Importance of "weak-base" poplar wastes to process performance and methane yield in solid-state anaerobic digestion.

Failure of methane yield is common for anaerobic digestion (AD) of "weak-acid/acid" wastes alone. In order to verify the importance of pH of materials on the process performance and the methane yield, the "weak-base" wastes-poplar wastes (PW) were used as substrate of solid-state AD (SS-AD). The results show that PW could be used for efficient methane yield after NaOH treatment, the total methane yield was 81.1 L/kg volatile solids (VS). PW also could be used for anaerobic co-digestion with high-pH cattle slurry (CM). For the group with NaOH pretreatment, time used for reaching stable state was 2 days earlier than that of the group without NaOH pretreatment. The maximal methane yield of 98.2 L/kg VS was obtained on conditions of 1:1 of PW-to-CM (P/C) ratio and NaOH pretreatment, which was 21.1% (p < 0.05) higher than that of PW. The maximal reductions of total solids (TS), VS, cellulose and hemicellulose were 51.3%, 57.5%, 46.0% and 47.0%, respectively, which were associated with the maximal methane yield. The results indicate that PW could be alone used for efficient SS-AD for methane yield after NaOH treatment.

Comparison on batch anaerobic digestion of five different livestock manures and prediction of biochemical methane potential (BMP) using different statistical models.

There is a lack of literature reporting the methane potential of several livestock manures under the same anaerobic digestion conditions (same inoculum, temperature, time, and size of the digester). To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has reported biochemical methane potential (BMP) predicting models developed and evaluated by solely using at least five different livestock manure tests results. The goal of this study was to evaluate the BMP of five different livestock manures (dairy manure (DM), horse manure (HM), goat manure (GM), chicken manure (CM) and swine manure (SM)) and to predict the BMP using different statistical models. Nutrients of the digested different manures were also monitored. The BMP tests were conducted under mesophilic temperatures with a manure loading factor of 3.5g volatile solids (VS)/L and a feed to inoculum ratio (F/I) of 0.5. Single variable and multiple variable regression models were developed using manure total carbohydrate (TC), crude protein (CP), total fat (TF), lignin (LIG) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), and measured BMP data. Three different kinetic models (first order kinetic model, modified Gompertz model and Chen and Hashimoto model) were evaluated for BMP predictions. The BMPs of DM, HM, GM, CM and SM were measured to be 204, 155, 159, 259, and 323mL/g VS, respectively and the VS removals were calculated to be 58.6%, 52.9%, 46.4%, 81.4%, 81.4%, respectively. The technical digestion time (T80-90, time required to produce 80-90% of total biogas production) for DM, HM, GM, CM and SM was calculated to be in the ranges of 19-28, 27-37, 31-44, 13-18, 12-17days, respectively. The effluents from the HM showed the lowest nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentrations. The effluents from the CM digesters showed highest nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and digested SM showed highest potassium concentration. Based on the results of the regression analysis, the model using the variable of LIG showed the best (R(2)=0.851, p=0.026) for BMP prediction among the single variable models, and the model including variables of TC and TF showed the best prediction for BMPs (R(2)=0.913, p=0.068-0.075) comparing with other two-variable models, while the model including variables of CP, LIG and ADF performed the best in BMP prediction (R(2)=0.999, p=0.009-0.017) if three-variable models were compared. Among the three kinetic models used, the first order kinetic model fitted the measured BMPs data best (R(2)=0.996-0.998, rRMSE=0.171-0.381) and deviations between measured and the first order kinetic model predicted BMPs were less than 3.0%.

Field evaluation of wood bark-based down-flow biofilters for mitigation of odor, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide emissions from confined swine nursery barns.

