Physical-anaerobic-chemical process for treatment of dairy cattle manure

Anaerobic digestion of liquid dairy manure pretreated by the microwave-enhanced advanced oxidation process

The microwave-enhanced advanced oxidation process (MW-AOP) was utilized for the treatment of liquid dairy manure, prior to anaerobic digestion (AD). A significant amount of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) was formed in the treated solution, but there was no or little increase in volatile fatty acid (VFA). In this study, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors were used in both the conventional AD system and as the methane phase reactor in a two-phase anaerobic digestion (TPAD) system. Both AD systems were capable of operating at very short hydraulic retention times (HRTs) to as low as about 3 days, and very high methane production rates were achieved. However, much higher methane production was obtained in the TPAD system. The phase separation of the acidogenesis and the methanogenesis in the TPAD system not only increased methane production but also maintained reactor stability throughout the experimental period. Thus, the combination of MW-AOP treatment and TPAD appears to be an effective means of energy recovery from dairy manure.

Biological pilot treatment reduces physicochemical and microbiological parameters of dairy cattle wastewater

The objectives of the present study were to characterize and evaluate a pilot treatment unit (PTU) for dairy cattle wastewater (DCW) in relation to its efficiency in reducing the physicochemical and microbiological parameters and possible application of this fertilizer in organic production. A PTU was set up, composed of the following elements: a dung pit of 7.8 m³, already in place; a septic tank; a set of anaerobic biological filters comprising an upflow filter and a downward-flow filter filled with fragments PVC corrugated conduit; and two constructed wetland systems (CWSs) of horizontal subsurface flow in two parallel routes (Routes 1 and 2), controlled by means of a flow rate divider box. Route 1 passed through CWS 1 cultivated with cattail (Typha domingensis) and Route 2 passed through CWS 2 cultivated with vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides). To evaluate the treatment stages, biweekly investigations were carried out to collect effluent samples. The results of monitoring, in absolute values, were evaluated by means of the medians and variation coefficients and compared by means of Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test followed by the Student Newman Keuls test. The treatment efficiencies of Routes 1 and 2 were calculated. The influence of vetiver on the removal of nutrients from the DCW was analyzed and the productivity estimate (t.ha^-1) was performed. CWS 1 was not able to reduce the organic load indices, but it was able to retain fatty material and sodium. CWS 2 showed a reduction in nitrogenous forms and also for other nutrients, achieving the greatest removal of sodium and greatest decay of fecal contamination indicators, thermotolerant coliforms (56.13%), and E. coli (46.82%).

Optimization and modeling of ammonia nitrogen removal from anaerobically digested liquid dairy manure using vacuum thermal stripping process

During anaerobic digestion (AD) of liquid dairy manure, organic nitrogen converts to ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and subsequently escalates the NH₃-N concentrations in manure. Among different available NH₃-N removal processes treating anaerobically digested liquid dairy manure (ADLDM), vacuum thermal stripping is reported to be an effective technique. However, none of the studies have performed multi-parameter optimization, which is of utmost significance in maximizing process efficiency. In this study, critical operational parameters for vacuum thermal stripping of NH₃-N from ADLDM were optimized and modeled for the first time via integrating grey relational analysis (GRA)-based Taguchi design, response surface methodology (RSM), and RSM-artificial neural network (ANN). The initial experimental trials conducted using the GRA coupled with Taguchi L₁₆ orthogonal array revealed the order of influence of the process parameters on NH₃-N removal as vacuum pressure (kPa) > temperature (°C) > treatment time (min) > mixing speed (rpm) > pH. The values of the first three most influential operating parameters were then further optimized and modeled using RSM and RSM-ANN models. Under the optimized conditions (temperature: 69.6 °C, vacuum pressure: 43.5 kPa, and treatment time: 87.65 min), the NH₃-N removal efficiency of 93.58 ± 0.59 % was experimentally observed and was in line with the RSM and RSM-ANN models' predicted values. While the RSM-ANN model showed a better prediction potential than did the RSM model when compared statistically. Moreover, the nutrient contents (nitrogen, N and sulfur, S) of the recovered NH₃-N as ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄) were in reasonable agreement with the market-available (NH₄)₂SO₄ fertilizer. The results presented in this study provide important insights into improving the treatment process performance and will help design and operate future pilot- and full-scale vacuum thermal stripping processes in dairy farms.

