ANAEROBIC CODIGESTION OF SWEET

POTATO AND DAIRY CATTLE

WASTEWATER: A TECHNICAL AND
ECONOMICAL EVALUATION FOR THE
ENERGY AND BIOFERTILIZER PRODUCTION

S. B. MONTORO*, J. LUCAS JR**, D. F. L. SANTOS°, M. S. S. M. COSTA°°

* São Paulo State University, UNESP-FCA, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil

** Department of Rural Engineering, São Paulo State University, UNESP-FCAV,
Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil
° Department of Economy, Administration and Education, São Paulo State University,
UNESP-FCAV,Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil
°° Research Group on Water Resources and Environmental Sanitation, Western Parana
State University, Agricultural Engineering Graduate Program, Rua Universitária, 2069.
Jardim Universitário, 85.819-110 Cascavel, Paraná, Brazil

SUMMARY: Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive technology for the electrical energy
generation by biogas production and the nutrient recovery for soil amendment, by biofertilizer, in
adittion, it promotes soil, water and air pollution reduction. The aim of this study was to
technically and economically evaluate the effect of the codigestion of sweet potato and confined
dairy cattle wastewater related to the potential production and quality of the biogas and the
biofertilizer, using semicontinuous digesters. As the sweet potato proportions increased with
regard to the dairy cattle wastewater in the digesters, the biogas and methane production also
linearly increased. The methane concentrations were between 63 and 65.5% characterizing a
biogas of good quality. The N content found in the biofertilizer has increased in relation to sweet
potato adittion, although the concentrations of P and K did not vary significantly. The economic
studies have shown viable to the five analyzed scenarios, which presented internal rates of
return of 51.16, 52.10, 49.60, 56.95 and 46.76% respectively to each scenario and a period of
capital return between 2 and 3 years.

1. INTRODUCTION

The global energy crisis is directly related to the planet climatic changes, the dependence of
energy import, political conflicts between some countries and the volatility of oil and natural gas
price, threatening the worlds economy, making energy security a priority item on the global
political agenda.
The sustainable development undoubtedly depends on the increase of energy availability
from safe, renewable and environmentally adequate sources. In Brazil, the electrical energy
supply has been one of the great problems faced by the producers and rural populations caused

Proceedings Sardinia 2017 / Sixteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium/ 2 - 6 October 2017
S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy / © 2017 by CISA Publisher, Italy
Sardinia 2017 / Sixteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium / 2 - 6 October 2017

by the geographical dispersion and the high investments for the implementation of systems and
nets of distribution. In 2015 the regulatory agency of the Brazilian electrical sector (ANEEL),
regulated the distribution of the micro and minigeneration electrical energy (75 KW and 5 MW
potential of generation, respectively) from renewable sources. A great potential of bioelectricity
can be obtained by the use of residual biomasses from livestock in the form of distributed
generation. In 2014, a total potential obtained was 35 TWh and in 2050 it is expected that the
total potential reaches 67 TWh. The biomasses of poultry, dairy and swine breeding wastes
contribute with approximately 40, 35 and 18% of the total potential, respectively. In this context,
the anaerobic digestion technology raises interests due to advantages, such as the electrical
energy generation in isolated regions, besides the possibility of codigestion of the materials and
organic wastes generated in the production system. Therefore generating biogas and
biofertilizer, products of high level aggregated value to agricultural activity besides the reduction
in the pollution of water resources, soil and air.
The dairy cattle wastes present characteristics that can generate a potential of 0.2686 m3 of
CH4kg-1 of volatile solids added (ANJOS et al., 2017). However, when codigested with other
organic material the dairy cattle wastes can rise its potential (ORRICO et al., 2016). This way,
the starchy, which is rich in easily degradable carbohidrates and sugars and with high energetic
power, presents a great fermentative potential Within the existing starchy the sweet potato (SP)
stands out due to present approximatly 31% of carbohidrates (Taborda et al., 2015) overcoming
the others energy culture used for biofuels production.
In order to meet the Brazilian commitment of keeping its economic growth supported by a
clean energetic matrix, the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for bioenergy
generation from sweet potato biomass and the economical effects of this alternative to Brazilian
farmers.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Assay of Anaerobic Digestion

In the assay of the anaerobic digestion it was used 20 semicontinous digesters with 60L
capacity each one. The treatments varied according to the codigestion of different sweet potato
and dairy cattle wastewater proportions. The production of biogas, the biogas potential
production and the biogas and biofertilizer quality were analyzed, as well as the reduction of
total and volatile solid contents.
The treatments were determined according to the amount of dry mass (DM) contained in the
dairy cattle waste (18%) and in the sweet potato (30%), as shown in Table 1. The daily loads
were calculated with 6% of DM in a dillution of 1:5. Twenty digesters were supplied: one control
(T0) with 0% of sweet potato, T1 with 20% of sweet potato, T2 with 30% of sweet potato, T3 with
40% of sweet potato and T4 with 50% of sweet potato in relation to dairy cattle wastewater.

