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The Impact of Preservation Techniques on Methane-Arrested Anaerobic Digestion of Nutrient-Rich Feedstocks

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Abstract

The carboxylate platform is a promising biomass-to-energy pathway that uses methane-arrested anaerobic digestion (MAAD) to convert biomass to carboxylic acids, which can be chemically converted to industrial chemicals and liquid fuels. Lignocellulose is an energy-rich carbon source, but lacks nutrients necessary for microbial growth. Chicken manure (rural waste) and sewage sludge (urban waste) are rich in nitrogen and useful macronutrients; therefore, co-digesting these wastes with lignocellulose improves MAAD performance. However, waste nutrients must be digested immediately, or preserved. This study investigated the effects of various preservation techniques — frozen (fresh), air-dried, and baked — on chicken manure and sewage sludge. Batch experiments were performed with office paper (carbon source) and chicken manure or sewage sludge (nutrient source) with different methods of preservation. Fresh substrates produced higher acid yields and biomass conversion (the amount of biomass consumed during digestion) than dried substrates. Baked chicken manure showed reduced conversion and total acid production, which suggests that oven-drying reduces digestibility. From the batch data, the Continuum Particle Distribution Model (CPDM) predicted results of a four-stage countercurrent digestion. The data are displayed on maps showing the impact of liquid residence time (LRT) and volatile solids loading rate (VSLR) on conversion and product concentration. Co-digesting office paper and wet chicken manure at a non-acid volatile solid (NAVS) concentration of 300 g/Lliq, the model predicted a high total acid concentration of 52.8 g/L and conversion of 0.89 g NAVSdigested/NAVSfed at a volatile solid loading rate of 4 g/(Lliq·day) and liquid retention time of 35 days.

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Data Availability

All datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable requests.

Abbreviations

MAAD:

Methane-arrested anaerobic digestion

CPDM:

Continuum Particle Distribution Model

C/N:

Carbon/nitrogen ratio

LRT:

Liquid residence time

VSLR:

Volatile solids loading rate

CM:

Chicken manure

SS:

Sewage sludge

BCM:

Paper and baked chicken manure

ACM:

Paper and air-dried chicken manure

WCM:

Paper and wet chicken manure

FCM:

Paper and fresh chicken manure

WSS:

Paper and wet sewage sludge

ADS:

Paper and air-dried sewage sludge

NAVS:

Non-acid volatile solids

VS:

Volatile solids

Aceq:

Acetate equivalent

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Funding

This project was sponsored by internal funds from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3122, USA

    Opeyemi Olokede, Kejia Liu & Mark Holtzapple

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  1. Opeyemi Olokede
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  2. Kejia Liu
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  3. Mark Holtzapple
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Contributions

OO: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing – original draft, visualization.

KL: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing – original draft, visualization.

MH: conceptualization, methodology, resources, writing – review & editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Opeyemi Olokede.

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Olokede, O., Liu, K. & Holtzapple, M. The Impact of Preservation Techniques on Methane-Arrested Anaerobic Digestion of Nutrient-Rich Feedstocks. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195, 331–352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04149-3

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