Anaerobic Digestion Of Vinasse Research Articles

Volatile fatty acid and methane production from vinasse and microalgae using two-stage anaerobic co-digestion.

The effects of adding vinasse (VIN) as a co-substrate on the stability and production of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and methane (CH4) during the anaerobic digestion (AD) of microalgal biomass (MB) were evaluated. The AD system consisted of an acidogenic reactor (AR) followed by a methanogenic reactor (MR). The experiment was divided into phase I-start-up and AD of VIN; phase II-MB+VIN co-digestion (50:50 based on chemical oxygen demand (COD)); and phase III-co-digestion of pretreated MB and VIN (PTMB+VIN, 50:50). In phase I, the total amount of VFA in the AR increased from 240 to 2126 mg/L. In the MR, the conversion of VFA into CH4 yielded an average of 71 ± 37 NmL CH4/g CODin. In phase II, the initial CH4 production was 246 ± 31 mL CH4/g CODin but it decreased to 63 mL CH4/g CODin due to the accumulation of longer chain acids. More stable conditions were achieved after two hydraulic retention cycles and the average CH4 yield in this phase was 183 mL CH4/g CODin. In phase III, when using PTMB, 197 ± 72 NmL CH4/g CODin were obtained, i.e., a 2.7- and 1.1-fold increases compared to phases I and II, respectively. The predominance of acetate producers and syntrophic organisms suggests acetoclastic methanogenesis, confirmed by the occurrence of Methanosaeta (10.5%).

Long-term temporal dynamics of total and potentially active microbiota affect the biogas quality from the anaerobic digestion of vinasse in a pilot-scale hybrid anaerobic reactor

The microbiota was evaluated through a time series of the 16S rrna gene in a pilot-scale Hybrid Anaerobic Reactor treating vinasse. The microbial composition, evenness and diversity differed between the DNA and cDNA, the latter showing a better response for %CH4 along monitoring of the microbiota. Moreover, the microbial composition and richness were distinct between the reactor's compartments, possibly contributing to the COD removal in the sludge blanket. The abundant Methanospirillum, Methanomassiliicoccaceae, Bacteroidetes-vadinHA17, Paludibacteraceae-H1, Prolixibacteraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Syntrophobacter and Desulfovibrio contributed to the %CH4, as well as the redundancy of fermentation and hydrogenotrophic and methylotrophic methanogenesis, and the evenness and diversity of potentially active microbiota and metabolisms. The microbial changes after the middle of reactor's operation required new adaptations and impacted the biogas quality, but did not affect COD removal. This study brings important knowledge about the microbial temporal dynamics, plasticity and contribution to the anaerobic digestion in pilot-scale reactors.

Adding Value to Sugarcane Bagasse Ash: Potential Integration of Biogas Scrubbing with Vinasse Anaerobic Digestion

One of the byproducts of sugarcane bagasse combustion in sugarcane mills is sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), which contains up to ~40 mass% of organic matter. Currently, SCBA is partially used as a soil fertilizer. However, SCBA’s poor content of minerals, which are required by soils, restricts its use in soils, resulting in the disposal of large amounts of SCBA in landfills. Alternatively, SCBA has shown promise for some environmental applications such as wastewater treatment, but its use in gas cleaning deserves further study. The objective of this work was to assess the use of as-received SCBA to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from biogas, thus, to add value to the ash. The experimental procedure consisted of passing biogas containing H2S through a column with SCBA and monitoring the H2S content inline by employing a gas chromatograph until the concentration of H2S, measured after the column, was ~10% of the original concentration. The breakthrough time of the SCBA adsorption curve was ~75% the breakthrough time observed with activated carbon, showing that SCBA could be a cheap alternative to commercial materials that are currently used for biogas scrubbing. This result could positively impact ethanol sugarcane mills that need to clean biogas produced from vinasses, as part of a strategy to integrate biogas production and cleaning operations using low-value residues (i.e., vinasses and ash). SCBA’s capacity for removing H2S from biogas results from the presence of K-compounds (e.g., K2SiO3 and K2Si2O5) on the ash’s surface and its relatively high porosity. Additionally, S-enriched SCBA (due to H2S retention) can expectedly be more beneficial to soils than directly adding the ash since S is an essential nutrient for the growth of plants.