Table 1 – Treatment description

T0 0,333kg of dairy cattle waste (NM) + 1,667kg of water
T1 0,267kg of dairy cattle waste (NM) + 0,04kg of sweet potato (NM) + 1,693kg of water
T2 0,233kg of dairy cattle waste (NM) + 0,06kg of sweet potato (NM) + 1,707kg of water
T3 0,200kg of dairy cattle waste (NM) + 0,08kg of sweet potato (NM) + 1,719kg of water
T4 0,166kg of dairy cattle waste (NM) + 0,1kg of sweet potato (NM) + 1,733kg of water
Sardinia 2017 / Sixteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium / 2 - 6 October 2017

*NM: natural matter

The biogas potential production was calculated using the biogas daily production data and
the amount of total and volatile solids added and reduced. The content of volatile solids was
weekly determined and expressed in percentage of the dry matter acording to APHA (2005).
The biogas quality analysis was performed once a week in a chromatograph BID-2010 Plus to
determine methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) content. The biogas samples were colected
with glass syringes and immediately analyzed. For the characterization of the biofertilizer the
concentrations of N, P and K were determined according to Bataglia et al. (1993).
The experimental design adopted was completely randomized with five treatments and four
replications containing 0, 20, 30, 40 and 50% of sweet potato in relation to dairy cattle
wastewater. The results of the potential production of biogas were submitted to variance
analysis and the mean values were compared by Tukey test at a level of 5% of probability using
SigmaPlot 12.0.

2.2 Economic viability analysis

In order to evaluate the economic viability of the anaerobic digestion system deployment, we
calculated the sizing of the digester, the revenues from the biogas and biofertilizer potentials,
the initial investment expenses and the plant operating costs. In adittion, we used the weighted
average cost of capital considering the possible financing potential for this investiment and the
enterprise's risk to estimate the discount rate.
The results of the biogas potential production and the content of N, P and K obtained in the
five treatments of the anaerobic digestion assay were adopted to estimate five economical
scenarios as shown in Table 2. In order to evaluate the digester deployment for each scenario it
was adopted 200 confined lactation cows, 430 kg live weight in average and a production of 30
kg of manure daily. It was adopted the same proportions of sweet potato used in the anaerobic
digestion assay.

Table 2. Main characteristics of the scenarios used to calculate the economical analysis

Manure of 200 Sweet potato Nominal matter of Nominal matter of sweet WATER
Scenarios
cows (kg of DM) (kg of DM) manure (kg) potato (kg) (L)

0% ISP 1,080.00 0.00 6,000.00 0.00 30,036.04

20% ISP 1,080.00 269.66 6,000.00 898.88 38,044.94
30% ISP 1,080.00 463.52 6,000.00 1,545.06 43,957.08
40% ISP 1,080.00 720.00 6,000.00 2,400.00 51,600.00
50% ISP 1,080.00 1,084.34 6,000.00 3,614.46 62,674.70

The benefits generated with the production of electrical energy in the motor-generator set
were interpreted as a portion of income that is no longer transferred to the electric utility. This
way, the benefit was interpreted according to the biogas consumption based on the engine
efficiency and the energy fee paid by the owner.
The benefits with the biofertilizer production were computed according to the amount of
nutrients N, P and K considering the average market prices of the commercial fertilizers.
The initial investment was classified as the necessary expense for the implantation of the
digester, motor-generator set and electric power transmission network for each scenario. The
Sardinia 2017 / Sixteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium / 2 - 6 October 2017

costs of depreciation, maintenance and operation of the equipment, and facilities were
considered to calculate the annual costs of the system. The costs of workforce were based on
the expenses with payment and individual protection equipment for a rural worker in the State of
Sao Paulo. The variable costs of the system were difined as the production costs of the
industrial sweet potato (ISP) according to Schweinberger et al. (2016) who show a cost of R$
0.0688 per kg of ISP.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Anaerobic digestion assay

Analyzing the data on Figure 1, it is possible to verify that there was an increase in the
biogas production directly proportional to the ISP adittion whose effect was according to the
equation y= 0.0074x + 0.0102 in all treatments. The value of the R2 from the linear function
(0.9957) shows the reliability of the equation confirming the positive effect that the ISP causes
to the anaerobic digestion process. The total biogas volumes during the 30 days analyzed were
of 0.3177m3; 0.4588m3; 0.5798m3; 0.6970m3; 0.8672m3, respectively for the treatments 0, 20,
30, 40 and 50%.

3 3
Figure 1. Biogas production potentials (m of biogas per m of digester and per kg of VS added) obtained
in the anerobic codigestion of dairy cattle wastewater and sweet potato in different proportions during 30
days.

