scholarly journals Opportunities for Waste to Energy in the Milk Production Industry: Perspectives for the Circular Economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12892
Author(s):  
Miguel Casallas-Ojeda ◽  
Luz Elba Torres-Guevara ◽  
Diana M. Caicedo-Concha ◽  
María F. Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Cheese Whey ◽  
Degradation Process ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Microbiological Analysis ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Agricultural Potential ◽  
Production Industry

Cheese whey is a waste produced in the dairy industry which generates problems if it is dumped directly into the sewer due to its high organic load. An alternative for cheese whey management is anaerobic digestion, a biological process that transforms organic matter into biogas and digestate, two products with significant energy and agricultural potential. This work was aimed at contributing to the building of knowledge about the anaerobic degradation of cheese whey, developing a bibliometric analysis, and tracing trends in related research from 2010 up to the present, using PRISMA® to develop a systematic review based on Scopus® and using Excel® and bibliometric software (VosViewer® and RefViz®) for the identification of information. Our results show that the research around cheese whey is relatively recent and that the highest percentage of publications is from 2018 onwards. Twelve variables of the anaerobic cheese whey degradation process were identified and grouped into five factors: substrate, reactor configuration, digestate analysis, microbiological analysis, and inoculum. Likewise, it was identified that most of the anaerobic processes allow the implementation of the circular economy into the dairy sector. In conclusion, the application of anaerobic digestion in the dairy sector can help to close the productive cycles, produce biofuels, and reduce pollution.

scholarly journals Waste to energy and circular economy: the case of anaerobic digestion

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 817-838
Author(s):  
Zahid Hussain ◽  
Jyoti Mishra ◽  
Emanuela Vanacore
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Water Acidification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk

PurposeThis paper highlights how biological waste materials can be used for generating the much needed energy and obtaining nutrient-rich compost for agriculture through anaerobic digestion (AD). The paper further highlights the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in using AD for converting waste to energy (WTE), leading to many environmental benefits as well as clean energy generation. It would help to reduce pollution, water acidification and carbon emissions that eventually lead to climate change.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers undertook an in-depth study to highlight the role played by an SME in converting WTE and helping towards achieving circularity. An exploratory case-based approach was used to understand value leakage for an AD plant operating on WTE principles in the UK. The plant is still currently active, and it is located in the Midlands, England. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were undertaken with different stakeholders.FindingsThis paper reveals the importance of WTE and the significant role played by AD in converting food waste into useful matter. It reports further into the value leakage issue faced in the AD plants. It demonstrates the importance of technological innovation in SME to capture value leakages in a circular model. Most importantly, it demonstrates how SMEs gain competitive advantage and generate value proposition, while they aim for zero waste to landfill objective.Research limitations/implicationsThe research involves a case study based on an SME, operating on a circular business model. It will be worth investigating how other businesses could gain competitive advantage. For SMEs interested in AD for WTE, this paper introduces further technological innovation to the AD process to leverage further potential for reuse of waste liquid. Any SMEs entering WTE market ought to take into consideration such design implications.Practical implicationsThe paper reveals how the use of waste by SMEs would lead to many environmental benefits as well as clean energy generation. It would help to reduce pollution, water acidification and carbon emissions that eventually lead to climate change. It is useful for addressing the needs of waste food producers and is a cheap raw material for generating energy. The benefits to the public are that it reduces the need for landfill and increases recycling.Social implicationsThe WTE is an effective way of making use of last-stage waste.Originality/valueDespite SMEs being the powerhouse of the European economies, there is limited research investigating how circular economy (CE) could unlock their potential. Moreover, development of AD in the UK has lagged behind other EU countries. We highlight value leakages and argue how technological innovation should be used to close the value chain loop in the WTE production process. This paper, therefore, demonstrates the important role of an AD process, which involves decomposition of biodegradable materials. It shows that AD is an economically viable and environmentally friendly process of obtaining clean energy at low cost.

scholarly journals Cheese Whey Processing: Integrated Biorefinery Concepts and Emerging Food Applications

Foods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iliada Lappa ◽  
Aikaterini Papadaki ◽  
Vasiliki Kachrimanidou ◽  
Antonia Terpou ◽  
Dionysios Koulougliotis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Cheese Whey ◽  
Whey Proteins ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Integrated Biorefinery ◽  
Food Applications ◽  
Novel Products ◽  
Value Added Products

Cheese whey constitutes one of the most polluting by-products of the food industry, due to its high organic load. Thus, in order to mitigate the environmental concerns, a large number of valorization approaches have been reported; mainly targeting the recovery of whey proteins and whey lactose from cheese whey for further exploitation as renewable resources. Most studies are predominantly focused on the separate implementation, either of whey protein or lactose, to configure processes that will formulate value-added products. Likewise, approaches for cheese whey valorization, so far, do not exploit the full potential of cheese whey, particularly with respect to food applications. Nonetheless, within the concept of integrated biorefinery design and the transition to circular economy, it is imperative to develop consolidated bioprocesses that will foster a holistic exploitation of cheese whey. Therefore, the aim of this article is to elaborate on the recent advances regarding the conversion of whey to high value-added products, focusing on food applications. Moreover, novel integrated biorefining concepts are proposed, to inaugurate the complete exploitation of cheese whey to formulate novel products with diversified end applications. Within the context of circular economy, it is envisaged that high value-added products will be reintroduced in the food supply chain, thereby enhancing sustainability and creating “zero waste” processes.

scholarly journals Psychrophilic Full Scale Tubular Digester Operating over Eight Years: Complete Performance Evaluation and Microbiological Population

