Co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge for methane production: Current status and perspective.

Food waste (FW) is a valuable resource which requires sustainable management avenues to reduce the hazardous environmental impacts and add-value for better economy. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is still reliable, cost-effective technology for waste management. Conventional AD was originally designed for sewer sludge digestion, is not effective for FW due to mainly high organics and volatile fatty acid (VFA) accumulation, hence better technical aptitudes and biochemical inputs are required for optimal biogas production. Besides, to overcome these challenges, FW co-digestion with complementary organic waste e.g. sewage sludge (SS) mixed which complement each other for better process design. The main aim of this article is to summarize the recent updates and review different holistic approaches for efficient anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of FW and SS to provide a comprehensive review on the topic. Moreover, to demonstrate the status and perspectives of AcoD at present scenario for Hong Kong and rest of the world.

[1]  Yaobin Zhang,et al.  Adding granular activated carbon into anaerobic sludge digestion to promote methane production and sludge decomposition , 2017 .

[2]  H. Shim,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and domestic wastewater – Effect of intermittent feeding on short and long chain fatty acids accumulation , 2017, Renewable Energy.

[3]  Hsien Hui Khoo,et al.  Food waste conversion options in Singapore: environmental impacts based on an LCA perspective. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[4]  Daniel H Yeh,et al.  Enhanced mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste by thermal pretreatment: Substrate versus digestate heating. , 2015, Waste management.

[5]  Chettiyappan Visvanathan,et al.  Bio-energy recovery from high-solid organic substrates by dry anaerobic bio-conversion processes: a review , 2013, Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology.

[6]  Eleni Iacovidou,et al.  Food waste co-digestion with sewage sludge--realising its potential in the UK. , 2012, Journal of environmental management.

[7]  Apostolis A. Koutinas,et al.  Food waste as a valuable resource for the production of chemicals, materials and fuels. Current situation and global perspective , 2013 .

[8]  Yebo Li,et al.  Solid-state anaerobic digestion for methane production from organic waste , 2011 .

[9]  Shubiao Wu,et al.  Performance and kinetic evaluation of semi-continuously fed anaerobic digesters treating food waste: role of trace elements. , 2015, Bioresource technology.

[10]  J. M. Park,et al.  Reactor performance and methanogenic archaea species in thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge mixed with food wastewater , 2015 .

[11]  J. Wong,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and chemically enhanced primary-treated sludge under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions , 2016, Environmental technology.

[12]  Hongtao Wang,et al.  Microbial characteristics in anaerobic digestion process of food waste for methane production-A review. , 2018, Bioresource technology.

[13]  Yaobin Zhang,et al.  Towards engineering application: Potential mechanism for enhancing anaerobic digestion of complex organic waste with different types of conductive materials. , 2017, Water research.

[14]  T. Toda,et al.  Effects of particle size on anaerobic digestion of food waste , 2010 .

[15]  J. Gregory Zeikus,et al.  Control of Interspecies Electron Flow during Anaerobic Digestion: Significance of Formate Transfer versus Hydrogen Transfer during Syntrophic Methanogenesis in Flocs , 1988, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[16]  J. Wong,et al.  Optimization of micro-aeration intensity in acidogenic reactor of a two-phase anaerobic digester treating food waste. , 2014, Waste management.

[17]  A. Giannis,et al.  Effect of pretreatment techniques on food waste solubilization and biogas production during thermophilic batch anaerobic digestion , 2016 .

[18]  R. Gunsalus,et al.  Syntrophy in anaerobic global carbon cycles. , 2009, Current opinion in biotechnology.

[19]  Irini Angelidaki,et al.  Ammonia effect on hydrogenotrophic methanogens and syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria. , 2015, FEMS microbiology ecology.

[20]  S Mace,et al.  Dry anaerobic digestion of differently sorted organic municipal solid waste: a full-scale experience. , 2006, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[21]  Ivo Achu Nges,et al.  Impact of bioaugmentation on biochemical methane potential for wheat straw with addition of Clostridium cellulolyticum. , 2014, Bioresource technology.

[22]  Joan Mata-Álvarez,et al.  Anaerobic digestion of organic solid wastes. An overview of research achievements and perspectives , 2000 .