Anaerobic digestion of vinasse and water treatment plant sludge increases methane production and stability of UASB reactors

Studies are still needed to increase the stability and efficiency of methane production from vinasse. Therefore, operations strategies, such as the anaerobic digestion with one or more wastes and adding micronutrients, especially iron, become attractive. The performance of two treatment systems, each one composed of two UASB reactors in series, operated under mesophilic (R1M and R2M) and thermophilic (R1T and R2T) temperature conditions, was evaluated in the anaerobic digestion of vinasse (ADV). First, the reactors were operated with the effluent recirculation and increasing organic loading rate (OLR) up to 20 g CODtotal L−1d−1 in the R1M and R1T. Then, the anaerobic digestion of vinasse and water treatment plant (WTP) sludge (ADVS) was performed in the proportions of 25:75 to 50:50 (% v/v) in both systems. In the ADV, applying the highest OLR, the mesophilic and thermophilic reactors instabilities happened. The ADVS of over 35% of WTP sludge promoted the recovery of the mesophilic and thermophilic UASB reactors with significantly reduced total volatile acids and increased alkalinity and biogas production. The higher average values of the volumetric methane production (VMP) occurred in the ADVS at 50% of WTP; in the R1M and R1T, they were 3.23 and 3.00 L CH4 L−1d−1, respectively. In the ADV, the thermophilic system presented higher VMP concerning the mesophilic for OLR up to 15 g CODtotal L−1d−1. For higher OLR, the mesophilic system showed better carrying capacity and stability. The ADVS with above 35% of WTP sludge promoted similar benefits in the two systems, with no significant differences in CODtotal removal and VMP. Therefore, adding iron by WTP sludge in ADVS improves methane production and increases the stability of UASB reactors under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions.

Simulation and economic evaluation of process alternatives for biogas production and purification from sugarcane vinasse

Vinasse, which is the main residue of ethanol production, is a promising alternative for the generation of biogas, due to its high generation rate and limited application. The objective of the present work is to simulate and economically compare alternative processes for the production and treatment of biogas from the anaerobic digestion of vinasse. Different water, H2S and CO2 removal technologies were evaluated: condensation, membrane separation, washing, Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), adsorptions with silica gel, activated carbon and metallic oxides, absorptions with triethylene glycol (TEG), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid iron (III) (Fe/EDTA) and diethylamine (DEA). It was shown that an anaerobic lagoon is preferable over a set of Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors due to the large processing scale, reducing the capital costs. Among the 12 evaluated routes, the best process alternative for biogas treatment was water removal through silica gel adsorption, followed by simultaneous H2S and CO2 absorption in a Fe/EDTA solution. In the best scenario, the entire biomethane production plant would require an investment of US$ 3.6 million, resulting in an annual net profit of US$ 1.99 million, with payback in the first year of operation.

Techno-economic evaluation of bioenergy production from anaerobic digestion of by-products from ethanol flex plants

Ethanol production implies in by-products generation, mainly vinasse and stillage, respectively generated from sugarcane and corn ethanol production in flex plants. Both by-products require efficient treatment routes to avoid environmental side-effects to support energy recovery. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to evaluate the techno-economic potential of bioenergy (electric and thermal energy) production from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of vinasse and stillage. Three scenarios were defined: (a) Scenario 1, AD of vinasse; (b) Scenario 2, AD of stillage; and (c) Scenario 3, AD of vinasse and stillage in an integrated process. From the results, the methane production was estimated at 3.8 × 106 m3 year−1 considering the AD of stillage and vinasse in Scenario 3. The electricity and thermal energy generation was estimated as 14.61 GWh year−1 and 1.37 × 105 GJ year−1, respectively. This energy would mitigate 1096.05 and 7659.27 ton CO2eq year−1 when replacing fossil fuel energy. The profitability analysis indicated a positive net present value in the scenarios evaluated, however, the highest value was achieved for Scenario 3 (7,890,407.44 USD). For the integrated process, an internal return rate of 86.87% and a payback of 0.68 year were observed. The sensitivity analysis showed that the project profitability is highly dependent on electricity and thermal energy selling prices. In conclusion, AD demonstrated to be a feasible alternative for vinasse and stillage management in an integrated process, being a sustainable technology to the circular economy transition and energy matrix decarbonization.

