摘要

This paper presents an assessment of ozone oxidative effects on the biodegradability of sugar cane vinasse, aiming at increasing the methane yield by anaerobic digestion of this effluent. Furthermore, as a new approach, an economic balance of this process was made. Using a bench scale reactor, ozone was applied at 60, 120, 180, 240 mgO(3)center dot gCOD(-1) doses in raw vinasse and at three initial pH values (4.8, 7 and 9). Applying 60 mgO(3)center dot gCOD(-1), the biodegradability of vinasse was increased by 22.7% at the initial pH value of 4.8. The application of the two-way ANOVA test indicated a significant statistical interaction between the pH value and ozone. However, a preliminary energy assessment showed that the amount of electricity consumed in a full-scale ozonation plant would be almost 6 times higher than the energy recovered from the combustion of the additional methane produced (13.6%). These results indicate that ozonation of raw vinasse to increase the methane production in a subsequent anaerobic process is economically unfeasible.

  • 出版日期2016-6