Co-digestion of Whey with Glycerin in an AnSBBR for Biomethane Production

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the co-digestion of cheese whey and glycerin in an anaerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor (AnSBBR) with recirculation of the liquid phase applied to biomethane production. The applied volumetric organic load (AVOL) in all conditions was 7.5 kgCOD m−3 day−1. The feeding time was equal to half of the cycle time. The best condition for co-digestion was the wastewater with 75 % of cheese whey and 25 % of glycerin (chemical oxygen demand (COD) basis); it achieved a productivity of 101.8 molCH4 m−3 day−1 and a yield of 13.3 molCH4 kgCOD−1 with 89 % of COD removal. This represents an increase of productivity of almost 9 and 30 % when compared to the anaerobic digestion of cheese whey and glycerin alone, respectively. The co-digestion proposed is a promising solution for both pollutants with the advantage of high energy production. A first-order kinetic model was fitted efficiently to the process. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.