Título
Methane production by treating vinasses from hydrous ethanol using a modified UASB reactor
Autor
LILIANA MARIA ALZATE GAVIRIA
Nivel de Acceso
Acceso Abierto
Materias
Resumen o descripción
Background:A modified laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was used to obtain
methane by treating hydrous ethanol vinasse. Vinasses or stillage are waste materials with high organic loads, and a
complex composition resulting from the process of alcohol distillation. They must initially be treated with anaerobic
processes due to their high organic loads. Vinasses can be considered multipurpose waste for energy recovery and
once treated they can be used in agriculture without the risk of polluting soil, underground water or crops. In this
sense, treatment of vinasse combines the elimination of organic waste with the formation of methane. Biogas is
considered as a promising renewable energy source. The aim of this study was to determine the optimum organic
loading rate for operating a modified UASB reactor to treat vinasse generated in the production of hydrous ethanol
from sugar cane molasses.
Results:The study showed that chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was 69% at an optimum
organic loading rate (OLR) of 17.05 kg COD/m
3
-day, achieving a methane yield of 0.263 m
3
/kg CODaddedand
a biogas methane content of 84%. During this stage, effluent characterization presented lower values than the
vinasse, except for potassium, sulfide and ammonia nitrogen. On the other hand, primers used to amplify the
16S-rDNA genes for the domains Archaea and Bacteria showed the presence of microorganisms which favor
methane production at the optimum organic loading rate.
Conclusions:The modified UASB reactor proposed in this study provided a successful treatment of the vinasse
obtained from hydrous ethanol production.
Methanogen groups (Methanobacteriales and Methanosarcinales) detected by PCR during operational optimum
OLR of the modified UASB reactor, favored methane production.
Keywords:Methane yield, Modified UASB reactor, Vinasse from hydrous ethanol, 16S-rDNA genes amplification
Fecha de publicación
21 de noviembre de 2012
Tipo de publicación
Artículo
Recurso de información
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application/pdf
Repositorio Orígen
Repositorio Institucional CICY
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