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Evaluation of the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Tomato Waste at Mesophilic Temperature

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Abstract

Sewage sludge is a hazardous waste, which must be managed adequately. Mesophilic anaerobic digestion is a widely employed treatment for sewage sludge involving several disadvantages such as low methane yield, poor biodegradability, and nutrient imbalance. Tomato waste was proposed as an easily biodegradable co-substrate to increase the viability of the process in a centralized system. The mixture proportion of sewage sludge and tomato waste evaluated was 95:5 (wet weight), respectively. The stability was maintained within correct parameters in an organic loading rate from 0.4 to 2.2 kg total volatile solids (VS)/m3 day. Moreover, the methane yield coefficient was 159 l/kg VS (0 °C, 1 atm), and the studied mixture showed a high anaerobic biodegradability of 95 % (in VS). Although the ammonia concentration increased until 1,864 ± 23 mg/l, no inhibition phenomenon was determined in the stability variables, methane yield, or kinetics parameters studied.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for co-funding this research through Project CTM2011-26350 and to the AECID for the economic support through the Projects D/024687/09, D/030888/10, and A1/039699/11.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology and Quality, Faculty of Sciences, University Ibn Tofail (Morocco), BP 133, Kenitra, Morocco

    Siham Belhadj, Yassine Joute & Hassan El Bari

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Campus Universitario de Rabanales, University of Cordoba (Spain), Edificio Marie Curie (C-3), Ctra. N IV, Km 396, 14071, Cordoba, Spain

    Antonio Serrano, Aida Gil, José Á. Siles, Arturo F. Chica & M. Ángeles Martín

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  1. Siham Belhadj
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  2. Yassine Joute
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Correspondence to M. Ángeles Martín.

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Belhadj, S., Joute, Y., El Bari, H. et al. Evaluation of the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Tomato Waste at Mesophilic Temperature. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 172, 3862–3874 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-0790-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-0790-9

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