Effect of pH on the Economic Potential of Dark Fermentation Products from Used Disposable Nappies and Expired Food Products

Abstract

Used disposable nappies constitute a waste stream that has no established treatment method. The purpose of this study was the assessment of the dark fermentation of used disposable nappies and expired food products under different pH values. The biodegradable part of the used disposable nappies was recovered and co-fermented with expired food products originating from supermarkets. The recoverable economic potential of the process was examined for different volatile fatty acids exploitation schemes and process pH values. The process pH strongly affected the products, with optimum hydrogen production at pH 6 (4.05 NLH2/Lreactor), while the amount of produced volatile fatty acids was maximized at pH 7 (13.44 g/L). Hydrogen production was observed at pH as low as pH 4.5 (2.66 NLH2/Lreactor). The recoverable economic potential was maximized at two different pH values, with the first being pH 4.5 with minimum NaOH addition requirements (181, 138, and 296 EUR/ton VS of substrate for valorization of volatile fatty acids through microbial fuel cell, biodiesel production, and anaerobic digestion, respectively) and the second being pH 6, where the hydrogen production was maximized with the simultaneous production of high amounts of volatile fatty acids (191, 142, and 339 EUR/ton VS of substrate respectively).

Keywords

• disposable nappies
• expired food products
• hydrogen production
• dark fermentation
• volatile fatty acids