Slaughterhouse fatty waste saponification to increase biogas yield.

A thermochemical pretreatment, i.e. saponification, was optimised in order to improve anaerobic biodegradation of slaughterhouse wastes such as aeroflotation grease and flesh fats from cattle carcass. Anaerobic digestion of raw wastes, as well as of wastes saponified at different temperatures (60 degrees C, 120 degrees C and 150 degrees C) was conducted in fed-batch reactors under mesophilic condition and the effect of different saponification temperatures on anaerobic biodegradation and on the long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) relative composition was assessed. Even after increasing loads over a long period of time, raw fatty wastes were biodegraded slowly and the biogas potentials were lower than those of theoretical estimations. In contrast, pretreated wastes exhibited improved batch biodegradation, indicating a better initial bio-availability, particularly obvious for carcass wastes. However, LCFA relative composition was not significantly altered by the pretreatment. Consequently, the enhanced biodegradation should be attributed to an increased initial bio-availability of fatty wastes without any modification of their long chain structure which remained slowly biodegradable. Finally, saponification at 120 degrees C achieved best performances during anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse wastes.

Performance and kinetic evaluation of anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor for treating milk permeate from dairy industry.

High strength milk permeate derived from ultra-filtration based cheese making process was treated in an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (AMBBR) under mesophilic (35 degrees C) condition. Total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) removal efficiencies of 86.3-73.2% were achieved at organic loading rates (OLR) of 2.0-20.0 g TCOD L(-1) d(-1). A mass balance model gave values of methane yield coefficient (Y(G/S)) and cell maintenance coefficient (k(m)) of 0.341 L CH(4) g(-1) TCOD(removed) and 0.1808 g TCOD(removed) g(-1) VSS d(-1), respectively. The maximum substrate utilization rate U(max) was determined as 89.3 g TCOD L(-1) d(-1) by a modified Stover-Kincannon model. Volumetric methane production rates (VMPR) were shown to correlate with the biodegradable TCOD concentration through a Michaelis-Menten type equation. Moreover, based on VMPR and OLR removed from the reactor, the sludge production yield was determined as 0.0794 g VSS g(-1) TCOD(removed).

The treatment of cheese whey wastewater by sequential anaerobic and aerobic steps in a single digester at pilot scale.

The treatment of reconstituted whey wastewater was performed in a 400 L digester at 20 degrees C, with an anaerobic digestion step, followed by a step of aerobic treatment at low oxygen concentration in the same digester. In a first set of 48 cycles, total cycle time (T(C)) of 2, 3 and 4 days were tested at varying organic loading rates (OLR). The COD removal reached 89+/-4, 97+/-3 and 98+/-2% at T(C) of 2, 3 and 4 days and OLR of 0.56, 1.04 and 0.78 g COD L(-1) d(-1), respectively. The activity of the biomass decreased for the methanogenic population, while increasing by 400% for the acidogens, demonstrating a displacement in the predominant trophic group in the biomass bed. A second set of 16 cycles was performed with higher soluble oxygen concentration in the bulk liquid (0.5 mg L(-1)) during the aerobic treatment at a T(C) of 2 days and an OLR of 1.55 g COD L(-1) d(-1), with a soluble COD removal of 88+/-3%. The biomass specific activities showed a compartmentalization of the trophic group with methanogenic activity maintained in the biomass bed and a high acidogenic activity in the suspended flocs.

Successful bacterial incorporation into activated sludge flocs using alginate.

Bioaugmentation experiments with the aerobic denitrifier Microvirgula aerodenitrificans were performed in an aerobic continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) treating urban wastewater. The fate of the added bacteria was monitored by a specific fluorescent oligonucleotide probe targeting 16S rRNA. The first addition of the strain led to its rapid disappearance because of grazing. Bacteria were then embedded within an alginate matrix before inoculation. Alginate fragments adhered to the existing flocs and were progressively colonized by the indigenous flora. Thereafter, microcolonies of the exogenous bacterium were found to be incorporated into existing flocs.

Anaerobic treatment of vinasses by a sequentially mixed moving bed biofilm reactor.

