Long-Term Evaluation of Mesophilic Semi-Continuous Anaerobic Digestion of Olive Mill Solid Waste Pretreated with Steam-Explosion

Antonio Serrano, Fernando G. Fermoso, Bernabé Alonso-Fariñas, Guillermo Rodríguez-Gutiérrez, Sergio López, Juan Fernandez-Bolaños and Rafael Borja
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Antonio Serrano: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Campus Universitario Pablo de Olavide, Edificio 46, Ctra. de Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Fernando G. Fermoso: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Campus Universitario Pablo de Olavide, Edificio 46, Ctra. de Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Bernabé Alonso-Fariñas: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Sevilla, Higher Technical School of Engineering, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
Guillermo Rodríguez-Gutiérrez: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Campus Universitario Pablo de Olavide, Edificio 46, Ctra. de Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Sergio López: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Campus Universitario Pablo de Olavide, Edificio 46, Ctra. de Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Juan Fernandez-Bolaños: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Campus Universitario Pablo de Olavide, Edificio 46, Ctra. de Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Rafael Borja: Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Campus Universitario Pablo de Olavide, Edificio 46, Ctra. de Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Steam-explosion is a promising technology for recovering phenolic compounds from olive mill solid waste (OMSW) due to its high impact on the structure of the fibre. Moreover, the recovery of the phenols, which are well-known microbial inhibitors, could improve the subsequent biomethanization of the dephenolized OMSW to produce energy. However, there is a considerable lack of knowledge about how the remaining phenolic compounds could affect a long-term biomethanization process of steam-exploded OMSW. This work evaluated a semi-continuous mesophilic anaerobic digestion of dephenolized steam-exploited OMSW during a long operational period (275 days), assessing different organic loading rates (OLRs). The process was stable at an OLR of 1 gVS/(L·d), with a specific production rate of 163 ± 28 mL CH 4 /(gVS·d). However, the increment of the OLR up to 2 gVS/(L·d) resulted in total exhaust of the methane production. The increment in the propionic acid concentration up to 1486 mg/L could be the main responsible factor for the inhibition. Regardless of the OLR, the concentration of phenolic compounds was always lower than the inhibition limits. Therefore, steam-exploited OMSW could be a suitable substrate for anaerobic digestion at a suitable OLR.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; economic evaluation; olive mill solid waste; phenolic compounds; steam explosion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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