Volatile Fatty Acid Recovery from Arrested Anaerobic Digestion for the Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel: A Review: Article No. 821

The process of producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from organic waste involves the use of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as intermediates that are obtained via arrested anaerobic digestion (AAD) and VFA recovery. This recovery process often requires several steps, including de-watering, filtration, extraction, and purification. The recovery of VFAs is crucial for their up-grading and can pose a challenge in the production of SAF from organic waste due to high cost and compatibility issues. This review discusses various dewatering methods, including centrifuge, belt filter press, and screw press, and explores conditioning technologies that can improve the dewatering performance. It also introduces filtration technologies, with a focus on dynamic filtration, which shows promise in addressing the issue of membrane fouling. Additionally, the review describes extraction technologies such as electrodialysis, adsorption, and liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). By providing insights into these different techniques, the review aims to contribute to the development of an integrated VFA recovery process.