RESUMO
In view of the pressing problem that appears in our region (Asturias, north of Spain) with the residues from the cider production, it was decided to test this kind of material as a co-substrate joint with slaughterhouse waste in a laboratory unit. The anaerobic digestion of apple pulp was investigated for biogas production. This paper presents the results where apple pulp was co-digested with slaughterhouse waste (pig intestine and bovine stomach content) in a biogas laboratory unit (10 l CSTR reactor). The production of biogas has reached very satisfactory values during the whole test (0.8m(3)kg(-1)OTS), verifying that the process is kept in stable conditions of pH (near 8.0), and the volatile fatty acids was always underneath 3000 mg/l, when the pulp amount was lower than 100g in mesophilic conditions. The fat concentration into the digester remained always below the value that causes inhibition of the methanogenic bacteria, 500 mg/l. Finally, methane concentration (77-80%) and H(2)S concentration (400 ppm) in the biogas, they were similar to those obtained when the test was run out in the absence of apple pulp. The process efficiency with respect to COD removal was high, near 80% of the total COD. Finally, inhibitory effects of methanogenic bacteria were observed when pulp concentration was around 10% in the input material.
