Characterization and CPDM modeling of volatile fatty acid fermentation with cotton gin trash and chicken manrure as substrates
Abstract
With literally tons of biomass produced annually, a process that uses this waste as a feedstock would help reduce the problem of disposal. The MixAlco process is one that does just that. It converts biomass through anaerobic fermentation into volatile fatty acids, mixed alcohols, and ketones. These products can be used as raw chemicals or as fuel for their heating value. The process must be implemented on an industrial scale in order to obtain significant amounts of the products. The substrates evaluated in this study are municipal solid waste (MSW), sewage sludge (SS), cotton gin trash (GT), and chicken manure (CM). The product concentrations obtained from using MSW and SS as the substrate were low compared to those obtained with GT and CM. Maximum product concentrations when using GT and CM at a temperature of 55°C were 22 g of total acid/L with acetic acid constituting 78 % of the total acids. The Continuum Particle Distribution Modeling (CPDM) method is also applied to data collected for batch reactions. The model can accurately predict acid concentrations when excessive decomposition of the acid is not occurring. However, when liquid residence times are extended and the products decompose, the model does not accurately predict the decreasing product concentrations.
Description
Digitized from print original stored in HDR. Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to digital@library.tamu.edu, referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references: leaf 29.
Program year: 1997/1998
Subject
chicken manuremunicipal solid waste
sewage sludge
cotton gin trash
biomass
feedstock
anaerobic fermentation
fatty acids
mixed alcohol
ketone
Citation
Han, Joseph H. (1998). Characterization and CPDM modeling of volatile fatty acid fermentation with cotton gin trash and chicken manrure as substrates. University Undergraduate Research Fellow. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1998 -Fellows -Thesis -H3612.