Valorization of Distillery Stillage for Bioenergy Production: A Review

Magdalena Zielińska, Katarzyna Bułkowska and Wioleta Mikucka
Additional contact information
Magdalena Zielińska: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna St. 45G, 10-709 Olsztyn, Poland
Katarzyna Bułkowska: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna St. 45G, 10-709 Olsztyn, Poland
Wioleta Mikucka: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna St. 45G, 10-709 Olsztyn, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: In alcohol distilleries, the amount of distillery stillage generated can be up to 15 times larger than the amount of alcohol produced. The stillage has high concentrations of organics and nitrogen, a low pH, and a dark brown color. Currently, stillage is mainly used for soil fertilization. For this purpose, it requires thickening and is used seasonally, which creates storage problems and transport costs. To reduce environmental pollution, physicochemical and biological processes have been employed for the treatment of distillery stillage. However, according to bioeconomy principles, the stillage should be transformed into value-added products. Therefore, this review paper focuses on methods of stillage processing that enable energy recovery. Due to its high content of organic compounds, stillage is often used as a raw material for biogas production. Accordingly, anaerobic digestion of stillage is discussed, including an overview of the bioreactors used and the effects of operational parameters on organics removal and biogas production. The necessity of integrating anaerobic stillage treatment with other treatment processes is presented. As complex compounds that are present in the stillage (mainly polyphenols and melanoidin) are difficult to biodegrade and have antibacterial activities, the effect of their recovery on biogas production is described. Next, the possibility of converting distillery stillage to bioethanol and biohydrogen is presented. In addition, bioelectrochemical treatment of distillery stillage using microbial fuel cells is discussed. For all these treatment methods, current challenges and opportunities are given.

Keywords: biomethane; bioethanol; biohydrogen; bioelectrochemical treatment; polyphenols; melanoidin (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 (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7235/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7235/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:21:p:7235-:d:670899

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().