Wine Distillery Wastewater Research Articles

An eco-friendly way to valorize winery wastewater and sewage sludge: Anaerobic co-digestion

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge (SS) and anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of SS and wine distillery wastewater (WDW) was investigated at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs), ranging from 20 to 8 d. The mixture of SS and WDW resulted in a highly improved quality of feedstock: soluble organic matter and organic matter easily accessible for acidification increased substantially (>60%), while non-solubilized organic matter decreased (>160%). AcoD of SS:WDW consequently yields higher values of average organic matter removals (48–66%) compared to AD of SS alone (42–58%), in keeping with the increase in specific methane productivity (SMP) (around 45%). Increasing the organic loading rate (OLR) or decreasing the HRT resulted in an increase in methane production (MP) and a decrease in SMP. Maximum values of MP in AD and AcoD were respectively 0.9 ± 0.2 L CH4 d−1 at an OLR of 8.2 and 5.4 kg TCOD m−3 d, corresponding to an HRT of 8 d. SMP values in AD and AcoD fell within the 200–300 L CH4 kg VS−1 and 300–400 L CH4 kg VS−1 range, respectively. This paper presents a low-cost strategy for wine producing countries to increase energy generation at wastewater treatment plants, as well as providing them with an interesting source of income.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Adding Chicken Manure in the Anaerobic Mesophilic Codigestion of Sewage Sludge and Wine Distillery Wastewater: Kinetic Modeling and Economic Approach

Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been extensively investigated to obtain energy from chicken manure (CM). However, CM has high total and volatile solids (TS and VS) contents, making wet AD unsuitable f...

Modelling of the anaerobic semi-continuous co-digestion of sewage sludge and wine distillery wastewater

The semi-continuous mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and wine distillery wastewater was investigated. Co-digestion with wine distillery wastewater enhances biogas productivity of sludge in 25% and swift the rate-limiting step.

Treatment of Wine Distillery Wastewater: A Review with Emphasis on Anaerobic Membrane Reactors

This review summarises research efforts and case studies in the treatment of wine distillery wastewaters. Experiences in treating wine distillery wastewaters can contribute to the field of oenology, as many oenologists are concerned with the selection, efficiency and economy of their wastewaters. Characteristics of wastewaters from different distilleries and various methods for treating these wastes are discussed. Wine distillery wastewaters are strongly acidic, have a high chemical oxygen demand, high polyphenol content and are highly variable. Primary attention is focused on the sustainable biological treatment of wine distillery wastewaters, mainly by energyefficient anaerobic digestion in different reactor configurations from bench to pilot and full-scale treatment. Finally, areas where further research and attention are required are identified.

Investigating the Effect of Ozone on the Biodegradability of Distillery Wastewater

The effect of ozonation on wine distillery wastewater was investigated firstly by monitoring the effect of ozonation on the composition of the wastewater and, secondly, by investigating its effect on the biodegradability of the wastewater. An average COD reduction of 271 mg COD.g O3 -1 was found for wastewater from a distillery pond system. Stable microbial populations, which are found in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) granules, were used to determine the toxic effect of wastewater on microbial activity. Granule activity was measured in terms of the rate of biogas and methane production, as well as cumulative biogas volume. Low ozone doses (200 to 400 mg O3.L-1) increased granule activity in terms of biogas, methane production, and cumulative gas volumes. Distillery wastewater reduced the activity of granules, most likely due to the presence of polyphenols and other recalcitrant compounds in the distillery wastewater.

Photocatalytic treatment of Olive Milling waste water: Oxidation of protocatechuic acid

The photocatalytic degradation of protocatechuic acid, a biorecalcitrant polyphenolic compound typically found in olive processing and wine distillery waste waters, has been investigated in aqueous heterogeneous solutions containing semiconductor powders (TiO2, ZnO) as photocatalysts, both in the presence of artificial and natural illumination. The disappearance of the organic molecule follows, approximately a pseudo-first kinetic order according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. Various commercial photocatalysts have been compared with respect to their overall efficiency as well as the production of CO2. Among them, ZnO shows the highest photocatalytic activity. The effect of H2O2 on the reaction rate has been ascertained.