Enhanced Biogas Production from Sugarcane Vinasse using Electro-Fenton as Pre-treatment Method

High concentration of organic matter in the sugarcane vinasse is potential as a biogas feedstock, but its a very high organic matter (expressed by chemical oxygen demand (COD), >100,000 mg/L) disturbs the biological activity during anaerobic digestion (AD). The maximum COD concentration in vinasse that is recommended as an initial condition of biogas feedstock is ±75,000 mg/L. Furthermore, complex characteristics of vinasse make it necessary to be pre-treated before it is converted to biogas. Therefore, an advanced oxidation process (AOP) such as electro-Fenton (EF) is applied as a pre-treatment method in the AD of vinasse. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-treatment of vinasse using the EF method on biogas production. The process of EF was conducted with a variation of voltage (4, 6, 8 V) under the batch system and constant operating conditions such as treatment time, initial pH, the ratio of [H2O2] to [COD], and distance between electrodes. Moreover, the process of AD was run using anaerobic digesters having a volume of 2 L under the batch system at room temperature. The AD was conducted for 40 days. The results showed that the best EF could decrease the COD as much as 81.14% at 4 V with constant operation conditions (treatment time of 60 min, initial pH of 4.34, a ratio of [H2O2] to [COD] of 0.6 and distance electrodes of 3 cm). Furthermore, the pre-treatment of EF increased biogas volume successfully (6.02 L). The applicability of the first-order, second-order, and Behnajady-Modirshahla-Ghanbery (BMG) was investigated to evaluate the removal of the COD value. This primary concern is that the electro-Fenton treatment is favorable to decrease the organic matter of sugarcane vinasse.

Effect of using effluent from anaerobic digestion of vinasse as water reuse on ethanol production from sugarcane-molasses

Current global prospects of increasing ethanol production face the problem of one of the highest consumptions of fresh water and the generation of large volumes of effluents. This study evaluated the reuse of effluent from the anaerobic digestion of vinasse as a replacement of freshwater in ethanol production. This process combines the use of vinasse and anaerobic digestion effluent to produce biogas energies. The effect of reusing 0, 30, 60, and 100% effluent to dilute sugarcane molasses to produce ethanol was evaluated. The viability and vitality of the cells of the yeast were not altered by using the effluent. The efficiency of ethanol production with effluent (0, 30, 60, and 100%) was 43.3, 42.3, 39.2, 38.4 g/L, respectively. Also, we tested reusing 100% effluent without treatment for dilution of sucrose. This assay gave the highest ethanol production (80.6 g/L). The difference in ethanol production might be due to a wide range of buffering capacity of the combination of molasses and effluent, which moderately affected the performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nonetheless, additional research is required to determine a causal relationship between the buffer capacity of the molasses/effluent mixture and ethanol production.

Anaerobic digestion of vinasse in fluidized bed reactors: Process robustness between two-stage thermophilic-thermophilic and thermophilic-mesophilic systems

Two-stage anaerobic digestion (AD) is a solution for the biodegradation of complex wastes, but the best association of temperatures between acidogenesis and methanogenesis is unclear. Our study investigated whether it is best to associate a thermophilic acidogenic reactor with a thermophilic or a mesophilic methanogenic reactor and results were compared to single-stage AD. The effect of increasing the organic loading rate (OLR from 2.7 to 24.7 kg COD/m3/d) in thermophilic and mesophilic second-stage methanogenesis of two-stage AD was also assessed. A thermophilic acidogenic reactor (R2-H2-Thermo) treating sugarcane stillage fed thermophilic (R2-CH4-Thermo) and mesophilic (R2-CH4-Meso) methanogenic reactors. A single-stage methanogenic thermophilic reactor was used as control (R1-CH4-Thermo). Reactors R2-CH4-Thermo and R2-CH4-Meso showed similar performance at OLR of 2.7–13.3 kg COD/m3/d, but the latter achieved the highest methane production rate at 24.7 kg COD/m3/d (3.2 L CH4/d/L – 78% higher than R2-CH4-Thermo). The two-stage system (R2-H2-Thermo + R2-CH4-Meso) achieved the best energetic yield: 5.5 kJ/g COD, which was 41% higher than the single-stage system. Operation of a second-stage reactor at mesophilic temperature is the most suitable for vinasse AD due to its flexibility, robustness, and stability of CH4 production, even in situations of organic overload and accumulation of toxic components. Digestate at ambient temperature is also more adequate for fertirrigation.

