Energetic Valorization of Solid Wastes from the Alcoholic Beverage Production Industry: Distilled Gin Spent Botanicals and Brewers? Spent Grains

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the authors assess the possibilities of energetic valorization for two solid wastes from alcoholic beverage production. Distilled gin spent botanicals (DGSB) and brewers' spent grains (BSG) are tested, both by themselves and as co-substrates, for their possibilities as substrates for anaerobic digestion in a system of box-type digesters, suited for the process. While BSGs show a good performance for anaerobic digestion, DGSBs, despite showing an acceptable biomethanogenic potential result as not suitable for the process. Experiments using DGSBs as substrate in the reactors result in failure. And, as a co-substrate, the biomethanogenic digestion process appears to be hampered and lagged. Possible explanations for this behavior are explored, as well as other possibilities for the use of the material as a power source given its high heating valu

Biogas potential of wastes and by-products of the alcoholic beverage production industries in the Spanish region of cantabria

The industry of alcoholic beverage production has been, historically, both an important economic engine and a source of wastes and pollution (due to the production processes by themselves and to the energy requirements) in a number of countries. In the small region of Cantabria, in northern Spain, the production of alcoholic beverages as an economic sector has been growing in importance in recent years. Thus, there is a new flow of waste for which specific management plans have yet to be developed. The result is an increase in the total amount of urban waste to be disposed. Anaerobic digestion can be a suitable in-situ solution for the treatment of the generated wastes providing a source of renewable energy which can be a supply for the processes in these industries, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases associated to the use of fossil fuels, all of this benefitting both environment and economy. In this work the authors present the information gathered about waste generation and the biomethanogenic potential of the most important wastes generated in the industries. As a result, specific strategies could be designed for the industrial sector in the region, of which other small agro-industries can benefi

Evaluation of different types of anaerobic seed sludge for the high rate anaerobic digestion of pig slurry in UASB reactors

Three different types of anaerobic sludge (granular, thickened digestate and anaerobic sewage) were evaluated as seed inoculum sources for the high rate anaerobic digestion of pig slurry in UASB reactors. Granular sludge performance was optimal, allowing a high efficiency process yielding a volumetric methane production rate of 4.1 L CH4 L-1 d-1 at 1.5 days HRT (0.248 L CH4 g-1 COD) at an organic loading rate of 16.4 g COD L-1 d-1. The thickened digestate sludge experimented flotation problems, thus resulting inappropriate for the UASB process. The anaerobic sewage sludge reactor experimented biomass wash-out, but allowed high process efficiency operation at 3 days HRT, yielding a volumetric methane production rate of 1.7 L CH4 L-1 d-1(0.236 L CH4 g-1 COD) at an organic loading rate of 7.2 g COD L-1 d-1. To guarantee the success of the UASB process, the settleable solids of the slurry must be previously removed

Biogas production from the liquid waste of distilled gin production: Optimization of UASB reactor performance with increasing organic loading rate for co-digestion with swine wastewater

This study is the first test that proves high rate anaerobic digestion as an efficient technological process for the treatment of gin spent wash. The gin spent wash was co-digested in UASB reactors with swine wastewater, which provided nutrients and alkalinity. The process was optimized by increasing the proportion of gin spent wash in the feed, and thus the organic loading rate (OLR) up to reactor failure. Stable high- efficiency operation was reached at an OLR as high as 28.5 kg COD m−3 d−1, yielding 8.4m3 CH4 m−3 d−1 and attaining a COD removal of 97.0%. At an organic loading rate of 32.0 kg COD m−3 d−1, the process became unstable and the reactor underwent over-acidification that drastically lowered the pH and suppressed methanogenesis. The failure of the reactor was caused by a combination of an organic overloading and alkalinity deficit that uncoupled acidogenesis and methanogenesis

Dry batch anaerobic digestion of food waste in a box-type reactor system: Inoculum preparation and reactor performance

A box-type reactor system with liquid inoculum has been studied for the dry anaerobic digestion of foodwaste. The food waste was processed without any pre-treatment to remove physical impurities, neitherwater addition to dilute and slurry the feedstock. The experiment was carried out with inoculum tosubstrate ratios of 1:1 (w/w) and 0.08:1 (VS basis). Previous acclimation of liquid inoculum enhanced theprocess, assuring a fast start up of the box digester and preventing from process failure by volatile fattyacids accumulation. The percolate recirculation strategy was shown to have a relevant effect on theprogress of the process. The results suggest that the process can be optimized by providing low percolaterecirculation rate during the start-up of the box digester followed by an increase in the percolaterecirculation rate when volatile fatty acids decrease and methane content in the biogas increases. Themethane yield obtained in the box digester from the food waste was in the range 460e477 L CH4kg 1VS,being the VS removal efficiency between 91.1 and 91.4%. Globally, the process operated at an organicloading rate of 2.5 kg VS m 3d 1and yielded a volumetric methane production rate of 1.0 m3CH4m3d 1. These results show the high potential of food waste for its conversion in renewable energy by usingthe dry batch anaerobic technology

Quantification and energetic use of wastes form the alcoholic beverage production in Cantabria. Case study: gin distillation

RESUMEN: La industria de fabricación de bebidas alcohólicas es un subsector de la industria agroalimentaria de gran importancia, dado su gran volumen de producción de artículos de alto valor añadido, con importantes flujos, tanto de elementos de producción (materias primas y energía) como de residuos creados. En el presente estudio se analiza la posibilidad de la valorización energética de dichos residuos aplicado al contexto territorial de la Comunidad Autónoma de Cantabria (España), fundamentalmente por medio de sistemas de digestión anaerobia dada la doble utilidad de los mismos, tanto como tratamiento de residuos como por la creación de un recurso energético como es el biogás cumpliéndose de este modo los principios de la economía circular. Además, se particulariza el estudio sobre los residuos, tanto líquidos como sólidos, de la producción de ginebras destiladas, dadas tanto la importancia reciente de la producción de dicha bebida, como la ausencia de estudios en la literatura científica sobre los mismos. La presente es una tesis realizada como compendio de artículos, todos ellos publicados en revistas de alto impacto en sus sectores (Q1 y Q2)ABSTRACT: The alcoholic beverage production industry is a subsector of the agri-food industry of the greatest importance due to its great production volume of items of a high added value, with important flows both of production elements (raw matters and energy) and wastes of different nature. In this studio the possibility of energetic valorization of these wastes in analyzed, applied to the territorial context of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria (Spain), mainly through anaerobic digestion systems due to their double utility as waste treatments and as a production system of an energy resource as the created biogas is, in compliance with the principles of circular economy. In addition the study is also focused on the wastes, both liquid and solid, of distilled gin production, given the recent importance of this beverage production as well as the absence of other studies about them in the scientific literature. This is a thesis made as a compilation of scientific papers, all of them published in high impact journals (Q1 y Q2) in their fields of knowledge