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International audience; Defined as the residue from anaerobic digestion (AD), digestate refers to a set of materials with varied biochemical compositions. The objective of this study was to establish a digestate typology according to its fertilizing-value with data from literature and internal unpublished databases. To establish a relatively big database allowing the application of advanced statistics, usual fertilizing-value parameters were used: dry matter, volatile solids, C/N, C/Organic-N, total N (TN), total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN), TAN/TN, total P and total K. Statistical analysis was performed on a dataset of 91 raw digestates, 34 solid fractions and 25 liquid fractions after separation. The resulting typology outlined that fertilizing-values are linked to AD feedstock and process. As case study regulations, no digestate (without any post-treatment) fulfilled French standards and the latest European Union regulation proposal on fertilizers. Options to reach regulations' product categories were discussed according to the typology. For the first time, a digestate typology was established based on fertilizing value, which can be a useful tool enhancing digestate management and policy making.

Direct landspreading of anaerobic digestates is the most common digestate management strategy. Nevertheless, digestate post-treatment can be unavoidable, especially for environmental services providers operating large-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities. This review aims to assess the technical feasibility of achieving value-added products from digestates from urban and/or centralized AD plants (UC-AD). An exhaustive effort was dedicated to identifying and clarifying the available processing technologies and specific issues that can be related to UC-AD digestates. The valorization options were classified according to the final product destination. The result is a useful information source for assessing digestate valorization pathway given a local market and context. Agriculture was the first destination to be considered, as it allows a more direct closing of nutrient and carbon cycles. Several processes exist either for concentrating desirable characteristics of digestates, enhancing organic matter stability or producing pure and reformulated fertilizers. Thermal conversion processes are either under development or full-scale demonstration. They allow to valorize the solids through the production of biofuels and/or biochar and in the coming future, to start a whole biorefinery system. Similarly, biomass harvesting processes such as microalgae are under upscaling, enabling to valorize the nutrients of the digestate liquid phase while producing renewable biomass from sunlight. Several value-added products were already obtained in laboratory to pilot conditions from UC-AD digestates, for example, biopesticides, biosurfactants and composite materials. Adding to technical challenges, the quality variation of digestates, regulation barriers, public acceptance and the difficult access to new markets are among the main obstacles to UC-AD digestates valorization into value-added products.

Biochemical methane potential (BMP) is essential to determine the production of methane for various substrates, literature shows important discrepancies for the same substrates. In this paper, a harmonized BMP protocol was developed and tested with two phases of BMP tests carried out by eleven French laboratories. Surprisingly, for the three same solid tested substrates (straw, raw mix and dried-shredded mix of potatoes, maize, beef meat and straw, and mayonnaise), the standard deviations of the repeatability and reproducibility inter-laboratory were not enhanced by the harmonized protocol (average of about 25% depending on the substrate), as compared to a previous step where all laboratories used their own protocols. Moreover, statistical analyses of all the results, after removal of the outliers (about 15% of all observations), did not highlight significant effect of the operational effect on BMP (stirring, automatic or manual gas quantification, use of trace metal, uses a bicarbonate buffer, inoculum to substrate ratio) at least for the tested ranges. On the other hand, the average intra-laboratory repeatability was low, about 7%, whatever the protocol, the substrate and the laboratory. It also appears that drying the SA substrate, which contained proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and fibers, does not impact its BMP.

Compostable plastics benefit from a favorable image among the general public, politicians and principals, in particular to selectively collect biowaste. In order to evaluate their behavior in mesophilic methanisation and their contribution to the production of biomethane, the present study compares the anaerobic biodegradability of 10 compostable plastics and 4 paper bags that can be used for the selective collection of biowaste. The results show that compostable plastics have relatively little or no anaerobic biodegradability (0 to 136 mL(CH4)/gVM) or generate an inhibition of the biological process of methanisation. Comparatively, the 4 paper bags tested showed methanogenic potentials of 214 to 313 mL(CH4)/gVM and standard production kinetics. Moreover, the co-digestion of compostable plastics with biowaste seems to promote the anaerobic biodegradability of materials despite a lag phase at the initiation of digestion. Maintaining the physical integrity of compostable plastics after methanisation could present an operational risk related to their accumulation in the digester as well as the generation of (micro) plastics in the digestates. Thus, in industrial context, compostable plastics must be, in the same way as conventional plastics, withdrawn from fermentable organic matter, upstream of digestion, by mechanical pre-treatment of the incoming deposit., Les plastiques compostables bénéficient d’une image favorable auprès du grand public, des politiques et des donneurs d’ordre, notamment pour collecter sélectivement les biodéchets. Afin d’évaluer leur comportement en méthanisation mésophile et leur contribution à la production de biométhane, la présente étude compare la biodégradabilité anaérobie de 10 plastiques compostables et de 4 sacs en papier utilisables pour la collecte sélective de biodéchets. Les résultats montrent que les plastiques compostables ont une biodégradabilité anaérobie relativement faible ou nulle (0 à 136 mL(CH4)/gMV) ou génèrent une inhibition du procédé biologique de méthanisation. Comparativement, les 4 sacs en papier testés ont présenté des potentiels méthanogènes de 214 à 313 mL(CH4)/gMV et des cinétiques standards de production. Par ailleurs, la co-digestion de certains plastiques compostables avec des biodéchets semble favoriser leur biodégradabilité anaérobie malgré une phase de latence à l’initiation de la digestion. Le maintien de l’intégrité physique des plastiques compostables constaté après méthanisation peut présenter un risque opérationnel relatif à leur accumulation dans le digesteur ainsi que la génération de (micro)plastiques dans les digestats. Ainsi, les plastiques compostables doivent être, au même titre que les plastiques conventionnels, soutirés de la matière organique fermentescible, en amont de la digestion, par prétraitement mécanique du gisement entrant.

