RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Upscaling volatile fatty acids production: Demonstrating the reliability of anaerobic fermentation of food wastes from the lab towards industrial implementation
A1 Gonçalves, Manuel João Afecto
A1 Greses, Silvia
A1 Kanine, Omar
A1 Guez, Jean Sébastien
A1 Fontanille, Pierre
A1 Vial, Christophe
A1 González Fernández, María Cristina
K1 Anaerobic fermentation
K1 Food waste
K1 Volatile fatty acids
K1 Upscale
K1 Pilot plant
K1 Demonstration plant
K1 Microbial populations
K1 3308 Ingeniería y Tecnología del Medio Ambiente
AB In recent years, the anaerobic fermentation (AF) of food waste (FW) has gained significant attention as a sustainable solution for waste valorization. However, the challenge of scaling up biotechnological processes for industrial applications remains a key barrier to commercialization. This investigation addressed this challenge by scaling up an auto-AF process from laboratory scale (4 L) to pilot (50 L) and demonstration scale in an industrial environment (250 L), using a lipid-rich FW (46.6 %, w/w) as the feedstock and endogenous microbiota as the inoculum. The applied operating conditions promoted the hydrolysis (>35 % volatile solids (VS) removal) and acidogenesis (>58 % of soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) acidified) steps. As the reactor size for technology testing was increased, efficient mixing was crucial to ensure a proper homogenization of the fermentation broth. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) prevailed in the endogenous microbiota, contributing to the enhanced hydrolysis and acidification efficiencies determined at all the scales. The minimal performance variations determined at different reactors' scales, along with the stability of the metabolite profiles, demonstrated the robustness and reliability of AF, opening the door to continue further industrialization.
PB Elsevier
SN 0048-9697
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/76988
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/76988
LA eng
NO Science of The Total Environment, 2025, vol. 985, p. 179735
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 03-ago-2025