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Updated: Jan 25, 2026

An Experimental Protocol for Studying Mineral Effects on Organic Hydrothermal Transformations
Published on: August 8, 2018
Comparison of Two Process Schemes Combining Hydrothermal Treatment and Acidogenic Fermentation of Source-Separated
Long Lin1, Ehssan Hosseini Koupaie2, Armineh Azizi3
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, 116 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada. llin2@ualberta.ca.
Abstract:
This study compares the effects of pre- and post-hydrothermal treatment of source- separated organics (SSO) on solubilization of particulate organics and acidogenic fermentation for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production. The overall COD solubilization and solids removal efficiencies from both schemes were comparable. However, the pre-hydrolysis of SSO followed by acidogenic fermentation resulted in a relatively higher VFA yield of 433 mg/g VSS, which was 18% higher than that of a process scheme with a post-hydrolysis of dewatered solids from the fermentation process. Regarding the composition of VFA, the dominance of acetate and butyrate was comparable in both process schemes, while propionate concentration considerably increased in the process with pre-hydrolysis of SSO. The microbial community results showed that the relative abundance of Firmicutes increased substantially in the fermentation of pretreated SSO, indicating that there might be different metabolic pathways for production of VFAs in fermentation process operated with pre-treated SSO. The possible reason might be that the abundance of soluble organic matters due to pre-hydrolysis might stimulate the growth of more kinetically efficient fermentative bacteria as indicated by the increase in Firmicutes percentage.
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