International audience; Digestate valorization is a key challenge for the feasibility of Anaerobic Digestion plants. In this study, humic-like substances (HLS) extracted from two digestates (sewage sludge and manure) were used for the biostimulation of hydroponic cultures of Lactuca sativa (lettuce) at different doses and compared to a commercial reference of leonardite HLS. Aerial biomass increase averages ranged from 7 to 30 %, but the results presented a high coefficient of variation (around 20 %). The commercial reference did not present statistically significant biomass yield improvement. The application of manure digestate extract at the higher fulvic-like acids dose (4.6 mg/L of dissolved organic carbon) presented the best and most significant results compared to the blank (Hoagland's solution only). However, this result cannot be strictly dissociated from the supplementary amounts of nutrients brought by the extracts. Additionally, all the products presented low heavy metal content compared to the recent EU regulation for biostimulants (2019/1009). This preliminary study confirmed the interest of extracting HLS from two digestates for application as biostimulants, shedding light on a new perspective for digestate valorization.

Séparation de phases et digestats : profils d’efficacité basés sur les intrants de digestion anaérobie et le choix du séparateur. Journées Recherche Innovation Biogaz Méthanisation - JRI 2018

International audience; The increasing production of food waste worldwide and new international regulations call for the development of new technologies to treat this biowaste. Anaerobic processes are able to treat efficiently organic wastes, producing at the same time different value-added compounds. In addition, due to the lower costs and environmental impacts associated with these processes when compared to other options, they are among the most promising technologies for food waste treatment. This article reviews the state-of-the-art dealing with treatment of food waste by anaerobic processes, with emphasis on the most recent research carried out. The different processes that are assessed are anaerobic digestion for methane production, anaerobic fermentation for hydrogen and/or volatile fatty acids production and 2-stage systems. The primary issues associated with each alternative are presented, paying special attention to accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids in the reactor. In addition, the latest developments to overcome the complications of each system are also described, focusing on how they improve its stability and performance. Moreover, the relevant economic and environmental research has also been reviewed, including several life cycle analyses that compare anaerobic processes with other technologies used for food waste treatment. Different case studies are also presented. Finally, recommendations for future research for the anaerobic processes studied and options for process integration are discussed. Moving towards the idea of a circular economy, a potential biorefinery for food waste valorization is also proposed.

International audience; In France, digestates from anaerobic digestion plants have to pass through homologation process or reach certain specific standards to be commercialized. In this study, valorisation processes regarding the production of added-value products from urban digestates are being explored. Humic Acids (HA) extracted from upcycled organic products such as composts have been demonstrated to improve soil fertility [1] and industrial applications have been proven more recently [2]. However, very few studies addressed HA-recovery from digestates [3]. Preliminary tests presented in this study were carried out in order to assess the feasibility of recovering HA from such urban digestates. The samples were a Food Waste/Cardboard digestate (FW/CB-D) from a pilot reactor and an Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste digestate (OFMSW-D) from a full-scale plant. HA-extraction was tested on raw digestates and on its solid fractions after laboratory centrifugation. A practical approach for HA extraction was performed, adapted from [4]: NaOH 0.1 M was added until pH 12 was reached. The solution was stirred for 24h. After the alkaline extraction was performed, the digestate was centrifuged. The supernatant was filtered at 0.45 μm and acidified at different pH (1, 2, 3, 5 and 7). This solution was centrifuged to isolate the insoluble fraction containing HA. The recovered HA were redissolved for Fluorescence 3D analysis. Another acidification at pH 3 was performed where the precipitate was washed several times with distilled water and freeze-dried for Mid-Infrared analysis and calculation of recovering yields. Recovered HA were compared to HA isolated from a leonardite commercial solution and to references from the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS). Freeze-dried HA yields were low: from 3 to 4% (volatile solids:volatile solids) and 1 to 2%, for raw mass of FW/CB-D and OFMSW-D respectively. HA extracted from FW/CBD were observed to be similar to a river sediment reference from the International Humic Substances Society. The HA from OFMSW was closer to the HA isolated from the leonardite solution, but it presented more proteins in the 3D fluorescence spectra. When HAs were extracted from the solid fraction of digestates, HA extraction yields and spectra were almost unchanged. The pH for acidification played an important role in HA isolation. pH 1, 2 and 3 were observed to perform similarly (quality and quantity) but pH 5 and 7 resulted in less extraction of HA and poorer quality. Industrial feasibility of HA-like extraction from digestate would rely on extraction yields, product quality and residual matter management options. Experiments will be carried out in order to further evaluate the quality of the products regarding biodegradability and impact on root growth

