Department of Environmental Sanitation, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Ceará, Sobral, Brazil.
Water Sci Technol. 2012;66(10):2217-22. doi: 10.2166/wst.2012.455.
Crude glycerol, the main by-product of the biodiesel industry, is a material containing compounds considered recalcitrant to microorganisms. The aims of this study were to determine the anaerobic biodegradability and the methane production potential (MPP) of different crude glycerols generated from the transesterification of oils from several kinds of seeds and/or beans, and the anaerobic toxicity of crude glycerol obtained from a mixture of soybean and cottonseed oils. All tests were based on specific methanogenic activity assays (SMA). The biodegradability tests and the MPP assays lasted 30 days. Toxicity was evaluated through the statistical technique of factorial design and a response surface was generated in which the concentrations of crude glycerol and glucose were the independent variables and SMA was the dependent variable. The results showed that the type of seed or bean, as well as the transesterification process, affected the anaerobic biodegradability. Biodegradability ranged between 65.9 and 85.6% and MPP, between 0.220 and 0.322 m(3) CH(4)/kg crude glycerol. The toxicity test showed that crude glycerol was not toxic to anaerobic sludge.
粗甘油是生物柴油工业的主要副产物，是一种被认为对微生物具有抗降解性的化合物。本研究的目的是确定不同粗甘油的厌氧生物降解性和甲烷生成潜力（MPP），这些粗甘油是由几种种子和/或豆类的酯交换产生的，以及从混合大豆和棉籽油中获得的粗甘油的厌氧毒性。所有测试均基于特定的产甲烷活性测定（SMA）。生物降解性测试和 MPP 测试持续 30 天。毒性通过析因设计的统计技术进行评估，并生成了一个响应面，其中粗甘油和葡萄糖的浓度是自变量，SMA 是因变量。结果表明，种子或豆类的类型以及酯交换过程会影响厌氧生物降解性。生物降解率在 65.9%至 85.6%之间，MPP 在 0.220 至 0.322m3 CH4/kg 粗甘油之间。毒性测试表明，粗甘油对厌氧污泥没有毒性。
