Effect of the bioreactor configuration in the anaerobic digestion of a waste cooking oil

The world is moving toward the renewable energy resources. Biogas is a renewable energy resource with high energy value and low CO2 emissions. Biogas is a gas mixture, mainly consisting of methane and carbon dioxide, resulting from the biological process of anaerobic digestion of various organic material. Vegetable oils contain lipids which are excellent substrate for anaerobic digestion as they produce high amount of biogas compared to other substrates like proteins. But one of the major problems attached with the lipids is that they are insoluble in water and form biphasic solution making it difficult for the microorganisms, present in aqueous phase, to contact with them to digest. The theme of the project is to develop better mixing strategies for the digestion of oils/lipids. One way is to use the conventional CSTR configuration and the other, gas-lift, is based on the working principle of airlift reactor. The aim is to compare the performance and efficiencies of both the reactors for anaerobic digestion of oils under same working conditions.