Wet Anaerobic Codigestion of Sewage Sludge and OFMSW in Pilot-Scale Continuously Stirred Tank Reactors: Focus on the Reactor Microbial Communities

Isabella Pecorini (), Elena Rossi, Simone Becarelli, Francesco Baldi, Simona Di Gregorio and Renato Iannelli
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Isabella Pecorini: DESTEC—Department of Energy, Systems Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, Via C.F. Gabba 22, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Elena Rossi: DESTEC—Department of Energy, Systems Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, Via C.F. Gabba 22, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Simone Becarelli: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Luca Ghini 13, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Francesco Baldi: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Simona Di Gregorio: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Luca Ghini 13, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Renato Iannelli: DESTEC—Department of Energy, Systems Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, Via C.F. Gabba 22, 56122 Pisa, Italy

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Dark fermentation (DF) is a simple method for hydrogen (H 2 ) production through the valorization of various organic wastes that can be used as feedstock. In particular, an organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is a fermentation substrate that can easily be gathered and provides high yields in biogas and value-added organic compounds such as volatile fatty acids (VFAs). DF is coupled with a methanogenic reactor to enhance biogas production from the OFMSW. In this study, a two-stage reactor was conducted and monitored to optimize the methane yield by reducing the HRT at the DF reactor. A focus of the functional inference based on a next-generation sequence (NGS) metabarcoding analysis and comparison of microbial communities that populate each reactor stage was performed. Concerning gas quality, the two-stage system observed a hydrogen-rich biogas in the first fermentative reactor (on average 20.2%) and an improvement in the methane content in the second methanogenic digester, which shifted from 61.2% obtained for the one-stage experiment to 73.5%. Such increases were due to the improvement in substrate hydrolysis. As for the specific biogas production, the results showed an overall increase of 50%.

Keywords: dark fermentation; food waste; hydrogen; methane; two-stage process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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