TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of total solids content on biochar amended co-digestion of food waste and sludge
T2 - Microbial community dynamics, methane production and digestate quality assessment
AU - Johnravindar, Davidraj
AU - Kaur, Guneet
AU - Liang, Jialin
AU - Luo, Liwen
AU - Zhao, Jun
AU - Manu, M. K.
AU - Kumar, Rajat
AU - Varjani, Sunita
AU - Wong, Jonathan W.C.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Environmental and Conservation Fund (ECF), Hong Kong administrative region (Grant No, ECF Project 108/208 ) and the United Kingdom Biochar Research Centre for the biochar samples.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - This study evaluates the impact of biochar addition on the performance of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste (FW) and sewage sludge at different total solids (TS) contents (2.5 %, 5.0 %, and 7.5 %). Biochar co-digestion improved hydrolysis and acidogenesis by neutralizing volatile fatty acids (VFAs) reducing its inhibitions (2.6-fold removal), which elevated the soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) degradation by 2.5 folds leading to a higher cumulative methane production compared to the control. This increase corresponded to an improvement of methane yields by ∼21 %−33 % (242–340 mL/gVSadd) at different TS contents. The biochar surface area offered substantial support for direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) activity, and biofilm-mediated growth of methanogens i.e., Methanosarcina, Methanosata, and Methanobrevibacter. The biochar-enriched digestate improved the seed germination index, and bioavailability of plant nutrients such as N, P, K, and NH4+-N. This study reports an improved biochar-mediated anaerobic co-digestion for efficient and sustainable FW valorization.
AB - This study evaluates the impact of biochar addition on the performance of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste (FW) and sewage sludge at different total solids (TS) contents (2.5 %, 5.0 %, and 7.5 %). Biochar co-digestion improved hydrolysis and acidogenesis by neutralizing volatile fatty acids (VFAs) reducing its inhibitions (2.6-fold removal), which elevated the soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) degradation by 2.5 folds leading to a higher cumulative methane production compared to the control. This increase corresponded to an improvement of methane yields by ∼21 %−33 % (242–340 mL/gVSadd) at different TS contents. The biochar surface area offered substantial support for direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) activity, and biofilm-mediated growth of methanogens i.e., Methanosarcina, Methanosata, and Methanobrevibacter. The biochar-enriched digestate improved the seed germination index, and bioavailability of plant nutrients such as N, P, K, and NH4+-N. This study reports an improved biochar-mediated anaerobic co-digestion for efficient and sustainable FW valorization.
KW - Anaerobic co-digestion
KW - Biochar
KW - DIET
KW - Food waste
KW - Total solids content
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134925534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127682
DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127682
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85134925534
SN - 0960-8524
VL - 361
JO - Bioresource Technology
JF - Bioresource Technology
M1 - 127682
ER -
