Enhanced biogas recovery by applying post-digestion in large-scale centralized biogas plants.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the degradation efficiency of centralized biogas plants and provide guidance for the design of more efficient digester and post-digestion systems. These centralized biogas plants in Denmark digest manure together with organic waste from the food industry to generate biogas, which is used for electricity and thermal energy. A total of 20 such plants are currently active in Denmark, most of which were included in the investigation. From the plants, samples were obtained from various steps of the process. Samples were analysed and the residual biogas potential determined by batch post-digestion at various temperature levels. Results were correlated with plant characteristics and production statistics in order to judge the efficiency of various digestion concepts. A simplified model based on a two-step biogas production process was developed and experimental data were used to determine kinetic constants. Experimental results and analysis combined with model simulations showed that the residual biogas potential in the main digestion step effluent is originating mainly from undegraded particulate matter in the biomass. For thermophilic plants 93% of the residual biogas potential was originating from particulate matter and 88% for the mesophilic biogas plants. This indicates that the residual biogas potential is mainly due to insufficient retention time in the main digestion step for hydrolysis of particulate material and that the hydrolysis step is the methane yield limiting factor, while conversion of soluble material such as VFA is the rate limiting factor critical for achieving a stable process.     

Ammonia, a selective agent for methane production by syntrophic acetate oxidation at mesophilic temperature.

In biogas processes, methane production from acetate proceeds by either aceticlastic methanogenesis or through syntrophic acetate oxidation (SAO). In the present study, the pathway for methane production from acetate was analysed; i) during a gradual increase of the ammonia concentration (final concentration 7 g NH(4)(+) -N/L) in a semi-continuous lab-scale anaerobic digester (4.3 L), operating at mesophilic temperature (37 degrees C) or ii) in diluted enrichment cultures (100 ml) experiencing a gradual increase in ammonia, sodium, potassium and propionic acid. The pathway for methane formation was determined by calculating the (14)CO(2)/(14)CH(4) ratio after incubating samples with (14)C-2-acetate. In the anaerobic digester, as well as in the enrichment cultures, the (14)CO(2)/(14)CH4 ratio clearly increased with increasing ammonium-nitrogen concentration, i.e. as the ammonia concentration increased, a shift from the aceticlastic mechanism to the syntrophic pathway occurred. The shift was very distinct and occurred as the NH(4)(+) -N concentration rose above 3 g/l. No shift in pathway was seen during increasing concentrations of sodium, potassium or propionic acid. The shift to SAO in the biogas digester resulted in a twofold decrease in the specific gas and methane yield.     

Monitoring and control of the biogas process based on propionate concentration using online VFA measurement.

Simple logic control algorithms were tested for automatic control of a lab-scale CSTR manure digester. Using an online VFA monitoring system, propionate concentration in the reactor was used as parameter for control of the biogas process. The propionate concentration was kept below a threshold of 10 mM by manipulating the feed flow. Other online parameters such as pH, biogas production, total VFA, and other individual VFA were also measured to examine process performance. The experimental results showed that a simple logic control can successfully prevent the reactor from overload, but with fluctuations of the propionate level due to the nature of control approach. The fluctuation of propionate concentration could be reduced, by adding a lower feed flow limit into the control algorithm to prevent undershooting of propionate response. It was found that use of the biogas production as a main control parameter, rather than propionate can give a more stable process, since propionate was very persistent and only responded very slowly to the decrease of the feed flow which lead to high fluctuation of biogas production. Propionate, however, was still an excellent parameter to indicate process stress under gradual overload and thus recommended as an alarm in the control algorithm.     

Behavior of an Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor at extreme salinity.

High salinity is one of the most well known inhibitors and salt concentrations above 1% are reported as highly saline. Salt may be found in the main collectors of municipal sewer systems which carry the risk of seawater infiltration and where domestic wastewaters are treated with landfill leachates such cases in Istanbul. Discharging of leachates into sewerage would also result in additional ammonium loads in Municipal Treatment Plants (MTPs). In this study, synthetic wastewater was fed to a lab-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor operated at a constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day. The salt concentration was increased artificially whereas the ammonium concentration was fixed at 1000 mg/l throughout the study. Results indicated no significant inhibition up to 2% salinity + 1000 mg/l NH4 and TOC removals could reach up to 88%. Besides, effective total biogas productions having methane content of 84% could be achieved. It is obvious that anaerobic microorganisms (especially methanogens) could well adapt to high salinity ratios. No inhibition at high ammonium concentration might have been attributed to the fact that the pH in the system was not high enough for the formation of free ammonia. Investigation of the combined effect of high salinity and ammonium was carried on by increasing the salinity to 3% in the study. Results indicated that TOC removals decreased to around 56% and 3% salinity caused . a sharp decrease both in organic material removal and total biogas production. Thus the critical salinity level was determined as 3% for the methanogens in the mesophilic anaerobic digesters.     