Two down-flow wood bark-based biofilters were evaluated for their effectiveness in treating odor, NH3 and H2S under actual swine farm conditions. The water requirement for maintaining proper media moisture contents (MC) under different ventilation rates and intervals were determined. The effect of media depth and MC on the biofilters' performance was also evaluated. The aerodynamic resistance on biofilters was studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Water requirements for biofilters were obtained in the range of 3.8-556.0 L/m(3)/d for ventilation duration of 1-24 h/d (depending on the age of the pig and environmental conditions). The highest reductions in odor, NH3 and H2S, obtained in this study at empty bed residence times (EBRT) of 1.6-3.1 s, were 73.5-76.9%, 95.2-97.9% and 95.8-100.0%, respectively. The pressure drop was 28.8-68.8 Pa for a media depth of 381 mm at an EBRT of 1.6-3.1 s and an MC of 64-65%. The pressure drop followed a secondary order polynomial line with both airflow rate and media MC (R(2) = 0.927-0.982). The results of odor, NH3 and H2S reduction efficiency and pressure drop suggest a media depth of ≥254 mm, MC ≥ 35-50% and EBRT of 2-3 s for successful operations of the wood bark-based biofilters. A high correlation was found between the measured and predicted pressured drops obtained using CFD software (R(2) = 0.921, RMSE = 0.145).

Anaerobic digestion of Chinese cabbage waste silage with swine manure for biogas production: batch and continuous study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential for anaerobic co-digestion of Chinese cabbage waste silage (CCWS) with swine manure (SM). Batch and continuous experiments were carried out under mesophilic anaerobic conditions (36-38°C). The batch test evaluated the effect of CCWS co-digestion with SM (SM: CCWS=100:0; 25:75; 33:67; 0:100, % volatile solids (VS) basis). The continuous test evaluated the performance of a single stage completely stirred tank reactor with SM alone and with a mixture of SM and CCWS. Batch test results showed no significant difference in biogas yield up to 25-33% of CCWS; however, biogas yield was significantly decreased when CCWS contents in feed increased to 67% and 100%. When testing continuous digestion, the biogas yield at organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.0 g VSL⁻¹ d⁻¹ increased by 17% with a mixture of SM and CCWS (SM:CCWS=75:25) (423 mL g⁻¹ VS) than with SM alone (361 mL g⁻¹ VS). The continuous anaerobic digestion process (biogas production, pH, total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) and TVFA/total alkalinity ratios) was stable when co-digesting SM and CCWS (75:25) at OLR of 2.0 g VSL⁻¹ d⁻¹ and hydraulic retention time of 20 days under mesophilic conditions.

Effect of feed to microbe ratios on anaerobic digestion of Chinese cabbage waste under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions: biogas potential and kinetic study.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the feed-to-microbe (F/M) ratios on anaerobic digestion of Chinese cabbage waste (CCW) generated from a kimchi factory. The batch test was conducted for 96 days under mesophilic (36.5 °C) (Experiment I) and thermophilic (55 °C) conditions (Experiment II) at F/M ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. The first-order kinetic model was evaluated for methane yield. The biogas yield in terms of volatile solids (VS) added increased from 591 to 677 mL/g VS under mesophilic conditions and 434 to 639 mL/g VS under thermophilic conditions when the F/M ratio increased from 0.5 to 2.0. Similarly, the volumetric biogas production increased from 1.479 to 6.771 L/L under mesophilic conditions and from 1.086 to 6.384 L/L under thermophilic conditions when F/M ratio increased from 0.5 to 2.0. The VS removal increased from 59.4 to 75.6% under mesophilic conditions and from 63.5 to 78.3% under thermophilic conditions when the F/M ratio increased from 0.5 to 2.0. The first-order kinetic constant (k, 1/day) decreased under the mesophilic temperature conditions and increased under thermophilic conditions when the F/M ratio increased from 0.5 to 2.0. The difference between the experimental and predicted methane yield was in the range of 3.4-14.5% under mesophilic conditions and in the range of 1.1-3.0% under thermophilic conditions. The predicted methane yield derived from the first-order kinetic model was in good agreement with the experimental results.

