Speaker
Description
The global transition toward renewable energy sources and the ongoing replacement of fossil fuels have intensified the demand to valorize food industry side streams into second-generation biofuels, as well as various chemical compounds and biopolymers. Biomethane production via anaerobic digestion represents a viable pathway for converting organic waste into clean energy, in line with circular economy principles. Stillage, a liquid byproduct generated during alcohol distillation, contains high amounts of organic carbon suitable for microbial conversion, yet requires efficient management to prevent adverse environmental impacts.
In this study, the biomethane production potential and digestion kinetics of organic-rich stillage were thoroughly investigated. Methane fermentation was conducted over 23 days in bioreactors with a working volume of 30 dm³, operating under mesophilic conditions at 37 °C with hydromixing.
A modified Gompertz model was employed to mathematically describe biomethane accumulation dynamics and evaluate key kinetic parameters. The experimental findings demonstrated a cumulative biomethane yield of 322 mL/g VS. The kinetic model exhibited an excellent fit to the experimental data, yielding a coefficient of determination of R² = 0.99. This high correlation confirms the model's reliability in predicting methane accumulation behavior, lag phase duration, and maximum methane production rates.
In conclusion, this work demonstrates that stillage is a highly effective, stable, and weather-independent feedstock for continuous bioenergy production, offering significant economic and environmental benefits for regions with well-established agricultural and food-processing industries.
| Conference Topics | Green Engineering |
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