Pabon-Pereira, C. P., Castanares, G., & van Lier, J. B. (2012). An OxiTop (R) protocol for screening plant material for its biochemical methane potential (BMP). Water Sci. Technol., 66(7), 1416–1423.
Abstract: A protocol was developed for determining the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of plant material using the OxiTop (R) system. NaOH pellets for CO2 absorption and different pretreatment methods were tested for their influence in the BMP test. The use of NaOH pellets in the headspace of the bottle negatively affected the stability of the test increasing the pH and inhibiting methanization. Sample comminution increased the biodegradability of plant samples. Our results clearly indicate the importance of test conditions during the assessment of anaerobic biodegradability of plant material, considering BMP differences as high as 44% were found. Guidelines and recommendations are given for screening plant material suitable for anaerobic digestion using the OxiTop (R) system.
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Pabon-Pereira, C. P., de Vries, J. W., Slingerland, M. A., Zeeman, G., & van Lier, J. B. (2014). Impact of crop-manure ratios on energy production and fertilizing characteristics of liquid and solid digestate during codigestion. Environ. Technol., 35(19), 2427–2434.
Abstract: The influence of maize silage-manure ratios on energy output and digestate characteristics was studied using batch experiments. The methane production, nutrients availability (N and P) and heavy metals' content were followed in multiflask experiments at digestion times 7, 14, 20, 30 and 60 days. In addition, the available nutrient content in the liquid and solid parts of the digestate was evaluated. Aanaerobic digestion favoured the availability of nutrients to plants, after 61 days 20-26% increase in NH4+ and 0-36% increase in PO43- were found in relation to initial concentrations. Digestion time and maize addition increased the availability of PO43-. Inorganic nutrients were found to be mainly available in the liquid part of the digestate, i.e. 80-92% NH4+ and 65-74% PO43-. Manure had a positive effect on the methane production rate, whereas maize silage increased the total methane production per unit volatile solids in all treatments.
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Pabon-Pereira, C., Slingerland, M., Hogervorst, S., van Lier, J., & Rabbinge, R. (2019). A Sustainability Assessment of Bioethanol (EtOH) Production: The Case of Cassava in Colombia. Sustainability, 11(14), 23 pp.
Abstract: This paper shows how system design determines sustainability outcomes of cassava bioethanol production in Colombia. The recovery of the energy contained in by-products is recommended as compared to single product production. In particular, this study assesses the energy, greenhouse gases, water, and land use performance of alternative cassava cascades working at different scales, highlighting the implications of including anaerobic digestion technology in the chain. The centralized systems showed a poorer energy and greenhouse gases performance as compared to decentralized ones in part due to the artificial drying of cassava chips in the centralized facility. Under solar drying of cassava chips, systems with anaerobic digestion produced three to five times more energy than demanded and produced greenhouse gas savings of 0.3 kgCO(2eq) L EtOH-1. The water balance output depends upon the water reuse within the ethanol industry, which demands 21-23 L EtOH-1. In the anaerobic digestion scenarios, assuming liquid flows are treated separately, complete water recovery is feasible. Land use for cassava cultivation was calculated to be 0.27-0.35 ha tEtOH(-1). The energy and water content of the material to digest, the options for digestate reuse, and the recovery of the methane produced are major considerations substantially influencing the role of anaerobic digestion within cassava cascade configurations.
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de Kraker, J., Kujawa-Roeleveld, K., Villena, M. J., & Pabon-Pereira, C. (2019). Decentralized Valorization of Residual Flows as an Alternative to the Traditional Urban Waste Management System: The Case of Penalolen in Santiago de Chile. Sustainability, 11(22), 26 pp.
Abstract: Urban residual flows contain significant amounts of valuable nutrients, which, if recovered, could serve as input for the own city needs or those of its immediate surroundings. In this study, the possibilities for decentralized recovery of nutrient rich residual flows in Santiago, Chile, are studied by means of a case study considering technical and socio-economic criteria. In particular, we calculate circularity indicators for organic matter (OM), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) and cost-benefits of household and community on-site technological alternatives. Kitchen waste (KW) and garden residues (GR) as well as urine were considered as system inputs whereas urban agriculture, municipality green, or peri-urban agriculture were the considered destinations for nutrients recovered. The technologies studied were anaerobic digestion, vermicomposting, and composting, while urine storage and struvite precipitation were considered for nutrient recovery from urine. Material flow analysis was used to visualize the inputs and outputs of the baseline situation (the traditional urban waste management system), and of the different household and municipality resource recovery scenarios (the decentralized valorization systems). Our findings show that decentralized valorization of KW and GR are a clear win-win policy, since they can not only produce important environmental benefits for the city in the long run, but also important cost savings considering the landfill fees and residues transportation of the current centralized waste management system.