PREVIOUS CROPS AND ORGANIC FERTILIZERS IN LETTUCE: EFFECTS ON YIELDS AND SOIL PROPERTIES

The use of organic amendments in agriculture could sustain crop production and preserve the agroecosystem, due to their importance in the conservation of organic matter in soil. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of differing organic fertilizers and of previous crops on lettuce growth, nutritional status and yields. The effects on soil characteristics were further investigated. The research was carried out during two years (2006 and 2007) at Metaponto (MT) in southern Italy, on lettuce crops cultivated after eggplant and melon to avoid their continuous cropping. The effects of application of a mineral fertilizer (MF), and of three treatments with organic fertilizers (commercial stable manure - OM; anaerobic digestate based on wine distillery wastewater - AD; composted municipal solid organic wastes coming from the separate collection - MSW) were studied. Head average weight, leaf area index, nitrate content and SPAD readings during the cropping cycles did not show significant differences among fertilizer treatments. On the contrary, marketable yield and head average weight at the harvest presented significantly different among the three organic fertilizers. The average marketable yield and head average weight of organic fertilizers experimental (AD and MSW treatments) decreased of 16 and 17%, respectively, compared to OM treatment. The previous melon crop influenced positively all analyzed parameters of the lettuce compared with previous eggplant crop. The previous melon crop reached the highest marketable yield with an increase of 59% compared with previous eggplant crop. Compared to the mineral fertilizer, the organic ones significantly increased the extracted fraction of soil organic carbon (6.9, 10.7 and 14.9% for OM, AD and MSW, respectively), without significant changes for the humic and fulvic content.

Supercritical Water Biomass Gasification Process As a Successful Solution to Valorize Wine Distillery Wastewaters

The biomass is the whole organic matter of vegetable or animal origin. This material can be valorized in various ways: it can be used by manufacturers (lumber, paper, and biochemistry); it can be used as energy (heat, electricity, and fuel); and it can be used as food or in cosmetics. Various processes are nowadays used to valorize biomass. This work deals with the potentialities of the biomass gasification in supercritical water. The objective is to demonstrate the potentiality of this process to treat some aqueous waste from distillery to obtain a syngas with a high hydrogen yield. The bioresources of this study come from some agricultural alcohol (beet, sugar cane, and cereal) and wine-producing distilleries. Experiments have been carried out at different conversion severities, using a 100 mL batch reactor, during 0–60 min, at a pressure of 25 MPa and at temperatures between 400 and 500 °C. Complete product analyses will be presented. Particularly detailed gas analyses have been performed. The sodium a...

ARE ORGANIC N FERTILIZING STRATEGIES ABLE TO IMPROVE LETTUCE YIELD, USE OF NITROGEN AND N STATUS?

Despite the importance of fertilizing practices in the crop yield improvement, nitrogen (N) utilization, and N status, their management by farmers is still rather empirical, especially when new organic materials are applied. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study the possible bio-products (anaerobic digestates and on-farm compost) applications and to evaluate their effects on lettuce performance, N efficiency and soil properties. The plant and soil N indicators were also investigated to reduce the N supply in lettuce production. To accomplish these objectives a three-year field experiment was carried out comparing the following N fertilization strategies: organic, with anaerobic digestates, based on stabilized wine distillery wastewater (SAD) and not stabilized wine distillery wastewater (NSAD) and on-farm compost, based on olive pomace compost (OPC); mineral (MIN), with ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate; mineral-organic, with a slow N release commercial fertilizer (CORG). All treatments received 140 kg N ha−1 and they were compared with an unfertilized control (CONTR). The organic material application increased the marketable yield of 25.6, 20.3 and 10.1% for SAD, NSAD, and OPC treatments, respectively, in comparison with the CONTR. No significant reduction was found for both anaerobic digestates in respect to conventional fertilizers, while the OPC application significantly decreased the crop yield compared to MIN and CORG treatments. Moreover, the marketable head weight showed no significant difference among MIN, CORG, and SAD treatments, while a significant reduction of the weight was observed for NSAD and OPC. These findings highlighted the importance of organic fertilizer choice to sustain lettuce yield. The anaerobic digestates also enhanced head weight of 18.9 and 11.9% for SAD and NSAD, respectively, compared to CONTR, pointing out that the by-products application could be a valid agricultural practice to provide nutrients. Besides, no significant difference in N utilization parameters was found between SAD, MIN and CORG, indicating the effectiveness of the stabilized wine wastewater. Among the plant and soil N indicators tested, our results suggested that the leaves green index and nitrate contents in the leafstalks not only were the most reliable methods for evaluating N status, but they also offered potential advantages of both an easier sampling and a higher positive correlation with lettuce performance. Finally, since the agro-industrial residues did not significantly increase the soil potentially toxic elements level, the findings of this research pointed out that the organic materials can be usefully applied, at least in the short-term period.

