EUBCE 2024 - Fang-Yu HWU - Impact of Biomass Composition on the Acid Production of Organic Waste for Anaerobic Fermentation

Impact of Biomass Composition on the Acid Production of Organic Waste for Anaerobic Fermentation

Short Introductive summary

The food industry generates significant amounts of organic waste with relatively consistent composition and potential for reuse. However, certain components, such as lignin and hemicellulose, resist decomposition, impacting fermentation performance depending on the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio. A new equation was introduced in this study, lignin and hemicellulose were deduced, and lipids were incorporated to assess the carbon-to-protein ratio’s influence on volatile fatty acids (VFAs) fermentation to make it more relevant to the actual operation conditions. The findings revealed that a lower available carbon-to-protein ratio yielded higher propionic acid production, and the highest total VFA conversion rate occurring at a ratio of approximately 1. Moreover, fixing the carbon-to-protein ratio stabilized the resulting acid content, whereas additional microbial inoculum rich in protein hydrolysis activity increased VFA conversion without altering the resulting acid composition. Using our carbon-to-protein ratio to evaluate the input biomass for anaerobic fermentation can more accurately reflect the active contents that can be used in fermentation, thereby improving the application a

C.-C. Lu, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Tainan, TAIWAN
Y.-P. Lin, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Tainan, TAIWAN
F.-Y. Hwu, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Tainan, TAIWAN