Kinetic study of anaerobic digestion process of olive mill wastewater in the mesophilic and thermophilic ranges of temperature

Abstract

A kinetic study of anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewater in the mesophilic (from 30ºC to 40°C) and thermophilic (from 50ºC to 60ºC) ranges of temperature has been carried out. Two reactors containing suspended biomass were used. The Chen-Hashimoto substrate utilization kinetic model has been applied, obtaining the values of the maximum specific growth rate of microorganisms, μmax,. and the kinetic constant, K, for each case studied. The obtained results showed an increase of 55% and 34% for μmax and K, respectively, of the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process in relation to the mesophilic process. The substrate utilization maximum rate value was reached for the hydraulic retention times of 7,7 and 11,6 days, for the thermophilic and mesophilic processes, respectively.

Keywords

• anaerobic digestion
• kinetics
• mesophilic process
• olive mill wastewater
• thermophilic process