Statistical modelling of the impact of some polyphenols on the efficiency of anaerobic digestion and the co-digestion of the wine distillery wastewater with dairy cattle manure and cheese whey

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of anaerobic digestion in the treatment of polyphenols (PP) present in olive mill wastewater (OMW) and wine distillery wastewater (WDW). Anaerobic Toxicity Assay (ATA) was conducted to assess the impact of the most representative phenolic compounds present in OMW and WDW: catechol, tannins and p-Coumaric acid, on biogas production. The results from this study show that tannins do not present any inhibitory effect on methanogenesis at a concentration level of 1,664 ppm, whereas catechol has an inhibitory effect at 1,664 ppm. In addition, p-Coumaric acid was strongly inhibitory at 50 ppm. The co-digestion of OMW and WDW with other effluents was proposed as a solution for reducing the load of PP in the anaerobic medium. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests were carried out for dairy cattle manure and mixtures of five PP. A central composite design was implemented on the BMP tests to model the biogas production response and the degradation kinetics of PP. The co-digestion of WDW with cattle manure and/or whey was also investigated in BMP tests. The results show that the digestion was optimal at a ratio of 16: 64: 20 (WDW: manure: inoculum) with a maximum biogas yield of 172 mL/g of VS and 66% COD removal.

Anaerobic Digestate and On-Farm Compost Application: Effects on Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Crop Production and Soil Properties

A three-year field experiment was conducted in a Mediterranean environment on lettuce to study the production, characteristics and possible use of different amendments as substitution for nitrogen mineral fertilizers. The effects on soil dynamics were also investigated. The following treatments supplying 140 kg N ha−1 were compared: Stabilized anaerobic digestate from wine distillery wastewater (SAD); Non-stabilized organic material from wine distillery wastewater (NSAD); Olive pomace compost (OPC); Mineral N fertilizer (MIN); Commercial organic fertilizer (CORG). These treatments were compared with an unfertilized control (CONTR). No significant reduction occurred with SAD as compared to MIN, but its application significantly increased marketable yield in all experimental years compared to the unfertilized control. Furthermore, SAD treatment reached the highest marketable yield with an increase of 52.9% compared to CONTR in the year characterized by high unevenly rainfall distribution. Even with low absolute values, the application of mineral fertilizer not only had the highest level of nitrate in the leaves but also determined higher value of soil mineral N compared to by-products treatments, thereby increasing pollution risks. The NSAD and the OPC treatments had significantly lower biomass and marketable yield than MIN and presented the highest soil N mineral deficit. As a consequence, the choice and the production of the more appropriate agroindustrial by-product (in our research SAD treatment) is crucial to ensure lettuce yield and the sustainability of agro-ecosystem.

