Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Agro-Industrial Waste Mixtures for Biogas Production: An Energetically Sustainable Solution

Diógenes Hernández, Fernando Pinilla, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva (), Joaquín Aburto-Hole, Joaquín Díaz, Guillermo Quijano, Sara González-García and Claudio Tenreiro
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Diógenes Hernández: Departamento de Tecnologías Industriales, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Merced 437, Curicó 3341717, Chile
Fernando Pinilla: Departamento de Tecnologías Industriales, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Merced 437, Curicó 3341717, Chile
Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva: CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Joaquín Aburto-Hole: Departamento de Tecnologías Industriales, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Merced 437, Curicó 3341717, Chile
Joaquín Díaz: Departamento de Tecnologías Industriales, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Merced 437, Curicó 3341717, Chile
Guillermo Quijano: Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes of Water Treatment, Juriquilla Academic Unit, Engineering Institute, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
Sara González-García: CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Claudio Tenreiro: Departamento de Tecnologías Industriales, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Merced 437, Curicó 3341717, Chile

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: In a climate crisis, searching for renewable energy sources is urgent and mandatory to achieve a low-carbon society. The food industry is an attractive source for providing different organic waste with great potential for energy generation, avoiding the environmental impacts of its inadequate management at the disposal stage. This manuscript determines the feasibility of using three agro-industrial byproducts for biogas production with a mesophilic anaerobic digestion process. Three mixture samples such as tomato pulp with olive cake (TP-OC), apple pomace with olive cake (AP-OC), and tomato pulp with apple pomace (TP-AP) at a 1:1 w / w ratio were evaluated using bovine manure as inoculum. During 7 to 12 days of operation, results indicate that TP-OC achieved the highest biogas production yield with 1096 mL/L (with up to 70% methane), followed by AP-OC and TP-AP with 885 (62% methane) and 574 mL/L (69% methane), respectively. Experimentally, TP-OC consistently encompassed the highest biogas and methane production and fit the kinetic models, whereas the modified Gompertz model produced the best fit (R 2 = 99.7%). This manuscript supports the preference for mixing byproducts from the agro-industrial sector rather than using them individually for biogas production.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; agri-food waste; biomass; methane; biogas; bioenergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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