Wine distillery wastewater, commonly called vinasses, was treated by an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (AMBBR) with 32.9 litre available volume. The reactor was filled with 66% cylindrical polyethylene supports with density 0.84 g cm(-3) as a biofilm carrier. The reactor was sequentially mixed by a submerged centrifugal pump fixed to the bottom, and each mixing time just lasted 1.25 minutes. The organic loading rate (OLR) of the reactor were increased from 1.6 to 29.6 g sCOD l(-1) d(-1) (soluble chemical oxygen demands--sCOD) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) was decreased from 6.33 to 1.55 days accordingly. Soluble COD removal efficiency was 81.3-89.2% at an OLR of 29.6 g sCOD l(-1) d(-1). At the end of the experiment, 83.4% total biomass was attached on support and the specific density of support in the reactor was 0.93-1.05 g cm(-3), which increased by about 10.7-25% compared with that at the beginning of the study.

Treatment of distillery vinasse in a high rate anaerobic reactor using low density polyethylene supports.

An anaerobic fixed bed reactor, filled with small floating supports of polyethylene material (Bioflow 30) as inert media, was operated for 6 months to treat vinasse (wine residue after distillation). Bioflow 30 has a density of 0.93 and a specific area of 320 m2/m3. The experimental results showed that the efficiency of the reactor in removal of soluble COD was very good with a maximum organic loading rate of more than 30 g of COD/L x d and a COD removal efficiency of more than 80%. Bioflow 30 showed a high capability of biomass retention with 4-6 g of dried solids per support. Thus, at the end of the experiment, the fixed biomass represented 57 g of solids/L of reactor. The visual observation of the supports and the specific activity (0.54 g COD/g solids x d) of the fixed solids, which remained close to the values obtained with suspended biomass, showed that entrapment was playing an important role in the retention of the biomass inside the reactor. It was then possible to operate the reactor with a very high loading rate as the result of the increase of the solids in the reactor and the maintaining of the specific activity. Bioflow 30 is then an excellent support for use in a high rate anaerobic fixed bed.

Coupled anaerobic-aerobic treatment of whey wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor: proof of concept.

A proof of concept was performed in order to verify if the coupling of anaerobic and aerobic conditions inside the same digester could efficiently treat a reconstituted whey wastewater at 21 degrees C. The sequencing batch reactor (SBR) cycles combined initial anaerobic phase and final aerobic phase with reduced aeration. A series of 24 h cycles in 0.5 L digesters, with four different levels of oxygenation (none, 54, 108 and 182 mgO2 per gram of chemical oxygen demand (COD)), showed residual soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) of 683 +/- 46, 720 +/- 33, 581 +/- 45, 1239 +/- 15 mg L(-1), respectively. Acetate and hydrogen specific activities were maintained for the anaerobic digester, but decreased by 10-25% for the acetate and by 20-50% for the hydrogen, in the coupled digesters. The experiment was repeated using 48 h cycles with limited aeration during 6 or 16 hours at 54 and 108 mgO2gCODinitial(-1), displaying residual sCOD of 177 +/- 43, 137 +/- 38, 104 +/- 22 and 112 +/- 9 mgL(-1) for the anaerobic and the coupled digesters, respectively. The coupled digesters recovered after a pH shock with residual sCOD as low as 132 mg L(-1) compared to 636 mg L(-1) for the anaerobic digester. With regard to the obtained results, the feasibility of the anaerobic-aerobic coupling in SBR digesters for the treatment of whey wastewater was demonstrated.

Impact of increasing NaCl concentrations on the performance and community composition of two anaerobic reactors.

The anaerobic treatment of saline effluents using halophilic and halotolerant microbial consortia is of major interest. Inhibition of anaerobic digestion is known to occur at high salt content. However, it seems that the suitable adaptation of an anaerobic sludge makes possible the treatment of saline wastewater. In this study, a non-saline anaerobic sludge was inoculated in two anaerobic batch reactors operating with a different substrate (distillery vinasse and ethanol) and subjected to increasing NaCl concentrations. The performance of the digesters appeared to be highly dependent on the nature of the substrate, and a similar level of inhibition (i.e. around 90% of the specific loading rate and specific methanogenic activity) was stated at 10 g l(-1) of NaCl with distillery vinasse and 60 g l(-1) of NaCl with ethanol. The characterization of the microflora and its adaptation to increasing NaCl conditions were also investigated using molecular tools based on the analysis of genomic 16S rDNA. The microbial communities revealed a high diversity that could be maintained in both reactors despite the increase in NaCl concentrations.