[23]  Hong-yu Zhang,et al.  The effects of salinity on nitrification using halophilic nitrifiers in a Sequencing Batch Reactor treating hypersaline wastewater , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[24]  Omar A. Ghrayeb,et al.  Role of Organic Loading Rate in Bioenergy Generation from Palm Oil Mill Effluent in a Two-Stage Up-Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Continuous-Stirred Tank Reactor , 2017 .

[25]  G. Zeng,et al.  Potential impact of salinity on methane production from food waste anaerobic digestion. , 2017, Waste management.

[26]  R Widmann,et al.  Feasibility study for co-digestion of sewage sludge with OFMSW on two wastewater treatment plants in Germany. , 2005, Waste management.

[27]  M. Taherzadeh,et al.  Inhibitory Effect of Long-Chain Fatty Acids on Biogas Production and the Protective Effect of Membrane Bioreactor , 2016, BioMed research international.

[28]  Yaobin Zhang,et al.  Potential for direct interspecies electron transfer in an electric-anaerobic system to increase methane production from sludge digestion , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[29]  M. Kornaros,et al.  Effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the anaerobic co-digestion of agro-industrial wastes in a two-stage CSTR system. , 2014, Bioresource technology.

[30]  Chao Liu,et al.  Effect of Organic Loading Rate on Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste under Mesophilic and Thermophilic Conditions , 2017 .

[31]  Fabrizio Adani,et al.  Evaluating inhibition conditions in high-solids anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[32]  Paolo Pavan,et al.  Anaerobic digestion of the Barcelona central food market organic wastes. Experimental study. , 1992 .

[33]  B. Dong,et al.  Effect of Increasing Total Solids Contents on Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste under Mesophilic Conditions: Performance and Microbial Characteristics Analysis , 2014, PloS one.

[34]  D. Cheong,et al.  Feasibility of hydrogen production in thermophilic mixed fermentation by natural anaerobes. , 2007, Bioresource technology.

[35]  Pradeep Kumar,et al.  Effect of organic loading rate during anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste. , 2016, Bioresource technology.

[36]  Raffaello Cossu,et al.  Food waste generation and industrial uses: A review. , 2015, Waste management.

[37]  D. Yeh,et al.  Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste by Supplementing Trace Elements: Role of Selenium (VI) and Iron (II) , 2016, Front. Environ. Sci..

[38]  L. Nghiem,et al.  Synergistic effect from anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and organic wastes , 2017 .

[39]  Luigi Frunzo,et al.  Effect of ammoniacal nitrogen on one-stage and two-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste. , 2015, Waste management.

[40]  Bruce E. Logan,et al.  The presence of hydrogenotrophic methanogens in the inoculum improves methane gas production in microbial electrolysis cells , 2015, Front. Microbiol..

[41]  S. Ledakowicz,et al.  Kinetic investigations of methane co-fermentation of sewage sludge and organic fraction of municipal solid wastes. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[42]  Stephanie Lansing,et al.  Characterizing food waste substrates for co-digestion through biochemical methane potential (BMP) experiments. , 2013, Waste management.

[43]  Paolo Pavan,et al.  Mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and source sorted biowaste in pilot- and full-scale reactors. , 2013 .

[44]  L. T. Angenent,et al.  Inoculum selection influences the biochemical methane potential of agro-industrial substrates , 2015, Microbial biotechnology.

[45]  Rajinikanth Rajagopal,et al.  Municipal food waste management in Singapore: practices, challenges and recommendations , 2017 .

[46]  Luigi Frunzo,et al.  Enhanced anaerobic digestion of food waste by thermal and ozonation pretreatment methods. , 2014, Journal of environmental management.

[47]  Wenjie Sun,et al.  Performance evaluation of circulating fluidized bed incineration of municipal solid waste by multivariate outlier detection in China , 2017, Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering.

[48]  G. Qian,et al.  Pretreatment of food waste with high voltage pulse discharge towards methane production enhancement. , 2016, Bioresource technology.

[49]  M. Kornaros,et al.  Anaerobic mesophilic co-digestion of ensiled sorghum, cheese whey and liquid cow manure in a two-stage CSTR system: Effect of hydraulic retention time. , 2015, Bioresource technology.

