Potential use of for the production of the biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate from leftover carob fruit agro-waste.

This study was designed to investigate, at a laboratory scale, the possibility of valorizing the leftover carob fruits to produce the eco-friendly biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by using the bacterial strain , which has been isolated from the botanical garden of Skikda University in Algeria. The PHB production was tested under various conditions: a pH of 3-8, temperature range of 30-44 °C, carob extracted molasses concentration of 2-8% v/v, an incubation time of 24-96 h and an agitation speed of 150-300 rpm. The effects of different nitrogen sources and carob extracted molasses treatment types were also investigated.

Successful and stable operation of anaerobic thermophilic co-digestion of sun-dried sugar beet pulp and cow manure under short hydraulic retention time.

This work consists of a long-term (621 days) experimental study about biogas production from sun dried sugar beet pulp and cow manure. Thermophilic (55 °C) anaerobic co-digestion was performed in semi-continuous reactors, testing ten hydraulic retention times (30-3 days) (HRTs) and organic loading rates (2-24 gVS/L∙d) (OLRs). Results showed that the best global system performance (regarding stability, biogas production, and organic matter removal) was achieved at an HRT as short as 5 days (OLR of 12.

Thermally enhanced solubilization and anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste.

Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is an ideal substrate for biogas production; however, complex chemical structure and being heterogeneous obstruct its biotransformation in anaerobic digestion (AD) process. Thermal pre-treatment of OFMSW has been suggested to enhance the solubilization and improve the anaerobic digestibility of OFMSW. This paper critically and comprehensively reviews the characterization of OFMSW (physical, chemical, bromatological) and enlightens the valuable properties of OFMSW for waste valorization.

Evaluation of methane generation and process stability from anaerobic co-digestion of sugar beet by-product and cow manure.

The effect of mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of dried pellets of exhausted sugar beet cossettes (ESBC-DP) and cow manure (CM) on the enhancement of methane generation and process stability were studied with the aim to select the best substrate mixture ratio. A series of batch experiments was conducted using the following five mixture ratios of ESBC-DP:CM: 0:100; 25:75; 50:50; 75:25 and 100:0. Best results were obtained from mixture ratios with ESBC-DP proportions in the range of 25-50%.

Biomethanization of sugar beet byproduct by semi-continuous single digestion and co-digestion with cow manure.

Dried pellet of exhausted sugar beet cossettes were digested alone and combined with cow manure as co-substrate in a mesophilic semi-continuous anaerobic system. In single digestion assay, the stable biogas production and stable reactor operation was observed at the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20days (OLR: 3.26gVS/Lreactord) which was the minimum HRT tolerated by the system.

Semi-continuous anaerobic co-digestion of sugar beet byproduct and pig manure: Effect of the organic loading rate (OLR) on process performance.

Anaerobic co-digestion of dried pellet of exhausted sugar beet cossettes (ESBC-DP) with pig manure (PM) was investigated in a semi-continuous stirred tank reactor (SSTR) under mesophilic conditions. Seven hydraulic retention times (HRT) from 20 to 5 days were tested with the aim to evaluate the methane productivities and volatile solids (VS) removal. The corresponding organic loading rates (OLR) ranged from 4.

Thermochemical pretreatments of organic fraction of municipal solid waste from a mechanical-biological treatment plant.

The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) usually contains high lignocellulosic and fatty fractions. These fractions are well-known to be a hard biodegradable substrate for biological treatments and its presence involves limitations on the performance of anaerobic processes. To avoid this, thermochemical pretreatments have been applied on the OFMSW coming from a full-scale mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant, in order to pre-hydrolyze the waste and improve the organic matter solubilisation.