Robust Control of Volatile Fatty Acids in Anaerobic Digestion Processes

This paper is focused on the experimental implementation of a robust control scheme for the regulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in continuous anaerobic digestion processes. The robust scheme is made of an output feedback control, and an extended Luenberger observer is used to estimate the uncertain terms of the process (i.e., influent concentration and process kinetics). The control scheme is implemented in a pilot plant up-flow fixed-bed reactor that is treating industrial wine distillery wastewater. The performance of the robust scheme is tested over a period of 36 days, under different set-point values and several uncertain scenarios, including model mismatch, badly known parameters, and load disturbances. Experimental results show that the VFA concentration can be effectively regulated over a wide range of operating conditions. In addition, it is shown that the control scheme has a structure that improves its performance in the presence of noisy measurements and control input saturations.

Modeling microbial diversity in anaerobic digestion

The aim of this study is to develop a modeling approach able to handle microbial diversity both in normal and abnormal situations. Normal situations are defined as changing input characteristics that do not imply process imbalance while abnormal situations are illustrated by the presence of toxicant into the reactor. In both cases, modeling is performed by adding a stochastic term on top of a well defined and well structured model such as the IWA Anaerobic Digestion Model No1. Experimental data from a 1 m3 pilot scale anaerobic digester treating wine distillery wastewater are provided to demonstrate the applicability of this approach. Discussion also highlights that monitoring of digesters might receive a renewed consideration in the near future in order to handle explicitly microbial diversity within the control objectives.

English

The combination of fungal pre-treatment with Trametes pubescens and anaerobic digestion were tested for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and phenolic compounds from wine distillery wastewater. The COD removal efficiency after fungal pre-treatment reached 53.3%. During digestion, pH buffering was achieved using CaCO3 and K2HPO4. This provided a stable environment inside digester for efficient and time-independent COD removal. The total COD removal efficiency reached 99.5%, and the system proved able to eliminate shock COD loads, as indicated by the concentrations of sludge and volatile fatty acids. Complex changes of phenolic compounds are suspected in anaerobic digestion system, and are investigated further.

Treatment of wine distillery wastewater by high rate anaerobic digestion

Wine distillery wastewaters (WDW) are acidic and have a high content of potential organic pollutants. This causes high chemical oxygen demand (COD) values. Polyphenols constitute a significant portion of this COD, and limit the efficiency of biological treatment of WDWs. WDW starting parameters were as follows: pH 3.83, 4,185 mg/l soluble COD (COD(s)) and 674.6 mg/l of phenols. During operation, amendments of CaCO3 and K2HPO4, individually or in combination, were required for buffering the digester. Volatile fatty acid concentrations were < 300 mg/l throughout the study, indicating degradation of organic acids present. Mean COD(s) removal efficiency for the 130 day study was 87%, while the mean polyphenol, removal efficiency was 63%. Addition of 50 mg/l Fe(3+) between days 86 and 92 increased the removal efficiencies of COD(s) to 97% and of polyphenols to 65%. Addition of Co(3+) improved removal efficiencies to 97% for COD(s) and 92% for polyphenols. Optimization of anaerobic treatment was achieved at 30% WDW feed strength. Removal efficiencies of 92% and 84% were recorded at increased feed strength from days 108 to 130. High removal efficiencies of COD(s) and polyphenols after day 82 were attributed to the addition of macronutrients and micronutrients that caused pH stability and thus stimulated microbial activity.

Anaerobic treatment of vinasses by a sequentially mixed moving bed biofilm reactor

Wine distillery wastewater, commonly called vinasses, was treated by an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (AMBBR) with 32.9 litre available volume. The reactor was filled with 66% cylindrical polyethylene supports with density 0.84 g cm(-3) as a biofilm carrier. The reactor was sequentially mixed by a submerged centrifugal pump fixed to the bottom, and each mixing time just lasted 1.25 minutes. The organic loading rate (OLR) of the reactor were increased from 1.6 to 29.6 g sCOD l(-1) d(-1) (soluble chemical oxygen demands--sCOD) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) was decreased from 6.33 to 1.55 days accordingly. Soluble COD removal efficiency was 81.3-89.2% at an OLR of 29.6 g sCOD l(-1) d(-1). At the end of the experiment, 83.4% total biomass was attached on support and the specific density of support in the reactor was 0.93-1.05 g cm(-3), which increased by about 10.7-25% compared with that at the beginning of the study.