Microbial diversity in hypersaline wastewater: the example of tanneries.

In contrast to conventional wastewater treatment plants and saline environments, little is known regarding the microbial diversity of hypersaline wastewater. In this study, the microbial communities of a hypersaline tannery effluent, and those of three treatment systems operating with the tannery effluent, were investigated using 16S rDNA phylogenetic markers. The comparative analysis of 377 bacterial sequences revealed the high diversity of this type of hypersaline environment, clustering within 193 phylotypes (> or = 97% similarity) and covering 14 of the 52 divisions of the bacterial domain, i.e. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Chlorobi, Planctomycetes, Spirochaetes, Synergistes, Chloroflexi, Thermotogae, Verrucomicrobia, OP3, OP11 and TM7. Most of the phylotypes were related to halophilic and pollutant-degrading bacteria. Using statistical analysis, the diversity of this type of environment was compared to that of other environmental samples selected on the basis of their salinity, oxygen content and organic load.

Anaerobic digestion of tannery soak liquor with an aerobic post-treatment.

The leather industry occupies a place of prominence in the Indian economy due to its massive potential for employment, growth and exports. The potential environmental impact of tanning is significant. This study focuses on tannery soak liquor, generated by the soaking of hides and skins, which is characterised by high organic load and high salinity. For these reasons, the soak liquor should be segregated and pre-treated separately before being mixed with the composite wastewater, made of all other streams mixed together. The anaerobic digestion of tannery soak liquor was studied using a UASB. COD removal reached 78% at an OLR of 0.5 kg COD m(-3) d(-1), a HRT of 5 days and a TDS concentration of 71 gl(-1). The combination of the UASB with an aerobic post-treatment enhanced the performance of the overall wastewater treatment process and the COD removal efficiency of the combined anaerobic/aerobic treatment system reached 96%. However, for effective operation, the system had to be operated at very low OLRs, which affects the economic viability of such a process.

Halophilic biological treatment of tannery soak liquor in a sequencing batch reactor.

Hypersaline wastewater (i.e. wastewater containing more than 35 gl(-1) total dissolved solids (TDS)) is generated by various industrial activities. This wastewater, rich in both organic matter and TDS, is difficult to treat using conventional biological wastewater treatment processes. Among the industries generating hypersaline effluents, tanneries are prominent in India. In this study, tannery wastewater from soak pit was treated in a lab-scale SBR for the removal of organic matter. The characterisation of the soak liquor showed that this effluent is biodegradable, though not easily, and highly variable, depending on the origin and the nature of the hides. TDS was in the range of 21-57 gl(-1) and COD was in the range of 1.5-3.6 gl(-1). This soak liquor was biologically treated in an aerobic sequencing batch reactor seeded with halophilic bacteria, and the performance of the system was evaluated under different operating conditions with changes in hydraulic retention time, organic loading rate and salt concentration. The changes in salinity appeared to affect the removal of organic matter more than the changes in hydraulic retention time or organic loading rate. Despite the variations in the characteristics of the soak liquor, the reactor achieved proper removal of organic matter, once the acclimation of the microorganisms was achieved. Optimum removal efficiencies of 95%, 93%, 96% and 92% on COD, PO4 3-, TKN and SS, respectively, could be reached with 5 days hydraulic retention time (HRT), an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.6 kg COD m(-3)d(-1) and 34 g NaCl l(-1). The organisms responsible for nitrogen removal appeared to be the most sensitive to the modifications of these parameters.

Winery and distillery wastewater treatment by anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic digestion is widely used for wastewater treatment, especially in the food industries. Generally after the anaerobic treatment there is an aerobic post-treatment in order to return the treated water to nature. Several technologies are applied for winery wastewater treatment. They are using free cells or flocs (anaerobic contact digesters, anaerobic sequencing batch reactors and anaerobic lagoons), anaerobic granules (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket--UASB), or biofilms on fixed support (anaerobic filter) or on mobile support as with the fluidised bed. Some technologies include two strategies, e.g. a sludge bed with anaerobic filter as in the hybrid digester. With winery wastewaters (as for vinasses from distilleries) the removal yield for anaerobic digestion is very high, up to 90-95% COD removal. The organic loads are between 5 and 15 kgCOD/m3 of digester/day. The biogas production is between 400 and 600 L per kg COD removed with 60 to 70% methane content. For anaerobic and aerobic post-treatment of vinasses in the Cognac region, REVICO company has 99.7% COD removal and the cost is 0.52 Euro/m3 of vinasses.

