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Anaerobic Digestion of Cassava Wastewater Pre-treated by Fungi

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Abstract

Cassava wastewater (cww) contains high concentrations of easily acidifying compounds, requiring a buffered system to allow a stable operation during anaerobic digestion (AD). The possibility to include a preliminary one-step fungi treatment aimed at raising the pH and buffering the cww prior to AD was studied. Preliminary tests were performed with a naturally grown fungal mixed culture, under aerated (AE), non-aerated (NAE) and initially oxygen-deprived (IOD) conditions. The cww was pre-treated by the NAE condition, until reaching a soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 10 g L−1 and pH 6.4 (batch A) and pH 5.7 (batch B). The fungal mixed culture showed ability to biodegrade the cww with initial pH of 4.4 and 14,500 mg COD L-1, raising the pH over 8.5, with only 13 % of COD remaining within 27 days for both AE and NAE condition. The fungal pre-treated-cww (FPTcww) was subjected to anaerobic digestion under different buffered (CaCO3 and NaHCO3) and non-buffered conditions. The FPTcww with initial pH at 6.4 provided stability during the anaerobic biodegradability tests, showing the possibility of system operation without buffer addition, with final pH around 7. The application of a fungal pre-treatment can be a promising strategy to permit the anaerobic digestion of carbohydrate-rich wastewaters.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to CNPq, the Brazilian National Council for Research and Development, for providing the students’ grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Science and Technology, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Cidade Universitária, Campo Grande, MS, 79070-900, Brazil

    Paula Loureiro Paulo, Thais Adriana Colman-Novaes, Laynara Dayene Soares Obregão & Marc Árpád Boncz

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  1. Paula Loureiro Paulo
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  2. Thais Adriana Colman-Novaes
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  3. Laynara Dayene Soares Obregão
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  4. Marc Árpád Boncz
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Correspondence to Paula Loureiro Paulo.

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Paulo, P.L., Colman-Novaes, T.A., Obregão, L.D.S. et al. Anaerobic Digestion of Cassava Wastewater Pre-treated by Fungi. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 169, 2457–2466 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-013-0153-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-013-0153-y

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