Investigation of struvite crystals formed in palm oil mill effluent anaerobic digester

The formation of struvite crystals or magnesium ammonium phosphate (MgNH₄PO₄) in palm oil mill effluent (POME) occurs as early as in the secondary stage of POME treatment system. Its growth continues in the subsequent tertiary treatment which reduces piping diameter, thus affecting POME treatment efficiency. Hypothesis. The beneficial use of the crystal is the motivation. This occurrence is rarely reported in scientific articles despite being a common problem faced by palm oil millers. The aim of this study is to characterize struvite crystals found in an anaerobic digester of a POME treatment facility in terms of their physical and chemical aspects. The compositions, morphology and properties of these crystals were determined via energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Solubility tests were carried out to establish solubility curve for struvite from POME. Finally, crystal growth experiment was done applying reaction crystallization method to demonstrate struvite precipitation from POME. Results showed that high phosphorous (P) (24.85 wt%) and magnesium (Mg) (21.33 wt%) content was found in the struvite sample. Elemental analysis detected carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) below 4 wt%. The crystals analysed by XRD in this study were confirmed as struvite with 94.8% struvite mineral detected from its total volume. Having an orthorhombic crystal system, struvite crystals from POME recorded an average density of 1.701 g cm⁻³. Solubility curve of struvite from POME was established with maximum solubility of 275.6 mg L⁻¹ at pH 3 and temperature 40 °C. Minimum solubility of 123.6 mg L⁻¹ was recorded at pH 7 and temperature 25 °C. Crystal growth experiment utilizing POME as the source medium managed to achieve 67% reduction in phosphorous content. This study concluded that there is a potential of harnessing valuable nutrients from POME in the form of struvite. Struvite precipitation technology can be adapted in the management of POME in order to achieve maximum utilization of the nutrients that are still abundant in POME. At the same time maximization of nutrient extractions from POME will also reduce pollutants loading in the final discharge.

Performance and microbial community dynamics in anaerobic continuously stirred tank reactor and sequencing batch reactor (CSTR-SBR) coupled with magnesium-ammonium-phosphate (MAP)-precipitation for treating swine wastewater

The impacts of magnesium-ammonium-phosphate (MAP) precipitation on the performance and microbial dynamics in an anaerobic continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) coupled with sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for swine wastewater treatment were investigated. In CSTR-SBR systems, an overall higher removal efficiency for COD, NH₄⁺ and PO₄^3-as 98.6%, 98.7% and 97.9% was achieved with MAP precipitation, compared to CSTR-SBR without MAP pretreatment (i.e., 97.5, 74.3% and 19.9% for COD, NH₄⁺ and PO₄^3-, respectively). With MAP precipitation, the high C/N ratio of 6.6 after anaerobic CSTR was observed. The increase in the richness and diversity of microbial communities in CSTR with MAP was conducive to nitrogen and phosphorus removal, as well as biogas production. The core community was affiliated with bacterial phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Cloacimonetes, and Spirochaetae. The study provide a new insight into the potential application of MAP precipitation as pretreatment for dealing with nutrient recovery from high-strength swine wastewater.

Utilization of fly ash as pH adjustment for efficient immobilization and reutilization of nutrients from swine manure using hydrothermal treatment

Hydrothermal treatment has been proven an effective process for immobilization of phosphorus and other macronutrients from animal wastes. Recent research has shown biochars generated from hydrothermal treatment are relatively low in phosphorus availability to be used as a fast release fertilizer substitute. In this research, basic (>7 pH) environment was evaluated at 250-400 °C to determine its impacts on nutrient immobilization and mobility from solid products generated from swine manure. Both fly ash and 0.1 M NaOH were used to adjust hydrothermal treatment environment pH and compared with DI water. Macronutrients were found to be more efficiently immobilized in the basic environments, particularly with addition of fly ash. Further, fly ash altered crystal phases formed at the treatment temperatures resulting in differences of biochar nutrient mobility. Further, post-treatment products were evaluated for heavy metal release for potential use in agricultural applications.

