Thermophilic anaerobic digestion of winery effluents in a two-stage process and the effect of the feeding frequency on methane production.

This investigation evaluates a two-stage process to treat highly concentrated winery effluents, including a thermophilic methanogenic stage. The inoculum adaptation, the effect of the organic loading rates on both stages, and the methanogenic reactor's feeding frequency on the process performance were studied. An active thermophilic inoculum was obtained by a one-step temperature increase from 35 to 55 °C.