Anaerobic digestion of crude glycerol: a review

Several researchers have used crude glycerol as a source of substrate for methane production and power generation, which is a way of adding value to this residue that has a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and is rich in impurities. This review article summarizes recent data and discussions on the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental technology reviews 2012-11, Vol.1 (1), p.81-92
Main Authors: Viana, M. B, Freitas, A. V, Leitão, R. C, Pinto, G. A.S, Santaella, S. T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anaerobic digestion
biodiesel by-product
biogas
biomass
chemical oxygen demand
electricity
energy
glycerine
glycerol
heat
metabolites
methane
methane production
power generation
renewable energy
researchers
sulfates
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Summary:Several researchers have used crude glycerol as a source of substrate for methane production and power generation, which is a way of adding value to this residue that has a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and is rich in impurities. This review article summarizes recent data and discussions on the use of crude glycerol as substrate and co-substrate for anaerobic digestion. In general, the dilution of glycerol has been used to avoid problems of inhibition due to the presence of inorganic salts of chloride and sulphates, and due to accumulation of metabolites. However, other methods have been proposed, such as the use of halo-tolerant biomass. It can be concluded that the anaerobic digestion of crude glycerol is technically viable, and an anaerobic reactor treating 25 m ³ per day of crude glycerol can produce 4.4 MW of thermal energy, which can be converted to 4.4 GW of heat or 1.2 GW of electricity.
ISSN:2162-2523
2162-2515
2162-2523
DOI:10.1080/09593330.2012.692723