The Influence of Low-Temperature Disintegration on the Co-Fermentation Process of Distillation Residue and Waste-Activated Sludge

Innovative low-temperature disintegration (process temperature 55 degrees C and oxygen concentration 0.2 mg/dm(3)) can be an economically rational technology to intensifying energy production from renewable sources. The proposed process can achieve a degree of disintegration-under optimal conditions-of about 50%, which is excellent when compared with other methods of feed pre-treatment. The low-temperature disintegration of distillation residue and waste-activated sludge before the co-fermentation process increased biogas production by 30% and methane production by 65% (over a 26 d duration). The obtained results confirm that the low-temperature disintegration method can be effectively used to pre-prepare this type of feed. At the same time, it was discovered that the Gompertz model can be used to mathematically describe the biogas accumulation curves in the methane co-fermentation processes of the tested feeds (the correlation coefficients were higher than 0.98).

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the economic and operational benefits of using low-temperature disintegration technology in increasing energy production from renewable sources. Experimental results show significant improvements in biogas and methane production, with the Gompertz model proving to be an effective tool for describing methane accumulation during co-fermentation processes.