[50]  Irini Angelidaki,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion of desugared molasses with cow manure; focusing on sodium and potassium inhibition. , 2011, Bioresource technology.

[51]  B. Demirel,et al.  The roles of acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens during anaerobic conversion of biomass to methane: a review , 2008 .

[52]  A. Gallipoli,et al.  Anaerobic bioconversion of food waste into energy: A critical review. , 2018, Bioresource technology.

[53]  Hang-sik Shin,et al.  The optimisation of food waste addition as a co-substrate in anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge , 2003, Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA.

[54]  T. Tan,et al.  The anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and cattle manure. , 2013, Bioresource technology.

[55]  Liang Meng,et al.  Effects of volatile fatty acid concentrations on methane yield and methanogenic bacteria , 2009 .

[56]  M. S. Rao,et al.  Bioenergy conversion studies of organic fraction of MSW: kinetic studies and gas yield--organic loading relationships for process optimisation. , 2004, Bioresource technology.

[57]  Chang Liu,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion process for biogas production: Progress, challenges and perspectives , 2017 .

[58]  K. Slimane,et al.  Influence of Inoculums/Substrate Ratios (ISRs) on the Mesophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Slaughterhouse Waste in Batch Mode: Process Stability and Biogas Production , 2014 .

[59]  Kelly P. Nevin,et al.  Interspecies Electron Transfer via Hydrogen and Formate Rather than Direct Electrical Connections in Cocultures of Pelobacter carbinolicus and Geobacter sulfurreducens , 2012, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[60]  T. Imai,et al.  Start-up performances of dry anaerobic mesophilic and thermophilic digestions of organic solid wastes. , 2007, Journal of environmental sciences.

[61]  G. Demirer,et al.  Performance of leaching bed reactor converting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste to organic acids and alcohols. , 2009, Chemosphere.

[62]  C. Struble,et al.  Methanogen community structure-activity relationship and bioaugmentation of overloaded anaerobic digesters. , 2011, Water research.

[63]  Daniele Goi,et al.  BMP tests of source selected OFMSW to evaluate anaerobic codigestion with sewage sludge. , 2013, Waste management.

[64]  Yiying Jin,et al.  Effects of thermal pretreatment on acidification phase during two-phase batch anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste , 2015 .

[65]  P. S. Bundela,et al.  Co-composting of gelatin industry sludge combined with organic fraction of municipal solid waste and poultry waste employing zeolite mixed with enriched nitrifying bacterial consortium. , 2016, Bioresource technology.

[66]  E. Trably,et al.  Pretreatment of food waste for methane and hydrogen recovery: A review. , 2017, Bioresource technology.

[67]  R. Guo,et al.  Bioaugmentation with an acetate-type fermentation bacterium Acetobacteroides hydrogenigenes improves methane production from corn straw. , 2015, Bioresource technology.

[68]  Fred O Agyeman,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and dairy manure: effects of food waste particle size and organic loading rate. , 2014, Journal of environmental management.

[69]  D. Lovley,et al.  Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer between Geobacter metallireducens and Methanosarcina barkeri , 2014, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[70]  Lei Zhang,et al.  Long-term anaerobic digestion of food waste stabilized by trace elements. , 2012, Waste management.

[71]  M. Goberna,et al.  Co-digestion, biostimulation and bioaugmentation to enhance methanation of brewer’s spent grain , 2013, Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA.

[72]  J. Rico,et al.  Influence of headspace pressure on methane production in Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) tests. , 2016, Waste management.

[73]  B. Ahring,et al.  Effects of free long-chain fatty acids on thermophilic anaerobic digestion , 1992, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[74]  Sergi Astals,et al.  A critical review on anaerobic co-digestion achievements between 2010 and 2013 , 2014 .

[75]  K. S. Creamer,et al.  Inhibition of anaerobic digestion process: a review. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[76]  V. Kalia,et al.  Ecobiotechnological Strategy to Enhance Efficiency of Bioconversion of Wastes into Hydrogen and Methane , 2014, Indian Journal of Microbiology.

[77]  Lei Zhang,et al.  Enhanced anaerobic digestion of food waste by trace metal elements supplementation and reduced metals dosage by green chelating agent [S, S]-EDDS via improving metals bioavailability. , 2015, Water research.