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Jaime Jaimes-Estévez ◽  
German Zafra ◽  
Jaime Martí-Herrero ◽  
Guillermo Pelaz ◽  
Antonio Morán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Microbiological Analysis ◽  
Complete Evaluation ◽  
Load Rate ◽  
Biogas Plants

Most biogas plants in the world run under psychrophilic conditions and are operated by small and medium farmers. There is a gap of knowledge on the performance of these systems after several years of operation. The aim of this research is to provide a complete evaluation of a psychrophilic, low-cost, tubular digester operated for eight years. The thermal performance was monitored for 50 days, and parameters such as pH, total volatile fatty acid (tVFA), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and volatile solids (VS) were measured every week for the influent and effluent. The digester operated at a stabilized slurry temperature of around 17.7 °C, with a mean organic load rate (OLR) equal to 0.52 kg VS/m3digester *d and an estimated hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 25 days. The VS reduction in the digester was around 77.58% and the COD reduction was 67 ± 3%, with a mean value for the effluent of 3.31 ± 1.20 g COD/Lt, while the tVFA decreased by 83.6 ± 15.5% and the presence of coliforms decreased 10.5%. A BioMethane potential test (BMP) for the influent and effluent showed that the digester reached a specific methane production of 0.40 Nm3CH4/kg VS and a 0.21 Nm3CH4/m3digester d with 63.1% CH4 in the biogas. These results, together with a microbiological analysis, show stabilized anaerobic digestion and a biogas production that was higher than expected for the psychrophilic range and the short HRT; this may have been due to the presence of an anaerobic digestion microorganism consortium which was extremely well-adapted to psychrophilic conditions over the eight-year study period.

Municipal solid waste-to-energy processing for a circular economy in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 111080
Author(s):  
M.T. Munir ◽  
Ahmad Mohaddespour ◽  
A.T. Nasr ◽  
Susan Carter
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Energy Processing

scholarly journals Structure of Microbial Communities When Complementary Effluents Are Anaerobically Digested

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1293
Author(s):  
Ana Eusébio ◽  
André Neves ◽  
Isabel Paula Marques
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Olive Mill Wastewater ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Next Generation Sequencing Ngs ◽  
Generation Sequencing ◽  
Olive Mill

Olive oil and pig productions are important industries in Portugal that generate large volumes of wastewater with high organic load and toxicity, raising environmental concerns. The principal objective of this study is to energetically valorize these organic effluents—piggery effluent and olive mill wastewater—through the anaerobic digestion to the biogas/methane production, by means of the effluent complementarity concept. Several mixtures of piggery effluent were tested, with an increasing percentage of olive mill wastewater. The best performance was obtained for samples of piggery effluent alone and in admixture with 30% of OMW, which provided the same volume of biogas (0.8 L, 70% CH4), 63/75% COD removal, and 434/489 L CH4/kg SVin, respectively. The validation of the process was assessed by molecular evaluation through Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of the 16S rRNA gene. The structure of the microbial communities for both samples, throughout the anaerobic process, was characterized by the predominance of bacterial populations belonging to the phylum Firmicutes, mainly Clostridiales, with Bacteroidetes being the subdominant populations. Archaea populations belonging to the genus Methanosarcina became predominant throughout anaerobic digestion, confirming the formation of methane mainly from acetate, in line with the greatest removal of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in these samples.

scholarly journals The Start-Up of Continuous Biohydrogen Production from Cheese Whey: Comparison of Inoculum Pretreatment Methods and Reactors with Moving and Fixed Polyurethane Carriers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 510
Author(s):  
Elza R. Mikheeva ◽  
Inna V. Katraeva ◽  
Andrey A. Kovalev ◽  
Dmitriy A. Kovalev ◽  
Alla N. Nozhevnikova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cheese Whey ◽  
Hydraulic Retention Time ◽  
Continuous Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Acid Pretreatment ◽  
Methanogenic Activity ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Load Rate

This article presents the results of the start-up of continuous production of biohydrogen from cheese whey (CW) in an anaerobic filter (AF) and anaerobic fluidized bed (AFB) with a polyurethane carrier. Heat and acid pretreatments were used for the inactivation of hydrogen-scavengers in the inoculum (mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic sludge). Acid pretreatment was effective for thermophilic anaerobic sludge to suppress methanogenic activity, and heat treatment was effective for mesophilic anaerobic sludge. Maximum specific yields of hydrogen, namely 178 mL/g chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 149 mL/g COD for AFB and AF, respectively, were obtained at the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4.5 days and organic load rate (OLR) of 6.61 kg COD/(m3 day). At the same time, the maximum hydrogen production rates of 1.28 and 1.9 NL/(L day) for AF and AFB, respectively, were obtained at the HRT of 2.02 days and OLR of 14.88 kg COD/(m3 day). At the phylum level, the dominant taxa were Firmicutes (65% in AF and 60% in AFB), and at the genus level, Lactobacillus (40% in AF and 43% in AFB) and Bifidobacterium (24% in AF and 30% in AFB).

Waste-to-Energy Technologies Towards Circular Economy: a Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 232 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronney Arismel Mancebo Boloy ◽  
Augusto da Cunha Reis ◽  
Eyko Medeiros Rios ◽  
Janaína de Araújo Santos Martins ◽  
Laene Oliveira Soares ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Energy Technologies

Influence of immobilization supports on the kinetic constants of anaerobic digestion of cheese whey

1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Borja ◽  
M.M. Durán ◽  
A. Martín ◽  
M. Luque ◽  
V. Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Cheese Whey ◽  
Kinetic Constants
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