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Pabon-Pereira, C. P., Hamelers, H. V. M., Matilla, I., & van Lier, J. B. (2020). New Insights on the Estimation of the Anaerobic Biodegradability of Plant Material: Identifying Valuable Plants for Sustainable Energy Production. Processes, 8(7), 23 pp.
Abstract: Based on fifteen European plant species, a statistical model for the estimation of the anaerobic biodegradability of plant material was developed. We show that this new approach represents an accurate and cost-effective method to identify valuable energy plants for sustainable energy production. In particular, anaerobic biodegradability (B-o) of lignocellulosic material was empirically found to be related to the amount of cellulose plus lignin, as analytically assessed by the van Soest method, i.e., the acid detergent fiber (ADF) value. Apart from being theoretically meaningful, the ADF-based empirical model requires the least effort compared to the other four proposed conceptual models proposed, as individual fractions of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin do not need to be assessed, which also enhances the predictive accuracy of the model's estimation. The model's results showed great predictability power, allowing us to identify interesting crops for sustainable crop rotations. Finally, the model was used to predictB(o)of 114 European plant samples that had been previously characterized by means of the van Soest method.
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Crutchik, D., Rodriguez-Valdecantos, G., Bustos, G., Bravo, J., Gonzalez, B., & Pabon-Pereira, C. (2020). WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. Water Sci. Technol., 82(9), 1781–1794.
Abstract: Recently, it has been suggested that the liquid fraction of anaerobic digestate, derived from the treatment of wastewater and solid wastes, could be used in vermicomposting as a solution to its disposal, and even for its valorization. Nevertheless, the literature does not provide enough information about its impact on the process of vermicomposting itself and on the final quality of the end-product. In this study, the effect of different doses of digestate in the vermicomposting process treating market waste is assessed measuring earthworm population dynamics, the bacterial community succession present in the vermibeds, as well as maturation and the end-quality of the vermicompost. Our results show that the addition of liquid digestate to the vermibeds increased the earthworms biomass, i.e. 71%, 94% and 168% in control, and vermibeds with 30% and 60% digestate, respectively. Further, the increase in the amount of N in the vermicompost decreased as the digestate addition increased, i.e. 75%, 8%, 3%. The maturity achieved was high in all treatments as shown by the C/N ratio, 7.98, 7.40 and 10.20, and the high seed germination rate, above 90%. Finally, the succession of the microbial community was not disturbed and compositional stabilization was reached after 92 days.
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Crutchik, D., Rodriguez-Valdecantos, G., Bustos, G., Bravo, J., Gonzalez, B., & Pabon-Pereira, C. (2020). Vermiproductivity, maturation and microbiological changes derived from the use of liquid anaerobic digestate during the vermicomposting of market waste. Water Sci. Technol., 82(9), 1781–1794.
Abstract: Recently, it has been suggested that the liquid fraction of anaerobic digestate, derived from the treatment of wastewater and solid wastes, could be used in vermicomposting as a solution to its disposal, and even for its valorization. Nevertheless, the literature does not provide enough information about its impact on the process of vermicomposting itself and on the final quality of the end-product. In this study, the effect of different doses of digestate in the vermicomposting process treating market waste is assessed measuring earthworm population dynamics, the bacterial community succession present in the vermibeds, as well as maturation and the end-quality of the vermicompost. Our results show that the addition of liquid digestate to the vermibeds increased the earthworms biomass, i.e. 71%, 94% and 168% in control, and vermibeds with 30% and 60% digestate, respectively. Further, the increase in the amount of N in the vermicompost decreased as the digestate addition increased, i.e. 75%, 8%, 3%. The maturity achieved was high in all treatments as shown by the C/N ratio, 7.98, 7.40 and 10.20, and the high seed germination rate, above 90%. Finally, the succession of the microbial community was not disturbed and compositional stabilization was reached after 92 days.
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