Start up of an anaerobic inverse turbulent bed reactor fed with wine distillery wastewater using pre-colonised bioparticles.

The long start-up period of fluidized bed biofilm reactors is a serious obstacle for their wide installation in the anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater. This paper presents the results of an anaerobic inverse turbulent bioreactor treating distillery wastewater during 117 days of operation at a laboratory scale. The pre-colonized bioparticles for this work were obtained from a similar reactor processing the same wastewater and which had a start-up period of 3 months. The system attained carbon removal efficiency rates between 70 and 92%, at an organic loading rate of 30.6 kg m(-3) d(-1) (chemical oxygen demand) with a hydraulic retention time of 11.1 h. The results obtained showed that the start-up period of this kind of reactors can be reduced by 3 using pre-colonized bioparticles.

Treatment of hypersaline industrial wastewater by a microbial consortium in a sequencing batch reactor.

Hypersaline effluents are produced by various industrial activities. Such wastewater, rich in both organic matter and salt (> 35 g l(-1)), is difficult to treat by conventional wastewater treatment processes. It is necessary to use halophilic bacteria. In this study, a bench-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was inoculated with halophilic sediments in order to treat an agri-food effluent containing 120 g salt l(-1). The micro-organisms were able to treat carbon and nitrogen, provided the pH in the reactor was neutralised with phosphoric acid. Soluble COD and Soluble TKN removal attained 83% and 72% respectively. 16S rDNA identification of the halophilic microbial community showed high diversity.

Microbial monitoring by molecular tools of a two-phase anaerobic bioreactor treating fruit and vegetable wastes.

Microbial consortia in a two-phase, anaerobic bioreactor using a mixture of fruit and vegetable wastes were established. Bacterial and archaeal communities obtained by a culture-independent approach based on single strand conformation polymorphism analysis of total 16S rDNA showed the adaptation of the microflora to the process parameters. Throughout the 90 d of the study, the species composition of the bacterial community changed significantly. Bacterial 16S rDNA showed at least 7 different major species with a very prominent one corresponding to a Megasphaera elsdenii whereas bacterial 16S rDNA of a methanization bioreactor showed 10 different major species. After two weeks, Prevotella ruminicola became major and its dominance increased continuously until day 50. After an acid shock at pH 5, the 16S rDNA archaeal patterns in the acidogenic reactor showed two major prominent species corresponding to Methanosphaera stadtmanii and Methanobrevibacter wolinii, a hydrogenotrophic bacterium.

High COD wastewater treatment in an aerobic SBR: treatment of effluent from a small farm goat's cheese dairy.

In France, small goat's cheese dairies using traditional craft methods often have no profitable solution for dealing with the whey byproduct of their cheesemaking activity: it is usually mixed with the cleaning wastewater which, in the absence of other possibilities, is then discharged directly into the environment. The volume of such wastewater is small but it has a high COD of around 12-15 g/L. An aerobic SBR was proposed as a method for treating the mixture of wastewater and whey and the first installation was set up on a farm with 170 goats. Its operations were monitored for 7.5 months, particularly in order to measure any excess volume of sludge and to check that such excess remained within acceptable limits, given the high COD of the effluent requiring treatment. The results obtained show that the treated wastewater was of excellent quality, well within the most rigorous discharge norms. With this type of wastewater, excess sludge was produced in only very low amounts with 0.2 g of SS/g of COD. Moreover, the sludge proved to be quick settling which made it possible to: i) maintain a high level of SS in the reactor (up to 15 g/L); ii) withdraw sludge with concentrations reaching 30 g/L after 2 hours of settling. This resulted in a low volume of excess sludge (less than 5% of treated volume), making such aerobic biological treatment in an SBR competitive when compared to the straightforward spreading of all the wastewater.

Anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge combined with ozone post-treatment and recycling.