Cepas fúngicas nativas de Yucatán, una opción para el tratamiento de vinazas biometanada

Vinasse is wastewater generated during ethanol production, with a high content of organic matter, and the presence of toxic and recalcitrant compounds that give it a dark brown color. Anaerobic digestion of vinasse is a low-cost method treatment that produces useful byproducts such as biogas. However, at anaerobic digestion of vinasse, a part of the organic matter, which includes melanoidins and phenolic compounds cannot be eliminated producing a wastewater named biomethanated vinasse (BV). It has been reported that fungi that produce ligninolytic enzymes can degrade recalcitrant compounds in raw vinasses but there is little information on the use of these microorganisms in the treatment of BV. In this work, seven fungi (Trametes hirsuta Bm-2 and AHB-6, Phanerochaete chrysosporium Bm-4, Cochliobolus lunatus AHB-1, and Athelia rolfsii AT5, AT13 and AT7) were evaluated for degrading BV. The pathogenic fungi C. lunatus and A. rolfsii species were not able to support the high concentration of toxic compounds present on the BV plate. On the other hand, Trametes hirsuta (Bm-2 and AHB-6) and Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Bm-4) can degrade and remove phenolic compounds present in BV in liquid medium. However, the Bm-2 strain it was the only microorganism able to produce a visible change in the color of the medium with a concentration of 25% BV, achieving 68.8% decolorization and 65.58% phenolic compound removal rate, with a maximum laccase activity (3415.9 U/ml) at 144 h. The results show the potential of T. hirsuta Bm-2 for degrading persistent toxic compounds present in biomethanated vinasses.

Mapping the potential of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in generating electricity from biogas from anaerobic digestion of vinasse

This study aimed to map and estimate the potential of electricity generation from biogas produced through the anaerobic digestion process of vinasse in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, focusing on the energy use of an electric powered otto cyclemotor generator set. The potential for electric power generation was estimated from the amount of sugarcane produced in the 2018/2019 harvest in each municipality of the State. Then, the map was made with the spatialization of the information, in order to denote the municipal potentialities of the regions with the highest available energy indices. Energy availability was in the order of 746.43 GWh for each sugarcane crop, being more concentrated in the Triangulo Mineiro Region. Therefore, the use of this biomass waste into the anaerobic digestion process to produce electricity from biogas represents an environmental solution, an economical alternative and a social benefit.

Industrial-scale anaerobic digestion of vinasse in Morocco: performances and statistical models

Industrial-scale anaerobic digestion of vinasse in Morocco: performances and statistical models

Potential impacts of vinasse biogas replacing fossil oil for power generation, natural gas, and increasing sugarcane energy in Brazil

This paper presents the potential of biogas from anaerobic digestion of vinasse and its impact in different contexts. The use of vinasse biogas (VBG) for power generation is evaluated and the potential of this energy source is compared with fossil oil power plants in terms of energy, costs and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in Brazil, suggesting a program where the most expensive oil power plants are replaced by biogas plants with benefits in all aspects. Secondly, the use of vinasse biomethane (VBM) to replace natural gas (NG) in the state of São Paulo is examined, presenting an incentive program that could make this alternative fuel feasible even in smaller scale plants with minimal impact on NG costs in this state, while providing considerable emission reduction. The impact of VBG considering the increase in ethanol production over the next ten years is also evaluated, showing that substantial additional energy can be obtained and larger amounts of fossil fuels can be replaced. By crossing vinasse biogas potential with selected fossil fuels demand, the article brings insights to help the transition to a low-carbon society in a novel approach. The conclusions are that VBG and VBM can provide great benefits, such as USD 1 billion/year cost reductions and 6.7 million tons CO2e/year emissions avoided by replacing fossil oil by biogas in power generation in Brazil and 3.2 million tons CO2e/year avoided with biomethane replacing natural gas in the state of São Paulo, which, with specific programs and policies, could be achieved.

