Pilot-scale anaerobic digestion of by-product liquid (brown juice) from grass protein extraction using an un-heated anaerobic filter

Abstract

The present study investigated the feasibility of using pilot-scale anaerobic filter to treat by-product liquid (brown juice, BJ) from grass protein extraction in a green biorefinery, and produce biogas via anaerobic digestion without co-digestion substrate. Prior to feed into the un-heated anaerobic filter reactor, the BJ was warmed up to 55−60 °C in order to maintain the digestion temperature. The influence of retention time and feeding frequencies were tested in order to optimize the overall performance. The study demonstrated that anaerobic filter is feasible for converting BJ to biogas. The specific CH production reached 230 mL gCOD−1 d −1 while up to 80 % of influent COD was removed within a hydraulic retention time of 5.5 days. In addition, higher feeding frequencies enhanced the process stability as it narrowed the temperature variation and decreased the instant impact on buffer capacity.