[78]  Jingxing Ma,et al.  Enhanced biomethanation of kitchen waste by different pre-treatments. , 2011, Bioresource technology.

[79]  F. Pirozzi,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion of organic wastes , 2012, Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology.

[80]  D. Karakashev,et al.  Biomethanation and its potential. , 2011, Methods in enzymology.

[81]  V. Gunaseelan.  Anaerobic digestion of biomass for methane production: A review , 1997 .

[82]  S. Sung,et al.  Sodium inhibition of thermophilic methanogens , 2003 .

[83]  Paolo Pavan,et al.  The performances of digesters treating the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes differently sorted , 1990 .

[84]  Sonia Heaven,et al.  Influence of inoculum to substrate ratio on the biochemical methane potential of maize in batch tests , 2006 .

[85]  K. Kida,et al.  The effects of micro-aeration on the phylogenetic diversity of microorganisms in a thermophilic anaerobic municipal solid-waste digester. , 2004, Water research.

[86]  Kelly P. Nevin,et al.  Potential enhancement of direct interspecies electron transfer for syntrophic metabolism of propionate and butyrate with biochar in up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors. , 2016, Bioresource technology.

[87]  Irini Angelidaki,et al.  Influence of Environmental Conditions on Methanogenic Compositions in Anaerobic Biogas Reactors , 2005, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[88]  M. Alves,et al.  Methane production from oleate: assessing the bioaugmentation potential of Syntrophomonas zehnderi. , 2010, Water research.

[89]  A. Stams,et al.  Role of syntrophic microbial communities in high-rate methanogenic bioreactors. , 2012, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[90]  M. Alves,et al.  Endurance of methanogenic archaea in anaerobic bioreactors treating oleate-based wastewater , 2013, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[91]  A. Stams,et al.  Activity and Viability of Methanogens in Anaerobic Digestion of Unsaturated and Saturated Long-Chain Fatty Acids , 2013, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[92]  D. Zitomer,et al.  Relating Anaerobic Digestion Microbial Community and Process Function , 2015, Microbiology insights.

[93]  Shengyong Lu,et al.  Stabilization of Heavy Metals in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Fly Ash in Circulating Fluidized Bed by Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Treatment with Additives , 2016 .

[94]  Y. Kamagata,et al.  Comparative analysis of bacterial and archaeal communities in methanogenic sludge granules from upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors treating various food-processing, high-strength organic wastewaters. , 2009, Microbes and environments.

[95]  E. P. S. Hernández,et al.  Anaerobic digestion of Chlorella vulgaris for energy production , 1993 .

[96]  Xiaochang C. Wang,et al.  Effects of loading rate and temperature on anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and waste activated sludge in a high frequency feeding system, looking in particular at stability and efficiency. , 2017, Bioresource technology.

[97]  Jing-Yuan Wang,et al.  Enhanced hydrolysis and methane yield by applying microaeration pretreatment to the anaerobic co-digestion of brown water and food waste. , 2013, Waste management.

[98]  Lieve Helsen,et al.  Anaerobic digestion in global bio-energy production: Potential and research challenges , 2011 .

[99]  Yaobin Zhang,et al.  Communities stimulated with ethanol to perform direct interspecies electron transfer for syntrophic metabolism of propionate and butyrate. , 2016, Water research.

[100]  Sunil Kumar,et al.  Artificial neural network based modeling to evaluate methane yield from biogas in a laboratory-scale anaerobic bioreactor. , 2016, Bioresource technology.

[101]  Ruihong Zhang,et al.  Biogas production from co-digestion of dairy manure and food waste. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[102]  Orsolya Strang,et al.  Improvement of Biogas Production by Bioaugmentation , 2012, BioMed research international.

[103]  D. Daffonchio,et al.  Two-stage vs single-stage thermophilic anaerobic digestion: comparison of energy production and biodegradation efficiencies. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[104]  D Bolzonella,et al.  Anaerobic codigestion of waste activated sludge and OFMSW: the experiences of viareggio and treviso plants (Italy). , 2006, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[105]  T. Chandra,et al.  Stimulation of biomethanation by Clostridium sp. PXYL1 in coculture with a Methanosarcina strain PMET1 at psychrophilic temperatures , 2010, Journal of applied microbiology.

