Valorization of vinasse from sugar-cane industry by anaerobic digestion: treatment, organic acids recovery and biohydrogen production

• Grant number: 16/21478-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: June 14, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Zaiat
• Grantee: Felipe Eng Sánchez
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/06246-7 - Biorefinery concept applied to biological wastewater treatment plants: environmental pollution control coupled with material and energy recovery, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/12748-3 - Molecular analysis of microorganisms involved in the fatty acid volatiles and hydrogen production in the treatment of vinasse from sugarcane by anaerobic digestion, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The great challenge of this research project is to establish the basis for applying the biorefinery concept to a biological treatment plant of vinasse from thesugar-alcohol industry through the production of one renewable biofuel and high value-added products. This concept will be based on the application of anaerobic bioreactor as main unit of work in order to obtain solvents and organic acids in the liquid phase and biohydrogen in the gas phase. Simultaneously, will be the firstly treating of the wastewaters to reduce contamination that cause the discarding to a receiving body and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases responsible for much of change global climate. In this new approach, taking into account that this raw material is composed of organic matter likely to become of these products and work unit with their equipment and reactor, is the network of facilities that allow the generation of these high value products and by-products in a treatment system as biorefenery. To this challenge will add to make an efficient treatment to a wastewater complex in terms of composition, high concentration of organic matter, with seasonal variations and the use of anaerobic microorganisms. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FUESS, LUCAS T.; BRAGA, ADRIANA F. M.; ENG, FELIPE; GREGORACCI, GUSTAVO B.; SAIA, FLAVIA T.; ZAIAT, MARCELO; LENS, PIET N. L.. Solving the bottlenecks of sugarcane vinasse biodigestion: Impacts of temperature and substrate exchange on sulfate removal during dark fermentation. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, v. 455, p. 18-pg., 2022-12-17. (15/06246-7, 16/21478-4)

ENG SANCHEZ, FELIPE; TADEU FUESS, LUCAS; SOARES CAVALCANTE, GUILHERME; ANGELA TALARICO ADORNO, MARIA; ZAIAT, MARCELO. Value-added soluble metabolite production from sugarcane vinasse within the carboxylate platform: An application of the anaerobic biorefinery beyond biogas production. FUEL, v. 286, n. 1, FEB 15 2021. (15/06246-7, 17/00080-5, 16/21478-4)

ENG, FELIPE; FUESS, LUCAS TADEU; BOVIO-WINKLER, PATRICIA; ETCHEBEHERE, CLAUDIA; SAKAMOTO, ISABEL KIMIKO; ZAIAT, MARCELO. Optimization of volatile fatty acid production by sugarcane vinasse dark fermentation using a response surface methodology. Links between performance and microbial community composition. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND ASSESSMENTS, v. 53, p. 12-pg., 2022-09-29. (17/00080-5, 18/12748-3, 16/21478-4, 15/06246-7)