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Liming impact on granules activity of the multiplate anaerobic reactor (MPAR) treating whey permeate

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Abstract

A 19.2 l multiplate anaerobic reactor (MPAR) was used to assess the impact of lime (Ca(OH)2) on the anaerobic treatment of whey permeate effluents. The amount of Ca(OH)2 required to maintain the pH of the whey permeate around 5 ranged between 3.0 and 4.5 kg/m3, which corresponded to concentration varying between 1.62 and 2.43 kg/m3. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency exceeded 92% with a methane production rate of 6.7 m3/m3.d. at an organic loading rate (OLR) as high as 20 kg COD/m3.d. Extended operation of the MPAR resulted in the accumulation of significant amounts of calcium precipitates in the sludge bed which reached after three months of operation 0.19, 0.25 and 0.33 kg Ca2+ per kg of suspended solid (SS) in the lower, the middle and the upper compartment of the MPAR, respectively. The volatile suspended solids to suspended solids ratio (VSS/SS) decreased from 0.83 in inoculum to 0.37, 0.22 and 0.08 in the lower, the middle and the upper compartment of the MPAR, respectively. As a result, the soluble COD reduction and the methane production rate decreased to 31% and to 2.3 m3/m3.d. respectively, at OLR of 20 kg COD/m3.d.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Group, Biotechnology Research Institute, N.R.C., 6100 Royalmount avenue, H4P 2R2, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    R. El-Mamouni, S. R. Guiot & R. Samson

  2. S.N.C. Research Corp., 2, Félix-Martin, Montréal, Canada

    P. Mercier & B. Safi

Authors
  1. R. El-Mamouni
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  2. S. R. Guiot
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  3. P. Mercier
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  4. B. Safi
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  5. R. Samson
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Additional information

The authors thank Saputo Cheese Ltd. for providing the whey permeate effluents, Alain Corriveau for expert analytical assistance and Hervé Macarie for revising the article. NRC Paper No. 33907

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El-Mamouni, R., Guiot, S.R., Mercier, P. et al. Liming impact on granules activity of the multiplate anaerobic reactor (MPAR) treating whey permeate. Bioprocess Engineering 12, 47–53 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112993

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