Bioremediation of a wine distillery wastewater using white rot fungi and the subsequent production of laccase

The aim of this work was to ascertain whether a submerged culture of a white rot fungus could be used to treat distillery wastewater, and whether the compounds present in the wastewater would stimulate laccase production. Trametes pubescens MB 89, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus and UD4 were screened for their ability for the bioremediation of a raw, untreated distillery wastewater as well as distillery wastewater that had been pretreated by polyvinylpolypyrrolidone. Suitability of each strain was measured as a function of decreasing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phenolic compounds concentration and the colour of the wastewater, while simultaneously producing laccase in high titres. After screening, T. pubescens MB 89 was used further in flask cultures and attained 79 +/- 1.1% COD removal, 80 +/- 4.6% total phenols removal, 71 +/- 1.6% decrease in colour at an absorbance of 500 nm and increased the pH from 5.3 to near-neutral. Laccase activity in flask cultures peaked at 4,644 +/- 228 units/l, while the activity in a 50 l bubble lift reactor peaked at 12,966 +/- 71 units/l. Trametes pubescens MB 89 greatly improved the quality of a wastewater known for toxicity towards biological treatment systems, while simultaneously producing an industrially relevant enzyme.

NONLINEAR APPROACH FOR THE VFA REGULATION IN AN ANAEROBIC DIGESTER

This paper presents the design and the experimental validation of a nonlinear control approach for the regulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in an anaerobic digester. Such an approach is conformed by an output feedback control and an extended Luenberger observer which allows the estimation of the uncertain terms associated to the VFA dynamics ( i.e. , influent composition and kinetic terms). The nonlinear approach is experimentally validated in a 0.528m 3 up-flow fixed-bed anaerobic digester used for the treatment of industrial wine distillery wastewater. The experimental results show that the VFA regulation is achieved in spite of uncertain kinetics, restrictions in the control input and unknown load disturbances.

The effect of transient changes in organic load on the performance of an anaerobic inverse turbulent bed reactor

This paper describes the application of the inverse fluidization technology to the anaerobic digestion of wine distillery wastewater. In this reactor, a granular floating solid is expanded by a current of gas. The carrier particles (Extendospheres™) were chosen for their large specific surface area and their low energy requirements for fluidization. The experimental procedure was defined to examine the effect of transient changes in organic load on the performance of an anaerobic inverse turbulent bed (ITB) reactor. Moreover, in order to evaluate treatment efficiency, the active biomass concentration was estimated using the phospholipids analysis. The ITB bed reactor appeared to be a good option for anaerobic treatment of high strength wastewater, particularly for the treatment of wine distillery wastewater. The system attained high organic loading rate (OLR) with good chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates and it exhibited a good stability to the variations in OLR and HRT. It was found that the main advantages of this system are: low energy requirement because of the low fluidization velocities required; there is no need of a settling device, because solids accumulate at the bottom of the reactor, so they can be easily drawn out and particles with high-biomass content can be easily recovered. Lipid-phosphate concentration has been revealed as a good method for biomass estimation in biofilms since it only includes living biomass. The comparison of the measured concentration of volatile attached solids with the estimated active biomass concentration by means of phospholipids analysis indicated that extremely high active biomass concentrations can be maintained in the system.

ROBUST REGULATION OF VOLATILE FATTY ACIDS IN AN ANAEROBIC DIGESTER

This paper deals with the robust regulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in an anaerobic digester. The digester is used for the treatment of industrial wine distillery wastewater. The robust approach is composed by an input-output linearizing feedback control and a Luenberger observer used to achieve the VFA regulation in spite of modelling errors (uncertain kinetics), actuator restrictions and load perturbations due to uncertain changes in the influent composition. The robust stability of the control approach is evaluated via numerical simulations under different operation conditions.