Enhanced volatile fatty acid degradation and methane production efficiency by biochar addition in food waste-sludge co-digestion: A step towards increased organic loading efficiency in co-digestion

Guneet Kaur; Davidraj Johnravindar; Jonathan W C Wong

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123250

Enhanced volatile fatty acid degradation and methane production efficiency by biochar addition in food waste-sludge co-digestion: A step towards increased organic loading efficiency in co-digestion

Guneet Kaur, Davidraj Johnravindar, Jonathan W C Wong^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

68 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This work investigated the effect of biochar addition to mitigate VFA accumulation and enhance methane production in mesophilic food waste/sludge co-digestion. Different types of biochar derived from agricultural and forestry residues at two pyrolysis temperatures were tested. Results showed that wheat straw biochar 550 °C supported the highest specific methane yield of 381.9 LCH₄/kg VS_added and VS removal efficiency of 41.62% among all treatments. Degradation of propionic acid and long-chain fatty acids such as valeric, caproic and isovaleric acids was observed. This also corresponded to an increase in methanogenic favorable substrates including acetic acid (>40%) and butyric acid (~20%) over the control. Consequently, a 24% increase in overall methane production was obtained as compared to control. This demonstrated that biochar addition had positive effects on VFA degradation and methane production which could be a useful strategy to increase the organic loading in co-digestions without the fear of process failure.

Original language	English
Article number	123250
Journal	Bioresource Technology
Volume	308
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123250
Publication status	Published - Jul 2020

Scopus Subject Areas

Bioengineering
Environmental Engineering
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Waste Management and Disposal

User-Defined Keywords

Food waste
Mesophilic co-digestion
Organic loading
Syntrophic oxidation
VFA inhibition

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123250

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title = "Enhanced volatile fatty acid degradation and methane production efficiency by biochar addition in food waste-sludge co-digestion: A step towards increased organic loading efficiency in co-digestion",

abstract = "This work investigated the effect of biochar addition to mitigate VFA accumulation and enhance methane production in mesophilic food waste/sludge co-digestion. Different types of biochar derived from agricultural and forestry residues at two pyrolysis temperatures were tested. Results showed that wheat straw biochar 550 °C supported the highest specific methane yield of 381.9 LCH4/kg VSadded and VS removal efficiency of 41.62% among all treatments. Degradation of propionic acid and long-chain fatty acids such as valeric, caproic and isovaleric acids was observed. This also corresponded to an increase in methanogenic favorable substrates including acetic acid (>40%) and butyric acid (~20%) over the control. Consequently, a 24% increase in overall methane production was obtained as compared to control. This demonstrated that biochar addition had positive effects on VFA degradation and methane production which could be a useful strategy to increase the organic loading in co-digestions without the fear of process failure.",

keywords = "Food waste, Mesophilic co-digestion, Organic loading, Syntrophic oxidation, VFA inhibition",

author = "Guneet Kaur and Davidraj Johnravindar and Wong, {Jonathan W C}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by Environment and Conservation Fund , Hong Kong Administrative region (Grant No. ECF Project 108/2018 ). The support from United Kingdom Biochar Research Centre for biochar samples is acknowledged. ",

year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123250",

language = "English",

volume = "308",

journal = "Bioresource Technology",

issn = "0960-8524",

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}

Enhanced volatile fatty acid degradation and methane production efficiency by biochar addition in food waste-sludge co-digestion : A step towards increased organic loading efficiency in co-digestion. / Kaur, Guneet; Johnravindar, Davidraj; Wong, Jonathan W C.

In: Bioresource Technology, Vol. 308, 123250, 07.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Enhanced volatile fatty acid degradation and methane production efficiency by biochar addition in food waste-sludge co-digestion

T2 - A step towards increased organic loading efficiency in co-digestion

AU - Kaur, Guneet

AU - Johnravindar, Davidraj

AU - Wong, Jonathan W C

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by Environment and Conservation Fund , Hong Kong Administrative region (Grant No. ECF Project 108/2018 ). The support from United Kingdom Biochar Research Centre for biochar samples is acknowledged.

PY - 2020/7

Y1 - 2020/7

N2 - This work investigated the effect of biochar addition to mitigate VFA accumulation and enhance methane production in mesophilic food waste/sludge co-digestion. Different types of biochar derived from agricultural and forestry residues at two pyrolysis temperatures were tested. Results showed that wheat straw biochar 550 °C supported the highest specific methane yield of 381.9 LCH4/kg VSadded and VS removal efficiency of 41.62% among all treatments. Degradation of propionic acid and long-chain fatty acids such as valeric, caproic and isovaleric acids was observed. This also corresponded to an increase in methanogenic favorable substrates including acetic acid (>40%) and butyric acid (~20%) over the control. Consequently, a 24% increase in overall methane production was obtained as compared to control. This demonstrated that biochar addition had positive effects on VFA degradation and methane production which could be a useful strategy to increase the organic loading in co-digestions without the fear of process failure.

AB - This work investigated the effect of biochar addition to mitigate VFA accumulation and enhance methane production in mesophilic food waste/sludge co-digestion. Different types of biochar derived from agricultural and forestry residues at two pyrolysis temperatures were tested. Results showed that wheat straw biochar 550 °C supported the highest specific methane yield of 381.9 LCH4/kg VSadded and VS removal efficiency of 41.62% among all treatments. Degradation of propionic acid and long-chain fatty acids such as valeric, caproic and isovaleric acids was observed. This also corresponded to an increase in methanogenic favorable substrates including acetic acid (>40%) and butyric acid (~20%) over the control. Consequently, a 24% increase in overall methane production was obtained as compared to control. This demonstrated that biochar addition had positive effects on VFA degradation and methane production which could be a useful strategy to increase the organic loading in co-digestions without the fear of process failure.

KW - Food waste

KW - Mesophilic co-digestion

KW - Organic loading

KW - Syntrophic oxidation

KW - VFA inhibition

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DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123250

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Enhanced volatile fatty acid degradation and methane production efficiency by biochar addition in food waste-sludge co-digestion: A step towards increased organic loading efficiency in co-digestion

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

User-Defined Keywords

UN SDGs

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