Long-term bio-H2 and bio-CH4 production from food waste in a continuous two-stage system: Energy efficiency and conversion pathways

Dalal E Algapani; Wei Qiao; Francesca di Pumpo; David Bianchi; Simon M Wandera; Fabrizio Adani; Renjie Dong

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.164

Long-term bio-H₂ and bio-CH₄ production from food waste in a continuous two-stage system: Energy efficiency and conversion pathways

Bioresour Technol. 2018 Jan;248(Pt A):204-213. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.164. Epub 2017 May 29.

Authors

Dalal E Algapani¹, Wei Qiao², Francesca di Pumpo³, David Bianchi³, Simon M Wandera⁴, Fabrizio Adani³, Renjie Dong⁵

Affiliations

¹ Biomass Engineering Center, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; College of Agricultural Technology and Fish Science, Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.
² Biomass Engineering Center, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; State R&D Center for Efficient Production and Comprehensive Utilization of Biobased Gaseous Fuels, Energy Authority, National Development, and Reform Committee (BGFuels), Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: qiaowei@cau.edu.cn.
³ Gruppo Ricicla - DiSAA - University of Milan, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy.
⁴ Biomass Engineering Center, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
⁵ Biomass Engineering Center, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; State R&D Center for Efficient Production and Comprehensive Utilization of Biobased Gaseous Fuels, Energy Authority, National Development, and Reform Committee (BGFuels), Beijing 100083, China.

PMID: 28596077
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.164

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion is a well-established technology for treating organic waste, but it is still under challenge for food waste due to process stability problems. In this work, continuous H₂ and CH₄ production from canteen food waste (FW) in a two-stage system were successfully established by optimizing process parameters. The optimal hydraulic retention time was 5d for H₂ and 15d for CH₄. Overall, around 59% of the total COD in FW was converted into H₂ (4%) and into CH₄ (55%). The fluctuations of FW characteristics did not significantly affect process performance. From the energy point view, the H₂ reactor contributed much less than the methane reactor to total energy balance, but it played a key role in maintaining the stability of anaerobic treatment of food waste. Microbial characterization indicated that methane formation was through syntrophic acetate oxidation combined with hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis pathway.

Keywords: Food waste; Hydrogen and methane; Long-term experiment; Two-stage process.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors*
Food*
Methane

Substances

Methane