International audience; Anaerobic digestion of food waste is a complex process often hindered by high concentrations of volatile fatty acids and ammonia. Methanogenic archaea are more sensitive to these inhibitors than bacteria and thus the structure of their community is critical to avoid reactor acidification. In this study, the performances of three different inocula were compared using batch digestion tests of food waste and cardboard mixtures. Particular attention was paid to the archaeal communities in the inocula and after digestion. While the tests started with inocula rich in Methanosarcina led to efficient methane production, VFAs accumulated in the reactors where inocula initially were poor in this archaea and no methane was produced. In addition, higher substrate loads were tolerated when greater proportions of Methanosarcina were initially present in the inoculum. Independently of the inoculum origin, Methanosarcina were the dominant methanogens in the digestates from the experiments that efficiently produced methane. These results suggest that the initial archaeal composition of the inoculum is crucial during reactor start-up to achieve stable anaerobic digestion at high concentrations of ammonia and organic acids.

International audience; Whether to enhance nutrients management for land spreading or as a previous-step for advanced treatments, digestate mechanical phase separation is present in many Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants. A wide range of equipment is available including screw presses, centrifuges, belt presses and rotary drums. Up-to-date, few or maybe no study has critically regarded a database of digestate separation efficiency, mass balances and quality of outputs for different separators. To fill-up this gap, data from literature was gathered with an INRA’s database and operational data from SUEZ. From this database, two different analysis approaches were carried out. The first consisted to perform clustering analysis on complete fertilizing-value data of liquid fractions (LF, n = 38) and solid fractions (SF, n = 47) separately. The second approach consisted to calculate mass balances and separation efficiency indicators [1] when characterization of raw digestate and its associated LF and SF were available. The later consisted in digestate data from over 50 industrial scale digesters. The first approach resulted in a typology for LF (Figure 1A), and SF (Figure 2B). LF and SF were observed to be grouped according to AD feedstock (fibrous/non-fibrous) and separation equipment (low/high performance), with significant distinct fertilizing-values. The second analysis approach is still ongoing. Early results highlight the distinguishable performances of previously observed groups. A recurring lack of consistency on the mass balances of some elements such as nitrogen is observed and will be discussed.

International audience; This study evaluated the influence of the co-substrate proportions (0-60% of cardboard in dry basis) and the initial total solid contents (20-40%) on the batch fermentation performance. Maximum hydrogen yields were obtained when mono-fermenting food waste at high solids contents (89 ml H2·gVS-1). The hydrogen yields were lower when increasing the proportions of cardboard. The lower hydrogen yields at higher proportions of cardboard were translated into higher yields of caproic acid (up to 70.1 gCOD·kgCODbio-1), produced by consumption of acetic acid and hydrogen. The highest substrate conversions were achieved at low proportions of cardboard, indicating a stabilization effect due to higher buffering capacities in co-fermentation. Clostridiales were predominant in all operational conditions. This study opens up new possibilities for using the cardboard proportions for controlling the production of high added-value products in dry co-fermentation of food waste.

International audience; The effect of supplementing granular activated carbon and trace elements on the anaerobic digestion performance of consecutive batch reactors treating food waste was investigated. The results from the first batch suggest that addition of activated carbon favored biomass acclimation, improving acetic acid consumption and enhancing methane production. Adding trace elements allowed a faster consumption of propionic acid. A second batch proved that a synergy existed when activated carbon and trace elements were supplemented simultaneously. The degradation kinetics of propionate oxidation were particularly improved, reducing significantly the batch duration and improving the average methane productivities. Addition of activated carbon favored the growth of archaea and syntrophic bacteria, suggesting that interactions between these microorganisms were enhanced. Interestingly, microbial analyses showed that hydrogenotrophic methanogens were predominant. This study shows for the first time that addition of granular activated carbon and trace elements may be a feasible solution to stabilize food waste anaerobic digestion.