The aim of the study was to determine the performances of a combined ozone/anaerobic digestion system for waste activated sludge reduction. The objective was the estimation of the process efficiency and stability when keeping constant influent flow while increasing recycled chemically treated flow. The ozonation step consisted in a partial oxidation (0.16 g O3/g SS) of the anaerobic mesophilic digested sludge. Chemical treatment of digested sludge resulted in a threefold COD solubilization and a decrease of SS of 22%. Some of the advantages of digested sludge ozonation were: deodorization, better settlement and a reduction in viscosity. However there were drawbacks: foaming during ozonation and, at high ozone doses, poorer filterability. The anaerobic digestion was carried out over 6 months with an increasing recycling of ozonated flow. Suspended solids removal rate and COD removal rate were compared with initial operating conditions for the biological reactor and the whole combined process. The optimum recycling rate was 25% with increases of SS removal and COD removal of 54% and 66% respectively when considering the combined process; corresponding to a decrease of the hydraulic retention time from 24 days to 19 days.

Anaerobic biodegradability of water separated from extracted crude oil.

A study of the anaerobic biodegradability of the three categories of water separated from extracted crude oil (Venezuelan oilfields)--light, medium or heavy crude--was carried out at laboratory scale using UASB reactors working at mesophilic conditions. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal in a low loaded UASB reactor fed with water separated from extracted light crude was high, with an average 87% purification efficiency. The remaining COD was made up of the nonbiodegradable and the very slowly biodegradable fractions of the organic matter in the water. During a second period, the hydraulic retention time was reduced in stages, thus increasing the loading rate. In the experimental conditions used, COD concentration at the outlet remained below the Venezuelan standard limit for discharge into the environment (350 mg COD l(-1)) when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was above 10 hours and the OLR under 3 g COD l(-1) d(-1). For HRT less than 10 hours, or organic loading rate (OLR) greater than 3 g COD l(-1) d(-1), COD at the outlet of the reactor rose as a consequence both of increased volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentrations (indicating an overloading of the methanogenic population) and, also, of the increase in the non-VFA COD (indicating a decrease in the acidification efficiency). On the other hand, results with UASB reactors operated at a low loading rate and fed with water separated from extracted medium and heavy crude oil showed that purification efficiency was low, with only 20% and 37% COD removal respectively. Continuing the operation of the UASB reactor fed with water separated from medium oil over a prolonged period did not bring any improvement, indicating that no adaptation of the sludge occurred.

Anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater by inverse fluidization: the inverse fluidized bed and the inverse turbulent bed reactors.

This paper describes the application of the inverse fluidization technology to the anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater. Two reactors were investigated: the inverse fluidized bed reactor and the inverse turbulent reactor. In these reactors, a granular floating solid is expanded by a down-flow current of effluent or an up-flow current of gas, respectively. The carrier particles (Extendospheres) were chosen for their large specific surface area (20,000 m2m(-3)) and their low energy requirements for fluidization (gas velocity of 1.5 mm s(-1), 5.4 m h(-1)). Organic load was increased stepwise by reducing hydraulic retention time from more than 60 days to 3 days, while maintaining constant the feed COD concentration. Both reactors achieved more than 90% of COD removal, at an organic loading rate of 10-12 kgCOD m(-3) d(-1), respectively. The performances observed were similar or even higher than that of other previously tested fluidized bed technologies treating the same wastewater. It was found that the main advantages of this system are: low energy requirement, because of the low fluidization velocities required; there is no need of a settling device, because solids accumulate at the bottom of the reactor, so they can be easily drawn out and particles with high-biomass content can be easily recovered. Lipid phosphate concentration has been revealed as a good method for biomass estimation in biofilms since it only includes living biomass.

Treatment of winery wastewater by an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor.

Treatment of winery wastewater was investigated using an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR). Biogas production rate was monitored and permitted the automation of the bioreactor by a simple control system. The reactor was operated at an organic loading rate (ORL) around 8.6 gCOD/L.d with soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency greater than 98%, hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2.2 d and a specific organic loading rate (SOLR) of 0.96 gCOD/gVSS.d. The kinetics of COD and VFA removal were investigated for winery wastewater and for simple compounds such as ethanol, which is a major component of winery effluent, and acetate, which is the main volatile fatty acid (VFA) produced. The comparison of the profiles obtained with the 3 substrates shows that, overall, the acidification of the organic matter and the methanisation of the VFA follow zero order reactions, in the operating conditions of our study. The effect on the gas production rate resulted in two level periods separated by a sharp break when the acidification stage was finished and only the breaking down of the VFA continued.