[106]  P. Lens,et al.  Effect of NaCl on thermophilic (55°C) methanol degradation in sulfate reducing granular sludge reactors , 2003 .

[107]  Ho Nam Chang,et al.  Anaerobic organic acid production of food waste in once-a-day feeding and drawing-off bioreactor. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[108]  S. Soda,et al.  Microbial population dynamics during startup of a full-scale anaerobic digester treating industrial food waste in Kyoto eco-energy project. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[109]  Dong-Hoon Kim,et al.  Continuous high-solids anaerobic co-digestion of organic solid wastes under mesophilic conditions. , 2011, Waste management.

[110]  Jisu Bae,et al.  Potential methane yield of food waste/food waste leachate from the biogasification facilities in South Korea , 2016 .

[111]  P. He,et al.  Bacterial bioaugmentation for improving methane and hydrogen production from microalgae , 2013, Biotechnology for Biofuels.

[112]  B Mattiasson,et al.  Impact of food industrial waste on anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and pig manure. , 2004, Journal of environmental management.

[113]  Xiujin Li,et al.  Evaluating biomethane production from anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of food waste and floatable oil (FO) skimmed from food waste. , 2015, Bioresource technology.

[114]  D. Verrier,et al.  Two-phase methanization of solid vegetable wastes , 1987 .

[115]  Guang-qing Liu,et al.  Characterization of food waste as feedstock for anaerobic digestion. , 2007, Bioresource technology.

[116]  Stephen R. Smith,et al.  A comparison of wet and dry anaerobic digestion processes for the treatment of municipal solid waste and food waste , 2015 .

[117]  Stewart Burn,et al.  A review of policy drivers and barriers for the use of anaerobic digestion in Europe, the United States and Australia , 2015 .

[118]  K. Kennedy,et al.  Effect of microwave irradiation on anaerobic degradability of model kitchen waste. , 2010, Waste management.

[119]  J. Tay,et al.  Bioaugmentation and coexistence of two functionally similar bacterial strains in aerobic granules , 2007, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[120]  Jörg E. Drewes,et al.  Full scale co-digestion of wastewater sludge and food waste: Bottlenecks and possibilities , 2017 .

[121]  Konrad Koch,et al.  Co-digestion of food waste in municipal wastewater treatment plants: Effect of different mixtures on methane yield and hydrolysis rate constant , 2015 .

[122]  Hans Oechsner,et al.  Effect of different pH-values on process parameters in two-phase anaerobic digestion of high-solid substrates , 2015, Environmental technology.

[123]  Piet N.L. Lens,et al.  Pretreatment methods to enhance anaerobic digestion of organic solid waste , 2014 .

[124]  Sam L H Chiu,et al.  Reviewing the anaerobic digestion and co-digestion process of food waste from the perspectives on biogas production performance and environmental impacts , 2016, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[125]  Jonathan W.C. Wong,et al.  Bio-refining of food waste for fuel and value products , 2017 .

[126]  D. Karakashev,et al.  Bioaugmentation as a solution to increase methane production from an ammonia-rich substrate. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[127]  Juan Tong,et al.  Optimization and microbial community analysis of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge based on microwave pretreatment. , 2016, Bioresource technology.

[128]  J. Wong,et al.  Co-digestion of food waste and chemically enhanced primary treated sludge in a continuous stirred tank reactor , 2017 .

[129]  D. Zitomer,et al.  Bioaugmentation of overloaded anaerobic digesters restores function and archaeal community. , 2015, Water research.

[130]  D. Lovley,et al.  Promoting direct interspecies electron transfer with activated carbon , 2012 .

[131]  Kaiqin Xu,et al.  Determination and abatement of methanogenic inhibition from oleic and palmitic acids , 2017 .

[132]  Yaobin Zhang,et al.  Potentially direct interspecies electron transfer of methanogenesis for syntrophic metabolism under sulfate reducing conditions with stainless steel. , 2017, Bioresource technology.

[133]  A. O'donnell,et al.  Microbial community dynamics in mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of mixed waste. , 2011, Bioresource technology.

[134]  N. Lyczko,et al.  Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and FOG with sewage sludge – realising its potential in Ireland , 2018 .