Based on the treatment with 0% of ISP adittion it is possible to observe the increase of 2.25,
4.33, 15.82 and 41.66% in the biogas production per kg of volatile solids added in the
treatments with 20, 30, 40 and 50% of ISP, respectively. This fact can be explained by the
nutritional characteristics presented in the ISP. According to Silva et al. (2008) the sweet potato
root contains carbohidrates whose main component is the starch, a polysaccharide mainly
composed by amylose which presents a structure chain and is highly water soluble. Thereof, the
fermentation process by amylolytic bacterias fastly occurs transforming sugars into volatile fatty
acids, which are used by methanogenic bacterias to produce methane.
The codigestion of ISP and dairy cattle wastewater has provided an increase of 44, 82, 119
and 172% in the biogas production respectively for the tratments 20, 30, 40 and 50% in relation
to control (0% of ISP).
Nogueira (2013) has tested the codigestion of crushed sugar cane and cattle manure and
Sardinia 2017 / Sixteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium / 2 - 6 October 2017

has obtained results of the biogas production 30% higher than the treatment without sugar
cane. Xavier (2009) has added 6 and 8% of sugar cane juice in digesters supplied with dairy
cattle manure and has observed an increase of 36 and 32%, respectively in the total biogas
production when compared with the control (without sugar cane juice). Considering these
references it is evident that energy crops such as sugar cane and sweet potato can increase the
biogas production when codigested with dairy cattle manure having the sweet potato exceeded
biogas yields when compared to those of sugar cane. This result can be explained due to the
sugar cane composition of 15% soluble carbohydrates (sucrose) and the sweet potato showing
the double, 30% of starch and 5% of sugars. The amount and characteristics of the
carbohydrates found in the sweet potato favour the initial phases in the anaerobic digestion
process allowing an increase in the production of CO2 and CH4.
The amount of methane during the 30 days of the experiment also showed a linear increase
in relation to the sweet potato adittion. The average content of methane was 65.25, 64.5, 63.87,
63.5 and 63%, respectively to the treatments 0, 20, 30, 40 and 50% of sweet potato adittion.
Although the total production of biogas increases, the methane percentage in the biogas
decreased in relation to sweet potato adittion in the five treatments studied. This fact can be
explained by the ease in which the sweet potato undergoes hydrolysis, releasing more amount
of carbon dioxide.
The N concentrations found in the biofertilizer increased in proportion to the ISP addition,
resulting in 4.6; 4.7; 5.2; 5.5 and 5.6 g 100 g-1, respectively for each treatment. The P and K
concentrations did not vary significantly.

3.2 Analysis of economic feasibility

The five studied scenarios showed economic feasibility. It can be observed in Table 3 that the
Net Present Value (NPV) is larger as the proportions of sweet potatoes are increased,
presenting profits of 155, 173, 156, 212 and 128% on the invested capital. So, there is highly
attractive investment considering the use of 100% of the generated revenue. These high
profitability indexes (PI) are translated by the Internal Rates of Return (IRR) that exceed the
minimum attractiveness rate (AR) (8.5%) in 6; 6.12; 5.8; 6.7 and 5.8 times, respectively.

Table 3. Results of Discounted Cash Flow for five scenarios (Values in U$1.00 = R$3,11)
Revenue Free Cash Flow NPV PI Discount
Scenarios IRR
(U$) (U$) (U$) Payback
0% ISP 777,717.03 613,427.71 288,430.15 51.16% 255% 3.40 years
20% ISP 987,270.20 731,699.54 348,539.14 52.10% 273% 2.30 years
30% ISP 1,176,300.22 863,140.18 403,440.89 49.60% 256% 2.40 years
40% ISP 1,471,123.66 1,065,009.94 524,030.26 56,95% 313% 2.00 years
50% ISP 1,985,704.18 1,367,980.02 626,704.58 46.76% 228% 2.70 years
*NPV: Net Present Value; IRR: Internal Rates of Return; PI: profitability index

In view of the great difference between IRR and AR came the necessity of seeking more
concise results. This way, we determined the Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR). The
values of the MIRR calculated in this study were 26.36, 26.94, 26.33, 28.22 and 25.39%,
respectively for the scenarios 0%ISP, 20%ISP, 30%ISP, 40%ISP and 50%ISP, data which
suggests the project feasibility as the MIRR is higher than the cost of opportunity of the market
showing the attractiveness and profitability of this system.
Sardinia 2017 / Sixteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium / 2 - 6 October 2017

The economical results obtained were different from each other showing the necessity of
specific evaluation. Considering a practical point of view, a farmer whose objectives are to
stabilize the wastes generated in the dairy farming and to eliminate the environmental impacts
caused by the manure without the intention of expanding its business, the scenario of 0% ISP is
the most advisable, as it achieves the goal and brings gain in saving of electricity and fertilizer
purchase. However, the farmer who wants to stabilize the wastes generated in the dairy farming
and to expande his busines with investments that demand electrical energy, should take the
scenarios which include the sweet potato to increase the biogas production.

4. CONCLUSION

The sweet potato addition in codigestion with the dairy cattle wastewater presents technical
and economical viability through the energy production by the biogas and nutrient recovry by the
biofertilizer.The 50% ISP scenario stood out generating a potential 2,376.44 kwh/day and 26.53
t/year of N, 20.45 t/year of P and 23.6 t/year of K.

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