International audience; The objective of this study was to test three different alternatives to mitigate the destabilizing effect of accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids during food waste anaerobic digestion. The three options tested (low temperature, co-digestion with paper waste and trace elements addition) were compared using consecutive batch reactors. Although methane was produced efficiently (∼500 mlCH4·gVS-1; 16 lCH4·l reactor-1), the concentrations of propionic acid increased gradually (up to 21.6 g·l-1). This caused lag phases in the methane production and eventually led to acidification at high substrate loads. The addition of trace elements improved the kinetics and allowed higher substrate loads, but could not avoid propionate accumulation. Here, it is shown for the first time that addition of activated carbon, trace elements and dilution can favor propionic acid consumption after its accumulation. These promising options should be optimized to prevent propionate accumulation.

International audience; Dry anaerobic digestion is a promising option for food waste treatment and valorization. However, accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids often occurs, leading to inefficient processes and digestion failure. Co-digestion with cardboard may be a solution to overcome this problem. The effect of the initial substrate to inoculum ratio (0.25 to 1 gVS·g VS−1) and the initial total solids contents (20–30%) on the kinetics and performance of dry food waste mono-digestion and co-digestion with cardboard was investigated in batch tests. All the conditions produced methane efficiently (71–93% of the biochemical methane potential). However, due to lack of methanogenic activity, volatile fatty acids accumulated at the beginning of the digestion and lag phases in the methane production were observed. At increasing substrate to inoculum ratios, the initial acid accumulation was more pronounced and lower cumulative methane yields were obtained. Higher amounts of soluble organic matter remained undegraded at higher substrate loads. Although causing slightly longer lag phases, high initial total solids contents did not jeopardize the methane yields. Cardboard addition reduced acid accumulation and the decline in the yields at increasing substrate loads. However, cardboard addition also caused higher concentrations of propionic acid, which appeared as the most last acid to be degraded. Nevertheless, dry co-digestion of food waste and cardboard in urban areas is demonstrated as an interesting feasible valorization option.

International audience

The increasing food waste production calls for developing efficient technologies for its treatment. Anaerobic processes provide an effective waste valorization. The influence of the initial substrate load on the performance of batch dry anaerobic co-digestion reactors treating food waste and cardboard was investigated. The load was varied by modifying the substrate to inoculum ratio (S/X), the total solids content and the co-digestion proportions. The results showed that the S/X was a crucial parameter. Within the tested values (0.25, 1 and 4 gVS·gVS-1), only the reactors working at 0.25 produced methane. Methanosarcina was the main archaea, indicating its importance for efficient methanogenesis. Acidogenic fermentation was predominant at higher S/X, producing hydrogen and other metabolites. Higher substrate conversions (≤48%) and hydrogen yields (≤62 mL·gVS-1) were achieved at low loads. This study suggests that different value-added compounds can be produced in dry conditions, with the initial substrate load as easy-to-control operational parameter.

In this work, anaerobic degradation of sugar cane bagasse was studied with a dual objective: the production of biogas and the improvement of the material's characteristics for its implementation in adsorption processes. The biogas production was determined by means of biomethane potential tests carried out over two months of incubation at 35 degrees C. Biogas and methane cumulative productions were assumed to follow a first-order rate of decay. Theoretical cumulative methane and biogas productions were calculated using Buswell's equation. The anaerobic digestion resulted in a 92% decrease in the leachable organic fraction and a 40% mass loss of bagasse. The average productions of biogas and methane from the whole set of experiments were 293 +/- 6 and 122 +/- 4 mL g(-1) of volatile solids, respectively. The anaerobic incubation of the raw material led to an increase in adsorption capacities towards metal ions, which were multiplied by around 2.0 for Zn2+ and 2.3 for Cd2+.

International audience; The results presented in this paper are part of a project aimed at designing an original solution for the treatment of used disposable diapers permitting the recycling of materials and the recovery of energy. Diapers must be collected separately at source and transported to an industrial facility to undergo special treatment which makes it possible to separate plastics and to recover a biodegradable fraction (BFD) made up mainly of cellulose. The methane yield of BFD was measured and found to be 280 ml CH4/g VSfed on average. 150 kg of dry BFD can be retrieved from the treatment of one ton of used disposable diapers, representing an energy potential of about 400 kW h of total energy or 130 kW h of electricity. As the treatment process for used diapers requires very high volumes of water, the setting up of the diaper treatment facility at a wastewater treatment plant already equipped with an anaerobic digester offers the advantages of optimizing water use as well as its further treatment and, also, the anaerobic digestion of BFD. The lab-scale experiments in a SBR showed that BFD co-digestion with sewage sludge (38% BFD and 62% waste activated sludge on volatile solids basis) was feasible. However, special attention should be paid to problems that might arise from the addition of BFD to a digester treating WAS such as insufficient mixing or floating particles leading to the accumulation of untreated solids in the digester.