracteriza por su reducido contenido en materia orgánica frente al nitrógeno, favoreciendo reducidas relaciones C/N. Sin embargo, en su composición hay presencia tanto de micro como macronutrientes, necesarios para el crecimiento de los microorganismos anaerobios, así como suficiente alcalinidad para evitar problemas de acidificación [50]. Los principales reactores utilizados son de tipo CSTR, pero sin embargo mediante la aplicación de reactores UASB se han podido obtener mayores producciones de gas [50][51].…”

“…Sin embargo, en su composición hay presencia tanto de micro como macronutrientes, necesarios para el crecimiento de los microorganismos anaerobios, así como suficiente alcalinidad para evitar problemas de acidificación [50]. Los principales reactores utilizados son de tipo CSTR, pero sin embargo mediante la aplicación de reactores UASB se han podido obtener mayores producciones de gas [50][51]. Bertin et al [52], aplicaron un sistema de dos fases para la co-digestión con estiércol y lactosuero.…”

Extracción de Proteínas del Lactosuero de la Leche de Cabra Mediante la Aplicación de Campos Eléctricos Pulsantes de Alta Intensidad (CEPAI)

“…El suero lácteo o lactosuero es considerado un contaminante importante en las aguas residuales lácteas y un problema ambiental para resolver (Sarbon et al, 2015;Rico et al, 2015). Además, este subproducto del proceso de elaboración del queso retiene cerca del 55% de los nutrientes de la leche (Kinsella y Whitehead, 1989;Morr y Foegeding, 1990), dentro de los cuales se encuentran proteínas séricas de un apropiado balance en aminoácidos, alta digestibilidad y excelentes características funcionales, lo que ha inducido al desarrollo de procesos de fraccionamiento y concentración de los constituyentes del mismo (Kinsella y Whitehead, 1989;Durham et al, 1997).…”