Behandlung fetthaltiger Abwässer der Lebensmittelindustrie mit einem thermophilen Mikroorganismus

Establishment and assessment of a novel cleaner production process of corn grain fuel ethanol

An integrated corn ethanol-methane fermentation system was proposed to solve the problem of stillage handling, where thin stillage was treated by anaerobic digestion and then reused to make mash for the following ethanol fermentation. This system was evaluated at laboratory and pilot scale. Anaerobic digestion of thin stillage ran steadily with total chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency of 98% at laboratory scale and 97% at pilot scale. Ethanol production was not influenced by recycling anaerobic digestion effluent at laboratory and pilot scale. Compared with dried distillers' grains with solubles produced in conventional process, dried distillers' grains in the proposed system exhibited higher quality because of increased protein concentration and decreased salts concentration. Energetic assessment indicated that application of this novel process enhanced the net energy balance ratio from 1.26 (conventional process) to 1.76. In conclusion, the proposed system possessed technical advantage over the conventional process for corn fuel ethanol production.

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion to increase the net energy balance of corn grain ethanol

U.S. production of fuel ethanol from corn grain has increased considerably over the last 10 years. Intense debate regarding the true environmental impact of the overall production process has been ongoing. The present study evaluated the utilization of thin stillage (a major byproduct of the dry-mill corn grain-to-ethanol process) in laboratory-scale thermophilic anaerobic sequencing batch reactors for conversion to methane. We found that augmentation of cobalt as a growth factor to the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process is required. After reaching sustainable operating performances, the methane potential in the reactors was 0.254 L CH4/g total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) fed. Together with a reduction in the mass of solids that needs drying, methane generation translates to a 51% reduction of natural gas consumption at a conventional dry mill, which improves the net energy balance ratio from 1.26 to 1.70. At the design hydraulic retention time of 10 days, the digesters achieved TCOD, biodegradable COD, volatile solids, and total solids removal efficiencies of 90%, 75%, 89%, and 81%, respectively. We also found that struvite precipitation occurred in the thermophilic digesters during the course of the study, resulting in possibilities for nutrient recovery.