Continuous acidogenic fermentation: Narrowing the gap between laboratory testing and industrial application.

This study explored the potential of acidogenic fermentation of sewage sludge (SS) in an 80 L automatized pilot scale platform. A high-rate VFA production was obtained at HRT 5 d and pH 9, with a volatile fatty acid (VFA) yield of 336 mg VFA g VS and a VFA productivity of 2.15 kg VFA m d.

Model-based design of a software sensor for real-time diagnosis of the stability conditions in high-rate anaerobic reactors - Full-scale application to Internal Circulation technology.

Internal Circulation (IC) anaerobic systems are especially suitable when plant designs that involve both small footprints and high organic loading rates (>25 kg COD m d) are required. However, given that operating anaerobic processes at high organic loads increases their vulnerability to external disturbances, real-time indicators of the stability conditions become particularly pertinent for IC reactors. This paper addresses the design and full-scale validation of a software sensor that uses only feeding flow-rate and biogas flow-rate measurements to classify the operating conditions of the reactor as "strongly", "moderately" or "weakly" stable.

Selective VFA production potential from organic waste streams: Assessing temperature and pH influence.

This study explored the volatile fatty acid (VFA) production potential of seven waste streams from urban and agroindustrial sources. For that purpose, batch assays were performed under acidic (pH 5.5) and alkaline (pH 10) conditions at both mesophilic (35°C) and thermophilic (55°C) temperature.