Economic analysis of a second-generation ethanol and electricity biorefinery using superstructural optimization

This paper investigates the economic feasibility of expanding a first-generation sugarcane distillery into a biorefinery by producing second-generation ethanol and increasing electricity production. Both products compete for using the same biomass by-products, sugarcane bagasse and straw, as raw-material. Two pathways for electricity generation were considered: a Rankine Cycle and a Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle. Also, the feasibility of producing biogas from anaerobic digestion of vinasse was assessed. Superstructural optimization was employed to evaluate the optimal fraction of bagasse that should be addressed for either ethanol or electricity product and to define the most economic route for generating electricity. The objective function was based on the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) criterion for investment. A Monte-Carlo method was used to quantify the level of uncertainty associated with the preliminary cost estimations and varying selling prices of products. In all scenarios, the optimal conditions were the hydrolysis of all available bagasse and the combustion of sugarcane straw, lignin, and biogas in a Rankine Cycle. With actual values, the expansion would cost US$ 535.2 million. Even in more favourable scenarios, the expansion of the distillery was considered economically unattractive with a BCR of 0.6209 due to high investment and operating costs.

Molecular identification of microbial communities in the methane production from vinasse: A review

Sugars, starches, and cellulose materials are used for ethanol production. When producing a liter of alcohol, 10 to 15 liters of liquid waste are generated. This waste is called vinasse, and it generates negative impacts on the environment. The process of storing and disposing vinasse in soils generates emissions to the atmosphere, mainly methane. Anaerobic treatment allows for the capture and generation of more biogas, therefore allowing mitigation of the environmental impacts. The microbial diversity present in the anaerobic digestion (AD) of vinasse is strongly related to the efficiency and quality of methane production. The gene 16s rDNA-based molecular techniques have been the most commonly used techniques for monitoring microbial communities present in the digesters. However, the identification is not enough. Rather, it is necessary to know the metagenomic functionality in this type of habitat. This review provides a comprehensive overview of methods to identify the microorganisms in the anaerobic digestion of vinasse. In addition, microbial community identification in vinasse reactors and their relationship with methane production are reviewed.

Molecular identification of microbial communities in the methane production from vinasse: A review

Sugars, starches, and cellulose materials are used for ethanol production. When producing a liter of alcohol, 10 to 15 liters of liquid waste are generated. This waste is called vinasse, and it generates negative impacts on the environment. The process of storing and disposing vinasse in soils generates emissions to the atmosphere, mainly methane. Anaerobic treatment allows for the capture and generation of more biogas, therefore allowing mitigation of the environmental impacts. The microbial diversity present in the anaerobic digestion (AD) of vinasse is strongly related to the efficiency and quality of methane production. The gene 16s rDNA-based molecular techniques have been the most commonly used techniques for monitoring microbial communities present in the digesters. However, the identification is not enough. Rather, it is necessary to know the metagenomic functionality in this type of habitat. This review provides a comprehensive overview of methods to identify the microorganisms in the anaerobic digestion of vinasse. In addition, microbial community identification in vinasse reactors and their relationship with methane production are reviewed.

Risk-conscious optimization model to support bioenergy investments in the Brazilian sugarcane industry

The past decades have seen a diversification of the sugarcane industry with the emergence of new technology to produce bioenergy from by-product and waste process streams. Given Brazil’s ambitious goal of reducing green-house gas emissions by over 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, it is of paramount importance to develop reliable decision-making systems in order to stimulate investment in these low-carbon technologies. This paper seeks to develop a more accurate optimization model to inform risk-conscious investment decisions for bioenergy generation capacity in sugarcane mills. The main objective is for the model to enable a better understanding of how Brazilian government policies, such as the electricity price in the regulated market, may impact these investments, by taking into account the uncertainty in sugar, ethanol and spot electricity markets and the interdependency between production and investment decisions in terms of saleable product mix. The proposed methodology combines portfolio optimization theory with superstructure process modeling and it relies on simple surrogates derived from a detailed sugarcane plant simulator to retain computational tractability and enable scenario analysis. The case study of an existing sugarcane plant is used to demonstrate the methodology and illustrate how the model can assist decision-makers. In all of the scenarios assessed, the model recommends investment in extra bioelectricity capacity via the anaerobic digestion of vinasse but advises against investment in second-generation ethanol production via the hydrolysis of surplus bagasse. Furthermore, the decision to upgrade the cogeneration system with a condensation turbine is highly sensitive to the electricity price practiced in the regulated market, capacity constraints on the sugar-ethanol mix, and the accepted level of risk. Another key insight drawn from the case study is that recent market conditions have favored a production focused on the sugar business, making it challenging for policy-makers to create attractive scenarios for biofuels. Long-term electricity contracting appears to be the main hedging strategy for de-risking other products and investments in the sugarcane business, provided it is priced adequately.

