Acidogenesis of dairy wastewater at various pH levels

Abstract

Continuous experiments were conducted to study the influence of pH in the range 4.0-6.5 on the acidification of dairy wastewater at 37 degrees C with 12 hours of hydraulic retention in an upflow reactor. Results showed that degradation of dairy pollutants increased with pH from pH 4.0 to 5.5. At pH 5.5, 95% of carbohydrate, 82% of protein and 41% of lipid were degraded. Based on chemical oxygen demand (COD), 48.4% of dairy pollutants were converted into volatile fatty acids and alcohols in the mixed liquor, 6.1% into hydrogen and methane in biogas, and the remaining 4.9% into biomass. The biomass yield at pH 5.5 was estimated as 0.32 mg-VSS/mg-COD. Further increase of pH, up to 6.5, increased degradation of carbohydrate, protein and lipid only slightly, but resulted in the lowering of overall acid and alcohol production due to their increased conversion into methane. Acetate, propionate, butyrate and ethanol are the main products of acidogenesis. Productions of propionate and ethanol were favored at pH 4.0-4.5, whereas productions of acetate and butyrate were favored at pH 6.0-6.5.