Eco-Friendly and Effective Diatomaceous Earth/Peat (DEP) Microbial Carriers in the Anaerobic Biodegradation of Food Waste Products
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Date
2022-05-05Author
Pilarska, Agnieszka A.
Pilarski, Krzysztof
Adamski, Mariusz
Zaborowicz, Maciej
Cais-Sokolińska, Dorota
Wolna-Maruwka, Agnieszka
Niewiadomska, Alicja
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This article aims to present the results of research on anaerobic digestion (AD) of waste
wafers (WF-control) and co-substrate system—waste wafers and cheese (WFC-control), combined
with digested sewage sludge. The aim of this study was to assess the physicochemical parameters
of the diatomaceous earth/peat (DEP; 3:1) carrier material and to verify its impact on the enzy-
matic activity and the process performance. The experiment was conducted in a laboratory, in a
periodical mode of operation of bioreactors, under mesophilic conditions. The results of analyses
of morphological-dispersive, spectroscopic, adsorption, thermal, and microbiological properties
confirmed that the tested carrier material can be an excellent option to implement in biotechnological
processes, especially in anaerobic digestion. As part of the experiment, the substrates, feedstock, and
fermenting slurry were subjected to the analysis for standard process parameters. Monitoring of the
course of AD was performed by measuring the values of key parameters for the recognition of the
stability of the process: pH, VFA/TA ratio (volatile fatty acids/total alkalinity), the content of NH4+,
and dehydrogenase activity, as an indicator of the intensity of respiratory metabolism of microor-
ganisms. No significant signals of destabilization of the AD process were registered. The highest
dehydrogenase activity, in the course of the process, was maintained in the WFC + DEP system. The
microbial carrier DEP, used for the first time in the anaerobic digestion, had a positive effect on the
yield of methane production. As a result, an increase in the volume of produced biogas was obtained
for samples fermented with DEP carrier material for WF + DEP by 13.18% to a cumulative methane
yield of 411.04 m3 Mg−1 VS, while for WFC + DEP by 12.85% to 473.91 m3 Mg−1 VS.
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