Recycling of acetate and ammonium from digestate for single cell protein production by a hybrid electrochemical-membrane fermentation process

• A hybrid electrochemical-membrane fermentation process was developed. Higher voltage of electrodialysis recovered more nutrients but with lower current efficiency. Forward osmosis concentrated the acetate and ammonium in recovery by 14- 10-fold. Saccharomyces cerevisiae fed on recoveries achieved SCP productions 0.76–0.86 g/L. The production costs estimated to be €20.4/kg-SCP ED-fermentation. Digestate is a potential substrate for yeast produce single cell protein (SCP), its complex matrix constrains applications. This study developed recover from synthetic digestate SCP. Electrodialysis (ED) first employed ammonium. More were at higher At 2 V, 42.2% 60.1% reclaimed, further 10-fold via forward (FO) process. Due complexity real digestate, efficiency ED practical applications should investigated. raw similar g/L, amino acid concentrations above FAO recommendation 1.5–4.2-fold. total cost ED, while ED-FO 40 times more. .