Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 7, Issue 5, Pages 927-941Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d0ew00853b
Keywords
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Funding
- Universities UK international Rutherford Fellowship Programme [UUKi-RF-2018-74]
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There are concerns over the long-term sustainability of anaerobic digestion for producing methane, while the production of VFAs as a high value product offers promising opportunities for future wastewater treatment plants.
Methane, the final product of methanogenesis during anaerobic digestion is a low value product (0.1 $ per m(3)). Concerns over fugitive emissions from methane coupled with recent reduction in costs of solar and wind energy raise questions over the long-term sustainability of the anaerobic digestion process as a technology to produce renewable energy. The production of short chain volatile fatty acids (VFAs), a by-product of acetogenesis, represents a high value product. The projected VFA market demand for 2020 is 18 500 kilotons, increasing at an annual rate of 3% per year. Here, we review the business case for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to produce VFAs instead of biogas. Techno-economic and sensitivity studies are conducted to understand and compare economic feasibilities. Under favourable conditions, with positive government incentives, future WWTPs could produce high purity (>98%) propionic acid at 3.8 $ per kg, 35% less than the commercial selling value (6 $ per kg).
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