Felipe Alatriste-Mondragón

Chemical and enzymatic sequential pretreatment of oat straw for methane production

Oat straw was subjected to sequential pretreatment: acid/alkaline/enzymatic, to convert the lignocellulosic material in soluble sugars. The hydrolysates from acid pretreatment (2% HCl, 90 °C) and enzymatic pretreatment (cellulase, pH 4.5, 45 °C) were used as substrates in two lab-scale UASB reactors for methane production. The acid and enzymatic hydrolysates contained 25.6 and 35.3g/L of total sugars, respectively, which corresponded to a COD of 23.6 and 30.5 g/L, respectively. The UASB reactor fed with acid hydrolysate achieved a maximum methane yield of 0.34 L CH(4)/g COD at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.5 g COD/L-d. In the reactor fed with enzymatic hydrolysate the methane yield was 0.36 LCH(4)/g COD at OLR higher than 8.8 g COD/L-d. The anaerobic digestion of both hydrolysates was feasible without the need of a detoxification step. The sequential pretreatment of oat straw allowed to solubilize 96.8% of hemicellulose, 77.2% of cellulose and 42.2% of lignin.

Methane production from acid hydrolysates of Agave tequilana bagasse: Evaluation of hydrolysis conditions and methane yield

Evaluation of diluted acid hydrolysis for sugar extraction from cooked and uncooked Agave tequilana bagasse and feasibility of using the hydrolysates as substrate for methane production, with and without nutrient addition, in anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (AnSBR) were studied. Results showed that the hydrolysis over the cooked bagasse was more effective for sugar extraction at the studied conditions. Total sugars concentration in the cooked and uncooked bagasse hydrolysates were 27.9 g/L and 18.7 g/L, respectively. However, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was detected in the cooked bagasse hydrolysate, and therefore, the uncooked bagasse hydrolysate was selected as substrate for methane production. Interestingly, results showed that the AnSBR operated without nutrient addition obtained a constant methane production (0.26 L CH4/g COD), whereas the AnSBR operated with nutrient addition presented a gradual methane suppression. Molecular analyses suggested that methane suppression in the experiment with nutrient addition was due to a negative effect over the archaeal/bacterial ratio.

High removal of chemical and biochemical oxygen demand from tequila vinasses by using physicochemical and biological methods

The goal of this research is to find a more effective treatment for tequila vinasses (TVs) with potential industrial application in order to comply with the Mexican environmental regulations. TVs are characterized by their high content of solids, high values of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), low pH and intense colour; thus, disposal of untreated TVs severely impacts the environment. Physicochemical and biological treatments, and a combination of both, were probed on the remediation of TVs. The use of alginate for the physicochemical treatment of TVs reduced BOD 5 and COD values by 70.6% and 14.2%, respectively. Twenty white-rot fungi (WRF) strains were tested in TV-based solid media. Pleurotus ostreatus 7992 and Trametes trogii 8154 were selected due to their ability to grow on TV-based solid media. Ligninolytic enzymes’ production was observed in liquid cultures of both fungi. Using the selected WRF for TVs’ bioremediation, both COD and BOD 5 were reduced by 88.7% and 89.7%, respectively. Applying sequential physicochemical and biological treatments, BOD 5 and COD were reduced by 91.6% and 93.1%, respectively. Results showed that alginate and selected WRF have potential for the industrial treatment of TVs.

Heavy-Metal Uptake and Growth of Bouteloua Species in Semi-arid Soils Amended with Biosolids

An experiment was conducted in three wild grass species of Bouteloua genus to compare the effect of application of biosolids on the accumulation of heavy metals, biomass production, and nutrient uptake. Biosolids were applied at rates of 0, 3.5, 7, and 10.5 Mg ha−1 to two different soil types collected from the southern Chihuahuan Desert. The shoot biomass of B. gracilis (BOGR) and B. scorpioides (BOSC) was two to three times greater than the control while in B. curtipendula (BOCU) in was 75% in both soils. In BOGR, nitrogen and phosphorus uptake were 4–4.5 times greater than the control in calcareous soil. With few exceptions, there was no significant difference of heavy-metal concentrations (copper, chromium, arsenic, nickel, and zinc) in the plant tissues compared to the control. The application of biosolids showed interspecies variability in growth response and nutrient uptake with a minimal risk of heavy-metal uptake for Bouteloua wild species.

