Assessing the potential of waste activated sludge and food waste co-fermentation for carboxylic acids production
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This study investigated waste activated sludge (WAS) and food waste (FW) co-fermentation in batch assays to produce carboxylic acids. Three mixtures (50%, 70% and 90% WAS in VS basis) were studied under different conditions: with and without extra alkalinity, and with and without WAS auto-hydrolysis pre-treatment. All tests were carried out at 35 °C, without pH adjustment and without external inoculum. Experimental results showed that co-fermentation yields, including volatile fatty acids and lactic acid, were always higher than WAS and FW mono-fermentation yields (ca. 100 and 80 mgCOD/gVS, respectively). Co-fermentation yields increased as the proportion of FW in the mixture increased, indicating that the improvement was primarily due to a higher FW degradation under co-fermentation conditions. The maximum co-fermentation yield was on average 480 mgCOD/gVS for the WAS/FW_50/50 mixture. The importance of pH on co-fermentation performance was evident in the experiments carried out with extra alkalinity, which showed that the proportion of WAS in the mixture should be high enough to keep the pH above 5.0. However, fermenters operational conditions should also prevent the enrichment of acetic acid consuming microorganisms. WAS auto-hydrolysis pre-treatment did not enhance co-fermentation yields but showed minor kinetic improvements. Regarding the product profile, butyric acid was enriched as the proportion of FW in the mixture increased and the concomitant pH decreased to the detriment of propionic acid. Propionic acid prevailed under neutral pH in the WAS mono-fermentation and the WAS/FW_90/10 mixture.
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Co-fermentation of food waste and waste activated sludge at a 50/50 ratio at pH 5.3 and day 6 produced 47% butyric acid, 19% valeric acid, and 18% acetic acid.
“The result of co-fermentation (WAS/food waste_50/50) profile shows that 47% butyric acid, 19% valeric acid and 18% acetic acid at day 6 and pH 5.3, while 40% acetic acid, 26% butyric acid and 15% propionic acid at pH 4.3 during the same fermentation period and conditions [87].”
From Food Waste Biorefinery: Pathway towards Circular Bioeconomy (2021) · cites this paper as [87]
pH affects the concentration of acetic acid and lactic acid, and lower pH favors their accumulation in co-fermentation.
“They observed pH affects the concentration of acetic acid and lactic acid and lower pH favors their accumulations [87].”
From Food Waste Biorefinery: Pathway towards Circular Bioeconomy (2021) · cites this paper as [87]
Co-fermentation of food waste and waste activated sludge at a 50/50 ratio at pH 4.3 and day 6 produced 40% acetic acid, 26% butyric acid, and 15% propionic acid.
“The result of co-fermentation (WAS/food waste_50/50) profile shows that 47% butyric acid, 19% valeric acid and 18% acetic acid at day 6 and pH 5.3, while 40% acetic acid, 26% butyric acid and 15% propionic acid at pH 4.3 during the same fermentation period and conditions [87].”
From Food Waste Biorefinery: Pathway towards Circular Bioeconomy (2021) · cites this paper as [87]
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Food Waste Biorefinery: Pathway towards Circular Bioeconomy
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- Authors
- Vidal-Antich, C., Perez-Esteban, N., Astals, S., Peces, M., Mata-Alvarez, J., & Dosta, J.
- Affiliations
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Astals, S.
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 757
- Pages
- 143763
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3110631898
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 4.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (submittedVersion)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RYC-2017-22372)
- Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CTM2016-76275-R, PID2019-111284RB-I00)
- Horizon 2020 (730349)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation
- Keywords
- waste activated sludge, food waste, co-fermentation, carboxylic acids, volatile fatty acids, lactic acid, butyrate, propionic acid, acetic acid, pH effect, alkalinity, anaerobic fermentation, wastewater valorization
- MeSH terms
- Carboxylic Acids, Fatty Acids, Volatile, Fermentation, Food, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Refuse Disposal, Sewage, Bioreactors
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