ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Enhancement of Biogas Production through Phase Separated Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Cattle Manure with Fruit and Vegetable Waste
 
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1
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, United Kingdom
 
2
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
 
3
Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, KPK, Pakistan
 
4
Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
 
5
Centre of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
 
6
Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
 
7
Department of Microbiology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Peshawar, Pakistan
 
8
Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
 
 
Submission date: 2024-08-22
 
 
Final revision date: 2024-10-19
 
 
Acceptance date: 2025-02-16
 
 
Online publication date: 2025-04-18
 
 
Corresponding author
Moona Nazish   

Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
 
 
Malik Badshah   

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
 
 
 
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ABSTRACT
In response to current energy challenges, anaerobic digestion (AD) is emerging as a viable and sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Phase separation evolves to mitigate process instability observed in single-stage AD, offering enhanced process stability and efficiency for biogas production. This study aims to comprehensively compare phase-separated and single-phase AD systems while incorporating cattle manure and fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) co-digestion to enhance process stability and biogas production. The two-stage and single-stage continuous AD systems were analyzed at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 3 gVSL-1day-1 with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days and three retention periods (30 days) under uncontrolled environmental conditions (20-35ºC), which may fluctuate with seasonal changes, and controlled temperature (37ºC). The FVW and cattle manure were co-digested in a 1:1 ratio of volatile solids (VS) as a substrate. The two-stage AD system operated at 37ºC and exhibited the highest biogas yield (0.25 NL/gVS) at a steady state as compared to single-stage AD, including 0.113 NL/gVS, 0.178 NL/gVS, and 0.201 NL/gVS at environmental temperature (20-35ºC), controlled temperature (37ºC), and two-phase AD at environmental temperature (20-35ºC), respectively. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test revealed a significant effect of the controlled temperature and phase separation on biogas production, F(3, 0) = 0.987, p<0.001. Additionally, the total reduction in COD in the final effluent was notably higher in the two-stage anaerobic digester at 37ºC, showing an 85% reduction rate compared to single-stage anaerobic digesters with a mean difference of -6.51 (95% CI [-9.50, -3.52]) and SD = 1.88, t(3) = -6.93, p = 0.006, two-tailed. These results highlight the significant biogas productivity, improved process stability, and better effluent quality achieved through phase separation of the anaerobic digester at 37ºC. The estimated biogas potential from two-stage anaerobic co-digestion of cattle manure and FVW is 21.37 million m³/day in Pakistan, representing significant prospects for implementing this technology as a renewable energy source.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
eISSN:2083-5906
ISSN:1230-1485
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