Assessing the effect of temperature drop on a stable anaerobic fermentation for volatile fatty acids production

ABSTRACT Anaerobic fermentation (AF) processes are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, which can influence the microbial activity and overall metabolic performances. Anaerobic reactors can face unforeseen temperature control failures, leading to instabilities in the process. The present study investigated the effect of two short-term temperature perturbations (down to 20°C and 15°C) on AF of food wastes (FWs). While 20°C did not exhibit a negative impact on AF performance maintaining the bioconversion yields over 40%, the reactor subjected to 15°C presented an acidogenic limitation, which decreased the bioconversion yields (36.4 ± 1.8%). As a result, 2.2 ± 0.5 g/L of succinic acid was accumulated in the reactor, being identified as a temperature failure indicator. Once the conditions were reestablished (operation temperature of 25ºC), the metabolic redundancies identified in the reactors allowed the AFs recovery to initial fermentation yields. 20°C was further tested as operational temperature resulting in stable bioconversion yield similar to the Control Reactor (43.2 ± 0.3%). These results showed the feasibility of conducting AF under low temperatures, indicating the potential of this technology to increase the cost-effectiveness of AF at psychrophilic conditions. HIGHLIGHTS • Short-term temperature drop to 20°C did not alter the fermentation yields • Succinic acid has been identified as an indicator of acidogenesis failure • Low operational temperatures promote carbohydrate degradation over proteins • Anaerobic fermentation can be successfully performed at 20 ºC