Anaerobic Treatment of Apple Pomace and Wastewater

This chapter presents a study investigates the effect of solids retention time (SRT) on hydrolysis of diluted apple pomace. Apple pomace is the waste solids resulting from the production of apple juice or cider. The estimated disposal cost of the 1.5 million tons of pomace generated in the US each year exceeds $10 million. In addition to pomace, many processors discharge large quantities of wastewater generated during apple processing operations. Effluent limitation guidelines for the streams point source discharge generally require best conventional control technology. The most important factor having an impact on wastewater quality for juice manufacturers is quality of the raw fruit. For other products, the type of peeling operation employed, water use, and management attitude all have an important bearing on wastewater quality. Anaerobic digestion of apple wastes without nutrient or buffer addition results in a low cost alternative to disposal practices.