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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Bowling Green, Kentucky » Food Animal Environmental Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300796
Title: The effect of electron acceptors on biogas production from tannery sludge of a Mexican wastewater plant

Author
item RUIZ-AGUILAR, G.M. - University Of Guanajuato
item Lovanh, Nanh
item CAMARENA-AGUILAR, E - University Of Guanajuato
item ALVAREZ-VILLAFAÑA, V - University Of Guanajuato
item GOMEZ-LUNA, B - University Of Guanajuato
item MOLINA-OCHOA, J - University Of Colima
item SOSA, O - University Of Guanajuato

Submitted to: International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2015
Publication Date: 3/4/2015
Citation: Ruiz-Aguilar, G.L., Lovanh, N.C., Camarena-Aguilar, E.A., Alvarez-Villafaña, V.J., Gomez-Luna, B.E., Molina-Ochoa, J., Sosa, O. 2015. The effect of electron acceptors on biogas production from tannery sludge of a Mexican wastewater plant. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 12:11(3479-3488).

Interpretive Summary: Effluents from the leather processing plants generally are discharged into rivers or are used to irrigate farmland. The biogas production from the digestion of sludge produced could be used as alternative sources for energy and power generation. A study was carried out to examine the effects of various chemical amendments (additional nutrients) on biogas production from tannery sludge. Two bench scale experiments were performed: the first experiment used different nutrients (nitrate, iron and sulfate), in the second only urea was used as a nitrogen source with three carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios. It was found that the reactors with additional nitrate generated the most biogas (4.5 mg/mL, 200 mL of biogas accumulated in just 25 days). Similarly, the reactors with the lower ratio of C/N (6.0) produced larger biogas production (131.50 ± 19.1 mL of biogas) in a shorter period of just 9 days. The results also showed that the addition of simple sugar (glucose) did not significantly influence the production of biogas. This would be an advantage when designing a biodigester, as it could generate methane at a faster rate with different chemical amendments. In general it can be concluded that increasing the proportion of the sludge in the system affects the anaerobic processes, and therefore the production of biogas. Nitrogen (as nitrate and urea) showed a positive influence on the process and should be considered in the generation of biogas from tannery waste digestion. This work represents one of the few reports relating to the production of biogas from a tannery wastewater treatment plant. However, further studies on whether gas production from tannery digestion will be sufficient for use as a fuel source or power generation for practical use are needed.

Technical Abstract: Effluents from the leather processing plants generally are discharged into rivers or are used to irrigate farmland. The biogas production from the digestion of sludge produced could be used as alternative sources for energy and power generation. A study was carried out to examine the effects of various electron acceptors amendments on biogas production from tannery sludge. Two bench scale experiments were performed: the first experiment used different electron acceptors (nitrate, iron and sulfate), in the second only urea was used as a nitrogen source with three carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios. It was found that the reactors with nitrate as electron acceptor generated the most biogas (4.5 mg/mL, 200 mL of biogas accumulated in just 25 days). Similarly, the reactors with the lower ratio of C/N (6.0) produced larger biogas production (131.50 ± 19.1 mL of biogas) in a shorter period of time (9 days). The results also showed that the addition of glucose did not significantly influence the production of biogas. This would be an advantage when designing a biodigester, as it could generate methane at a faster rate with different chemical amendments. However, further studies on whether gas production from tannery digestion will be sufficient for use as a fuel source or power generation for practical use are needed.