The bioreactor system will enable anaerobic digestion of complex fat-rich sludge

Indian scientists have developed a novel high-performance bioreactor system integrated with a sustainable pre-treatment process for enabling anaerobic digestion of complex fat-rich sludge from the dairy industry. It has been further integrated with membrane bioreactor based-wastewater treatment to enable zero liquid discharge in the dairy industry.

The technology has been developed by Dr Sandeep N Mudliar at CSIR-CFTRI Mysore with support from the Waste Management Technology program of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, with support from Sun Enviro Technologies for the pilot-scale trials at a model dairy plant. A bench-scale system, which has been tested on a pilot scale has been developed. A patent will be filed soon. 

The technology can be applied for the anaerobic digestion of complex solid waste containing fats and oils and can be coupled with wastewater treatment to enable zero liquid discharge. Further, the technology can be used for solid and liquid waste management in food and allied industries. The sustainable pre-treatment technique is applicable to all types of complex solid wastes to enhance biogas production as well as the robustness of the anaerobic digestion process.

Dairy and food industries are the likely industries that can take up the technology. The technology will also be applicable for any biodegradable solid waste sludge and food waste from any food industry as well as food industry wastewaters.