A Study on the Feasibility of Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Raw Cheese Whey with Coffee Pulp Residues

Sandra Gonzalez-Piedra, Héctor Hernández-García, Juan M. Perez-Morales, Laura Acosta-Domínguez, Juan-Rodrigo Bastidas-Oyanedel and Eliseo Hernandez-Martinez
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Sandra Gonzalez-Piedra: Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa Veracruz 91000, Mexico
Héctor Hernández-García: Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Xalapa, Xalapa Veracruz 91096, Mexico
Juan M. Perez-Morales: Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa Veracruz 91000, Mexico
Laura Acosta-Domínguez: Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa Veracruz 91000, Mexico
Juan-Rodrigo Bastidas-Oyanedel: SDU-IGT, SDU-Biotechnology, Department of Green Technology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
Eliseo Hernandez-Martinez: Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa Veracruz 91000, Mexico

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: In this paper, a study on the feasibility of the treatment of raw cheese whey by anaerobic co-digestion using coffee pulp residues as a co-substrate is presented. It considers raw whey generated in artisanal cheese markers, which is generally not treated, thus causing environmental pollution problems. An experimental design was carried out evaluating the effect of pH and the substrate ratio on methane production at 35 °C (i.e., mesophilic conditions). The interaction of the parameters on the co-substrate degradation and the methane production was analyzed using a response surface analysis. Furthermore, two kinetic models were proposed (first order and modified Gompertz models) to determine the dynamic profiles of methane yield. The results show that co-digestion of the raw whey is favored at pH = 6, reaching a maximum yield of 71.54 mL CH4 g VSrem −1 (31.5% VS removed) for raw cheese whey and coffee pulp ratio of 1 g VSwhey g VSCoffe −1 . The proposed kinetic models successfully fit the experimental methane production data, the Gompertz model being the one that showed the best fit. Then, the results show that anaerobic co-digestion can be used to reduce the environmental impact of raw whey. Likewise, the methane obtained can be integrated into the cheese production process, which could contribute to reducing the cost per energy consumption.

Keywords: anaerobic co-digestion; raw cheese whey; coffee pulp; experimental design; kinetic model (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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