RT Journal Article
T1 From dairy waste to butyric acid: Scaling the valorization process
A1 Casero Díaz, Tamara
A1 Castro Barros, Celia
A1 Mauricio Iglesias, Miguel
A1 Carballa Arcos, Marta
K1 Anaerobic fermentation
K1 Carboxylate platform
K1 Industrial by-products
K1 Resource recovery
K1 Volatile fatty acids
K1 Milk permeate
AB To move towards a circular dairy sector and reduce its environmental impact, sustainable management of its by-products is essential. This study presents a novel approach to valorize milk permeate through the production of butyric acid. Key operating parameters, including hydraulic retention time (HRT) and pH, were tested at a laboratory scale and the best conditions were validated at a pre-industrial scale in a dairy factory. A relatively short retention time (2 d) and pH 5.5 was demonstrated to be appropriate for the conversion of milk permeate into volatile fatty acids (58% yield), likely due to the permeate carbohydrate composition, which is primarily lactose. Furthermore, the acidic pH (5.5) promoted a shift in the product spectrum, increasing the molar fraction of butyric acid from 0.2 to 0.6. These operational conditions resulted in butyric acid productivities of 9.0 g HBut/L·d and 3.1 g HBut/L·d at lab- and pilot scale, respectively. This study represents a significant step towards a promising valorization route for milk permeate at a representative scale, while highlighting the need for process optimization to overcome scale-up challenges to ensure industrial applicability.
PB Elsevier
SN 0301-4797
YR 2025
FD 2025-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43131
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43131
LA eng
NO Casero-Díaz, T., Castro-Barros, C., Mauricio-Iglesias, M., & Carballa, M. (2025). From dairy waste to butyric acid: Scaling the valorization process. Journal of Environmental Management, 380, 124934. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124934
NO The authors acknowledge the support of the Unidad Mixta CIGAT CIRCULAR (IN853C2022/03) from Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN) (Xunta de Galicia,Spain) and HOLIWATER (RED2022-134350- T) from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain). TC, MMI and MC belong to a Galician Competitive Research Group (ED431C-2021/37).
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026