Production of medium chain fatty acids from ensiled biomass; kinetic study, effect of enriched microbiome and technoeconomic analysis
The use of an appropriate inoculum is critical to the overall efficiency of the chain elongation (CE) process. Digestates from biogas reactors have been reported to be the most commonly used inoculum for CE. However, the use of such inoculum is associated with a prolonged lag phase and low yield of medium chain carboxylates (MCC), probably because digestates contain a limited number of microbial groups that are adapted to the process conditions of anaerobic fermentation. One way of increasing the relative abundance of potential key organisms could be by mixing inocula from different sources.