Biogas Production from Anaerobic Digestion of Vinasse in Sugarcane Biorefinery: A Techno-economic and Environmental Analysis

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of effluents in sugarcane biorefineries may improve the energy balance in the bioethanol production process and the environmental suitability of wastes disposal. This study analyses the inclusion of AD of vinasse (stillage) into different configurations of sugarcane biorefineries, using technical, economic and environmental metrics. The three base-case scenarios are a first generation (1G) ethanol plant, an integrated first and second generation (1G2G) ethanol plant with alcoholic fermentation of the hemicellulose fraction (C5), and an 1G2G ethanol plant with biodigestion of the C5 fraction. These three base scenarios are compared with the similar ones including the biodigestion of vinasse. The implementation of vinasse biodigestion had positive impact on the productivity and sustainability of sugarcane biorefineries. The use of biogas from vinasse for a 1G ethanol plant increased in 9.20% the surplus of electric energy yielded to the grid. This scenario had a positive net present value, NPV: + 11.5 × 106 USD, assuming minimum acceptable rate of return, MARR = 11%. For the 1G2G + C5 fermentation scenario the NPV was + 4.63 × 106 USD. Assuming NPV = 0, the IRR for 1G becomes 19.7% and for 1G2G + C5, 13.6%, an IRR higher than the MARR. The inclusion of AD of vinasse when the C5 fraction is biodigested was not an economically feasible option. In all scenarios, vinasse biodigestion reduced environmental impacts, and the 1G2G processes exhibit better results than the consolidated 1G for almost all environmental impact categories. The AD of vinasse can be considered an environmental-friendly and economical-feasible technology to improve the process in sugarcane biorefineries.

Production and use of biogas from vinasse: Implications for the energy balance and GHG emissions of sugar cane ethanol in the brazilian context

Indicators, such as the energy balance (EB) and greenhouse gases emissions avoided (GHGEA), are frequently used to evaluate the benefits and sustainability of biofuels. Many important papers and reports have been published in recent years to demonstrate the environmental and energetic benefits of biofuels, such as ethanol from sugar cane. EB and GHGEA often include other sugar cane products, such as electricity and bagasse. The anaerobic digestion of vinasse can generate considerable amounts of biogas but is not a common practice in Brazil. This study evaluates the potential benefits to the EB and GHGEA of ethanol by the production of biogas from vinasse and its use to produce electricity or biomethane. Biomethane can be injected on the Natural Gas Grid or used as a fossil diesel oil replacement in the mill operations of harvesting and transportation of sugar cane. The results show that biogas from vinasse can represent improvement in both indicators, which ranges from 3.5% improvement in EB by electricity generation with biogas to 27.5% improvement in GHGEA by replacing diesel in the mill operations. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog,39:e13226, 2020

Viability of Using Glycerin as a Co-substrate in Anaerobic Digestion of Sugarcane Stillage (Vinasse): Effect of Diversified Operational Strategies

Vinasse, from sugar and ethanol production, stands out as one of the most problematic agroindustry wastes due to its high chemical oxygen demand, large production volume, and recalcitrant compounds. Therefore, the viability of using glycerin as a co-substrate in vinasse anaerobic digestion was tested, to increase process efficiency and biogas productivity. The effect of feeding strategy, influent concentration, cycle length, and temperature were assessed to optimize methane production. Glycerin (1.53% v/v) proved to be a good co-substrate since it increased the overall methane production in co-digestion assays. CH4 productivity enhanced exponentially as influent concentration increased, but when temperature was increased to 35°C, biogas production was impaired. The highest methane productivity and yield were achieved using fed-batch mode, at 30°C and at an organic loading rate of 10.1kgCODm-3day-1: 139.32molCH4m-3day-1, 13.86molCH4kgCODapplied, and 15.30molCH4kgCODremoved. Methane was predominantly produced through the hydrogenotrophic route. In order to treat all the vinasse produced by a mid-size sugar and ethanol plant, nine reactors with 7263.4m3 each would be needed. The energy generated by burning the biogas in boilers would reach approximately 92,000MWh per season and could save up to US$ 240,000.00 per month in diesel oil demand.