Anaerobic codigestion of cheese whey with sewage sludge

In this study was evaluated the effectiveness of producing an effluent rich in caproic acid and other volatile fatty acids using a co-digestion between cheese whey and sewage sludge in a continuous laboratory scale reactor. The effect of two different feeding regimes (one per day and two per day) and three hydraulic retention times (HRT) (15, 10 and 6 days) were studied on the organic acids production and on its profile. Under these conditions, the organic acids profile was dominated by caproic acid production. The analysis of the microbial community dynamics in the reactor during the HRT changes, revealed a microbiome influenced for the feedstock used as well as the operational conditions applied.