Effects of chemical compositions and ensiling on the biogas productivity and degradation rates of agricultural and food processing by-products.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of chemical compositions and ensiling on the biogas productivity and degradation rates of agricultural and food processing by-products (AFPBPs) using the biogas potential test. The AFPBPs were classified based on their chemical compositions (i.e., carbohydrate, protein and fat contents). The biogas and methane potentials of AFPBPs were calculated to range from 450 to 777 mL/g volatile solids (VS) and 260-543 mL/g VS, respectively. AFPBPs with high fat and protein contents produced significantly higher amounts of biogas than AFPBPs with high carbohydrate and low fat contents. The degradation rate was faster for AFPBPs with high carbohydrate contents compared to AFPBPs with high protein and fat contents. The lag phase and biogas production duration were lower when using ensiled AFPBPs than when using nonsilage AFPBPs. Among the four different silages tested, two silages significantly improved biogas production compared to the nonsilage AFPBPs.

Ensiling of fish industry waste for biogas production: a lab scale evaluation of biochemical methane potential (BMP) and kinetics.

Fish waste (FW) obtained from a fish processor was ensiled for biogas production. The FW silages were prepared by mixing FW with bread waste (BW) and brewery grain waste (BGW), and the quality of the prepared silages were evaluated. The biogas potentials of BW, BGW, three different types of FW, and FW silages were measured. A first-order kinetic model and the modified Gompertz model were also used to predict methane yield. The biogas and methane yield for FW silages after 96 days was calculated to be 671-763 mL/g VS and 441-482 mL/g VS, respectively. There were smaller differences between measured and predicted methane yield for FW silages when using a modified Gompertz model (1.1-4.3%) than when using a first-order kinetic model (22.5-32.4%). The critical HRTs and technical digestion times (T(80-90)) for the FW silages were calculated to be 21.0-23.8 days and 40.5-52.8 days, respectively.

Batch anaerobic co-digestion of Kimchi factory waste silage and swine manure under mesophilic conditions.

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of Kimchi factory waste silage (KFWS) with swine manure (SM). Chinese cabbage (CC) is the major waste generated by a Kimchi factory and KFWS was prepared by mixing CC and rice bran (RB) (70:30 on a dry matter basis). In Experiment I, the biogas potential of CC and RB were measured and, in Experiment II, the test was conducted with different ratios of KFWS and SM (KFWS: SM=0:100; 33:67; 67:33; 100:0 by% volatile solids (VS) basis). KFWS produced a 27% higher biogas yield and a 59% higher methane yield compared to CC. The specific biogas yields increased by 19, 40 and 57% with KFWS-33%, KFWS-67% and KFWS-100%, respectively compared to SM-100% (394 mL/g VS). Similarly, VS removal increased by 37, 51 and 74% with KFWS-33%, KFWS-67% and KFWS-100%, respectively compared to SM-100%. These results suggested that Kimchi factory waste could be effectively treated by making silage, and the silage could be used as a potential co-substrate to enhance biogas production from SM digesters.

Sludge exchange process on two serial CSTRs anaerobic digestions: process failure and recovery.

The sludge exchange process using two anaerobic digesters (CSTRs) in series was investigated under the mesophilic condition (36-38°C). At first, the digesting sludge of the CSTRs in series with different TVFA/alkalinity ratios was tested in the laboratory by mixing the digesting sludge of two CSTRs from 6.5% to 50% based on volume. The sludge exchange test was then performed using the same CSTRs under batch and continuous processes. The change in the TVFA/alkalinity ratio was found to be linear with the digesting sludge exchange volume. The CSTR of TVFA/alkalinity ratio 1.970 recovered completely failed within 11 days for the batch process and the CSTR of TVFA/alkalinity ratio 1.514 within 3 weeks for the continuous feeding process at a sludge exchange volume of 13%. The reactor operation was stable when the TVFA/alkalinity ratio was less than 1.0 and when the TVFA concentration was lower than 10,000 mg L(-1).