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Valorization of the Liquid Fraction of a Mixture of Livestock Waste and Cheese Whey for Biogas Production Through High-rate Anaerobic Co-digestion and for Electricity Production in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

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Abstract

The objective of this work is the evaluation of two alternative ways of valorizing the liquid fraction of a mixture of different kinds of livestock waste and cheese whey, namely (a) biogas production through the anaerobic co-digestion of in a Periodic Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (PABR) and (b) electrical energy generation in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). The different kinds of livestock manure (pig manure, cow manure, poultry manure, sheep manure and cheese whey) were collected from the region of Metsovo, Greece. The mixture was passed through a pretreatment process producing a liquid fraction that was treated (a) in a pilot-scale Periodic Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (PABR) for methane production and (b) in a lab-scale two-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell for electricity production. In the present study, the experimental data obtained from a previous study [1] were used for the evaluation of a simple mathematical model, based on Monod kinetics, for the PABR using Aquasim 2.1 [2]. The simple model was able to satisfactorily describe the behavior of the PABR in terms of soluble COD consumption. In addition, the same liquid waste, filtered (0.70 μm) and diluted at different initial concentrations, was used as feedstock for electricity production, using a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The experiments showed that the MFC performance was not limited by the wastewater strength, since the substrate removal efficiency and the maximum power density were not affected by an increase of the initial concentration. The required time showed a linear relationship with the initial concentration of the substrate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 15780, Athens, Greece

    I. Michalopoulos, D. Chatzikonstantinou, D. Mathioudakis, I. Vaiopoulos, A. Tremouli, M. Georgiopoulou, K. Papadopoulou & G. Lyberatos

  2. Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, Stadiou Str, Platani, 26504, Patras, Greece

    G. Lyberatos

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  1. I. Michalopoulos
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  2. D. Chatzikonstantinou
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  3. D. Mathioudakis
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  4. I. Vaiopoulos
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  5. A. Tremouli
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  6. M. Georgiopoulou
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  7. K. Papadopoulou
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  8. G. Lyberatos
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Correspondence to K. Papadopoulou.

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Michalopoulos, I., Chatzikonstantinou, D., Mathioudakis, D. et al. Valorization of the Liquid Fraction of a Mixture of Livestock Waste and Cheese Whey for Biogas Production Through High-rate Anaerobic Co-digestion and for Electricity Production in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). Waste Biomass Valor 8, 1759–1769 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-9974-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-9974-1

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