High rate manure supernatant digestion

The study shows that high rate anaerobic digestion may be an efficient way to obtain sustainable energy recovery from slurries such as pig manure. High process capacity and robustness to 5% daily load increases are observed in the 370 mL sludge bed AD reactors investigated. The supernatant from partly settled, stored pig manure was fed at rates giving hydraulic retention times, HRT, gradually decreased from 42 to 1.7 h imposing a maximum organic load of 400 g COD L(-1) reactor d(-1). The reactors reached a biogas production rate of 97 g COD L(-1) reactor d(-1) at the highest load at which process stress signs were apparent. The yield was ∼0.47 g COD methane g(-1) CODT feed at HRT above 17 h, gradually decreasing to 0.24 at the lowest HRT (0.166 NL CH4 g(-1) CODT feed decreasing to 0.086). Reactor pH was innately stable at 8.0 ± 0.1 at all HRTs with alkalinity between 9 and 11 g L(-1). The first stress symptom occurred as reduced methane yield when HRT dropped below 17 h. When HRT dropped below 4 h the propionate removal stopped. The yield from acetate removal was constant at 0.17 g COD acetate removed per g CODT substrate. This robust methanogenesis implies that pig manure supernatant, and probably other similar slurries, can be digested for methane production in compact and effective sludge bed reactors. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis indicated a relatively fast adaptation of the microbial communities to manure and implies that non-adapted granular sludge can be used to start such sludge bed bioreactors.

Phosphorus management in Europe in a changing world

Food production in Europe is dependent on imported phosphorus (P) fertilizers, but P use is inefficient and losses to the environment high. Here, we discuss possible solutions by changes in P management. We argue that not only the use of P fertilizers and P additives in feed could be reduced by fine-tuning fertilization and feeding to actual nutrient requirements, but also P from waste has to be completely recovered and recycled in order to close the P balance of Europe regionally and become less dependent on the availability of P-rock reserves. Finally, climate-smart P management measures are needed, to reduce the expected deterioration of surface water quality resulting from climate-change-induced P loss.

Contribution of precipitates formed in fermentation liquor to the enhanced biogasification of ammonia-rich swine manure by wheat-rice-stone addition

This study investigated the effect of wheat-rice-stone (WRS) addition on mesophilic anaerobic fermentation for methane production from swine manure under high ammonia nitrogen level (5145mg-N/L) in addition to exploring its possible mechanisms involved. Results show that addition of WRS could not only effectively increase methane production by 72% from 82.8 (control) to 142.7ml/g-VS but also remarkably shorten the effective biogasification period from 40 (control) to 20days. In addition, WRS addition could promote the degradation of n-HBu and slow down the accumulation of other volatile fatty acids (VFAs) species, achieving much faster VFAs utilization rate and better pH maintaining capability. More specifically, the existing and released ions especially Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and Fe(3+/2+) were supposed to form precipitates (like struvite and Fe-precipitates) with NH4(+) and PO4(3-) rich in the fermentation liquor, probably contributing a lot to the decreased ammonia concentration and enhanced biogasification under WRS addition.

Utilization of biogas produced by anaerobic digestion of agro-industrial waste: Energy, economic and environmental effects

Anaerobic digestion of agro-industrial waste is of significant interest in order to facilitate a sustainable development of energy supply. Using of material and energy potentials of agro-industrial waste, in the framework of technical, economic, and ecological possibilities, contributes in increasing the share of energy generated from renewable energy sources. The paper deals with the benefits arising from the utilization of biogas produced by co-digestion of whey and cow manure. The advantages of this process are the profitability of the plant and the convenience in realizing an anaerobic digestion plant to produce biogas that is enabled by the benefits from the sale of electric energy at favorable prices. Economic aspects are related to the capital cost (€ 2,250,000) of anaerobic digestion treatment in a biogas plant with a 300 kW power and 510 kW heating unit in a medium size farm (450 livestock units). Considering the optimum biogas yield of 20.7 dm(3) kg(-1) of wet substrate and methane content in the biogas obtained of 79%, the anaerobic process results in a daily methane production of 2,500 kg, with the maximum power generation of 2,160,000 kWh y(-1) and heat generation of 2,400,000 kWh y(-1) The net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period for implementation of profitable anaerobic digestion process is evaluated. Ecological aspects related to carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emission reduction are assessed.

Effect of pH on the anaerobic acidogenesis of agroindustrial wastewaters for maximization of bio-hydrogen production: a lab-scale evaluation using batch tests

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pH on the production of bio-hydrogen and end-products from a mixture of olive mill wastewater, cheese whey and liquid cow manure (with a ratio of 55:40:5, v/v/v). Batch experiments were performed under mesophilic conditions (37°C) at a range of pH from 4.5 to 7.5. The main end-products identified were acetic, propionic, butyric, lactic acid and ethanol. The highest hydrogen production yield was observed at pH 6.0 (0.642 mol H2/mol equivalent glucose consumed), whereas the maximum VFAs concentration (i.e. 13.43 g/L) was measured at pH 6.5. The composition of acidified effluent in acetic and butyric acid was similar at pH 6.0 and 6.5, albeit an increase of propionic acid was observed in higher pH. Lactic acid was identified as a major metabolite which presented an intense accumulation (up to 11 g/L) before its further bioconversion to butyric acid and hydrogen.

