Optimizing volatile fatty acids production from fsh canning wastewater: the role of feeding strategies and retention time

The transition to a circular economy requires innovative strategies for wastewater valorization, particularly in water-intensive sectors, such as fsh canning. Anaerobic fermentation of fsh canning wastewater to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) is a promising alternative to reach this goal. This s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Casero Díaz, Tamara, Castro Barros, Celia, Carballa Arcos, Marta, Mauricio Iglesias, Miguel, Duarte, Maria Salomé Lira
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)
Repositorio:Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:minerva.usc.gal:10347/42443
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42443
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Anaerobic fermentation
Carboxylate platform
Industrial wastewater
Resource recovery
Descripción
Sumario:The transition to a circular economy requires innovative strategies for wastewater valorization, particularly in water-intensive sectors, such as fsh canning. Anaerobic fermentation of fsh canning wastewater to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) is a promising alternative to reach this goal. This study evaluated the impact of two bioreactor feeding strategies (continuous (UASB) and sequential batch (SBR)) and two hydraulic retention times (HRT) (6 and 3 days) on VFA yield and product spectrum. The results showed that both feeding modes resulted in high VFA production, exceeding 30 g VFA-COD/L. It can be concluded that the feeding mode has no impact on VFA yield. However, it does exert a signifcant infuence on the product spectrum. Sequential feeding was found to favor butyric acid production, with a 15% higher yield compared to continuous feeding. In contrast, continuous feeding promoted the formation of propionic and valeric acids, with yields 5% and 4% higher, respectively, than those observed under sequential feeding. In contrast, variations in HRT demonstrated no signifcant impact on either yield or product spectrum. These fndings suggest that, for the scaling up of this valorization, the selection of feeding mode should be tailored to the desired objective. Furthermore, a lower HRT (3 days) may lead to financial savings and enhanced productivity without any detrimental impact on yield or product spectrum.