title: Anaerobic digestion of crude glycerol from biodiesel manufacturing using a large-scale pilot plant: methane production and application of digested sludge as fertilizer.
abstract: This report is the first to consider methane production energy balance from crude glycerol at a practical rather than a laboratory scale. Crude glycerol was added to the plant progressively at between 5 and 75 L glycerol/30 m(3)-day for 1.5 years, and the energy balance was positive at a loading rate of 30 L glycerol/30 m(3)-day (1 ml/L-day). At this loading rate over one year, an energy output equivalent to 106% of the energy input was achieved. The surplus energy was equivalent to transport for 1200 km, so the proper feedstock-transportation distance was within a 12.5-km radius of the biogas plant. In addition, the digested sludge contained fertilizer components (T-N: 0.11%, P2O5: 0.036%, K2O: 0.19%) that increased grass yield by 1.2 times when applied to grass fields. Thus, crude glycerol is an attractive bioresource that can be used as both a feedstock for methane production and a liquid fertilizer.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sustainable Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Yomogida 232-3, Naruko-onsen, Osaki, Miyagi 989-6711, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Chika
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Ryoya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Nobuyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chida
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakai
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism; D005308:Fertilizers; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D006109:Poaceae / Q000254:growth & development; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D005308:Fertilizers; D012722:Sewage; D008697:Methane; D005990:Glycerol