Potentials and limitations of biomethane and phosphorus recovery from sludges of brackish/marine aquaculture recirculation systems: a review

Brackish/marine recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) produce a relatively small but concentrated waste stream. The produced waste is perceived as a constraint for sustainable development of brackish/marine RAS. Appropriate disposal of sludge or waste from brackish/marine RAS is of great importance for widespread acceptance and implementation. Anaerobic stabilization of RAS sludge is considered as a potential cost-effective methodology to achieve effective sludge reduction and biogas production. Therefore, this review presents an overview of studies conducted on anaerobic digestion of sludge from brackish/marine RAS. Several researchers have shown that specific methane yield (SMY) of anaerobic digestion of sludges from brackish/marine RAS is relatively low, mainly in the range of 0.001-0.184 m(3) CH4 (STP)/kg COD of sludge added. The possible reasons for low SMY are reviewed in this work and can be mainly attributed to applied experimental set-ups, particularly improper inoculum, and high salinity, mainly resulting from high sodium cation levels. This review also evaluates the potentials and limitations for phosphorus recovery from the waste streams. Additionally, corresponding approaches to enhance specific methanogenic activities are proposed, particularly about the need for further thickening sludges from brackish/marine RAS in order to increase SMY from the wastes and downsize the anaerobic digestion units.

Process design and dynamics of a series of continuously fed aerated tank reactors treating dairy manure

A 6-month trial was carried out to study operational conditions and process dynamics in a system of six continuously fed aerated tank bioreactors grouped by serial connection. Feedback was with NH3-stripped solution after biological treatment, with the purpose of lowering the NH3 content of the feedback solution in order to improve the process. The fate of carbon and nutrients during treatment were determined, as well as the ammonia stripping performance of the biological treatment. The results of the study confirmed the dynamic nature of the serial system and indicated its resistance to process disturbances. The feedback of slurry resulted in a dilution effect and significantly reduced the carbon and nutrients concentrations in the first tank, increasing the treatment efficiency. Overall, after mechanical separation, low intensity aeration treatment and ammonia stripping, up to 61%, 67%, 79% and 83% average reductions of TS, Ntot, NH4(+)-N and Ptot, respectively, were reached.

Modelling of the whey and cow manure co-digestion process

The production of renewable energy, a reduction of waste and prevention of environmental pollution promote the industrial application of anaerobic co-digestion for the treatment of agro-industrial organic waste. In this paper production of biogas/methane was studied by performing a series of laboratory batch experiments using whey and cow manure as substrates. The influence of substrate concentration, temperature and pH on biogas production was analysed. A mathematical model has been developed that describes the co-digestion process. The hydrolysis of proteins, lipids and cellulose has been modelled using first-order kinetics. Fermentation of sugars and amino acids, anaerobic oxidation of long chain fatty acids (LCFA), acetogenesis and methanogenesis have been described using an unstructured model based on Monod kinetic equations taking into account different inhibitory effects. Model applicability was demonstrated by comparing experimental results with the model simulation results.

Optimization of struvite crystallization protocol for pretreating the swine wastewater and its impact on subsequent anaerobic biodegradation of pollutants

Higher contents of NH(4)(+) and SS in wastewater hamper the anaerobic digestion; necessitating its pretreatment to reduce them. This study reveals optimization of struvite/MAP precipitation protocol followed by anaerobic digestion of pretreated swine wastewater for pollutants removal. Levels of different treatments: stirring speeds, 400 and 160 rpm; pH values, 9.0, 9.5, 10.0, 10.5, 11.0 and 11.5; and P:Mg:N ratios, 1:1:1.2, 1:1:1.7, 1:1:2.2, 1:1:2.7, 1:1:4.0 and 1:1:5.0 were evaluated for MAP crystallization. Among various combinations, protocol comprising of initial 10 min stirring at 400 rpm followed by 160 rpm for 30 min, pH 10.0, and P:Mg:N ratio 1:1:1.2 rendered the best removal efficiency for NH(4)(+), PO(4)(3-), COD, TC and TOC. Subsequent anaerobic biodegradation revealed superiority of MAP supernatant over raw swine wastewater for methane yield and NH(4)(+)-N, PO(4)(3-)-P, COD, TC and TOC removals. It suggests that struvite precipitation as pretreatment to anaerobic digestion is highly effective and advantageous in wastewater treatment.