Agave bagasse biorefinery: processing and perspectives

Agave bagasse (AB) is the main solid waste generated by the tequila industry in Mexico, which is an environmental concern due to its considerable volume of production (377,000 Ton in 2016). AB is a lignocellulosic biomass that has been considered as a potential feedstock for different industrial uses in the framework of lignocellulosic biorefinery concept. The lignocellulosic biomass is a complex structure constituted by cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Therefore, for a complete waste revalorization, different processing steps would be required. In this work, the scientific advances toward the AB biorefinery composed by three sequential stages: pretreatment, treatment and biofuels production were reviewed. Moreover, the by-products of the process could also be recovered and used for the synthesis of value-added products. This integrative approach of AB in the conceptualized biorefinery generates positive impacts on environment as well as on local and regional economies.Graphical Abstract

Nitrite and nitrate as electron acceptors for biological sulphide oxidation

Autotrophic denitrification with sulphide using nitrate (R1) and nitrite (R2) as electron acceptor was investigated at bench scale. Different solids retention times (SRT) (5 and 20 d) have been tested in R1 while R2 was operated at SRT=13 d. The results indicated that the process allows complete sulphide removal to be achieved in all tested conditions. Tested sulphide loads were estimated from the H2S produced in a pilot-scale anaerobic digester treating vegetable tannery primary sludge; nitrogen loads originated from the nitrification of the supernatant. Average nitrogen removal efficiencies higher than 80% were observed in all the tested conditions once steady state was reached. A maximum specific nitrate removal rate equal to 0.35 g N-NO3- g VSS(-1) d(-1) was reached in R1. Due to sulphide limitation, incomplete denitrification was observed and nitrite and thiosulphate tend to accumulate especially in the presence of variable environmental conditions in both R1 and R2. Lower SRT caused higher NO2accumulated/NO3reduced ratios (0.22 and 0.24, with SRT of 5 d and 20 d, respectively) using nitrate as electron acceptor in steady-state condition. Temperature decrease caused sudden NO2accumulated/NO3reduced ratio increase in R1 and NO2- removal decrease in R2.

Modeling the Disintegration Process in Anaerobic Digestion of Tannery Sludge and Fleshing

Mathematical modelling of anaerobic digestion is widely acknowledged as a powerful tool to improve the understanding of the process and to support full-scale plant design, operation and optimization. In this work, a modified version of the IWA-ADM1 model is proposed to simulate the anaerobic digestion of tannery primary sludge and fleshing, with special emphasis on the disintegration formulation. Multiple batch tests were performed at different inoculum/substrate VS-mass ratio, in order to evaluate the biodegradability of the two substrates and to provide experimental data for modelling purposes. Beside the necessary adjustments of substrates’ COD fractionation, the structure modifications of the model focused on the disintegration and hydrolysis. The Contois Monod-based model was adopted to describe disintegration kinetics and the results were compared to the traditionally adopted first-order kinetic. The fate of particulate matter generated from biomass lysis was also questioned and a new model variable was introduced to account for cellular lysis products. Finally, a further modification differentiated substrate particulate matter into a readily and a slowly hydrolysable fraction. Batch tests confirmed that tannery primary sludge and fleshing are suitable substrates for anaerobic digestion, exhibiting specific methane productions of: 0.26±0.06 and 0.47±0.05 Nm3Kg-1VS, respectively. Modelling results showed that the proposed modifications were crucial for successful simulation of experimental data referring to fleshing, whereas did not have a significant effect on the results related to primary sludge degradation. This work is the first application of an IWA-ADM1-based model to anaerobic digestion of tannery waste.