Neutral fat hydrolysis and long‐chain fatty acid oxidation during anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse wastewater

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Abstract
Neutral fat hydrolysis and long‐chain fatty acid (LCFA) oxidation rates were determined during the digestion of slaughterhouse wastewater in anaerobic sequencing batch reactors operated at 25°C. The experimental substrate consisted of filtered slaughterhouse wastewater supplemented with pork fat particles at various average initial sizes (Din) ranging from 60 to 450 μm. At the Din tested, there was no significant particle size effect on the first‐order hydrolysis rate. The neutral fat hydrolysis rate averaged 0.63 ± 0.07 d−1. LCFA oxidation rate was modelled using a Monod‐type equation. The maximum substrate utilization rate (kmax) and the half‐saturation concentration (Ks) averaged 164 ± 37 mg LCFA/L/d and 35 ± 31 mg LCFA/L, respectively. Pork fat particle degradation was mainly controlled by LCFA oxidation rate and, to a lesser extent, by neutral fat hydrolysis rate. Hydrolysis pretreatment of fat‐containing wastewaters and sludges should not substantially accelerate their anaerobic treatment. At a Din of 450 μm, fat particles were found to inhibit methane production during the initial 20 h of digestion. Inhibition of methane production in the early phase of digestion was the only significant effect of fat particle size on anaerobic digestion of pork slaughterhouse wastewater. Soluble COD could not be used to determine the rate of lipid hydrolysis due to LCFA adsorption on the biomass. © 2002 Government of Canada. Exclusive worldwide publication rights in the article have been transferred to Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 79: 43–52, 2002.