Improving biogas yields using an innovative concept for conversion of the fiber fraction of manure

The potential of a new concept to enable economically feasible operation of manure-based biogas plants was investigated at laboratory scale. Wet explosion (WEx) was applied to the residual manure fibers separated after the anaerobic digestion process for enhancing the biogas yield before reintroducing the fiber fraction into the biogas reactor. The increase in methane yield of the digested manure fibers was investigated by applying the WEx treatment under five different process conditions. The WEx treatment at 180 °C and a treatment time of 10 min without addition of oxygen was found to be optimal, resulting in 136% increase in methane yield compared with the untreated digested manure fibers in batch experiments. In a continuous mesophilic reactor process the addition of WEx-treated digested fibers in co-digestion with filtered manure did not show any signs of process inhibition, and the overall methane yield was on average 75% higher than in a control reactor with addition of non-treated digested fibers.     

Anaerobic monodigestion of poultry manure: determination of operational parameters for CSTR

In this work the anaerobic monodigestion for the treatment of turkey manure was evaluated, without its codigestion with another substrate. The effect of the organic loading rate (OLR) and the substrate concentration (high total solids (TS) concentration) or product concentration (high volatile fatty acids (VFA) and/or ammonia (NH(3)-N) concentrations) was studied. The results show that for a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) operation, a maximum of 40 g/L of TS and 4.0 g/L of ammonium (NH(4)(+)) was required. In addition, the maximum organic loading rate (OLR) will not exceed 1.5 kg VS/m(3)d. Higher TS and NH(4)(+) concentrations and OLR lead to a reduction on the methane productivity and volatile solids (VS) removal. During the CSTR operation, a high alkalinity concentration (above 10 g/L CaCO(3)) was found; this situation allowed maintaining a constant and appropriate pH (close to 7.8), despite the VFA accumulation. In this sense, the alkalinity ratio (α) is a more appropriate control and monitoring parameter of the reactor operation compared to pH. Additionally, with this parameter a VS removal of 80% with a methane productivity of 0.50 m(3)(CH4)/m(3)(R)d is achieved.     

Methane conversion efficiency as a simple control parameter for an anaerobic digester at high loading rates

The anaerobic digestion process is globally applied to the treatment of highly concentrated wastes such as industrial and rural effluents, and sewage sludge. However, it is known to be relatively unstable. When loaded with high concentrations of organic material, unwanted volatile fatty acids (VFA) are often produced rather than methane (CH4) gas which can lead to digester acidification and failure. This study investigated digester behaviour under high loading rates, testing the usefulness of stoichiometric methane conversion efficiency as a digester control parameter at high loading rates. Our results show that, in general, the CH4 production rate was proportional to the feed rate (loading rate). However, at very high loading rates, the CH4 production rate was not proportional to the increase in the feeding rate. Consequently, VFA accumulated and the H2 partial pressure increased. The proportionality of the loading rate and gas production rate is stoichiometrically expressed as the conversion efficiency. We found that conversion efficiency was a useful indicator as an early warning of digester imbalance. The digester remained stable at conversion efficiencies above 75%. Dropping below 70% signified the onset of digester failure. As loading rate and methane production data are readily available on-line in most anaerobic digestion plants, the conversion efficiency can be monitored on-line and used as an efficient control technique to maintain safe operation of anaerobic digesters at high loading rates.     

Co-digestion of ruminal content and blood from slaughterhouse industries: influence of solid concentration and ammonium generation.

At the present time, organic solid wastes from industries and agricultural activities are considered to be promising substrates for biogas production via anaerobic digestion. Moreover solids stabilisation is required before reutilization or disposal. Slaughterhouses are among the most important industries in Uruguay and produce 150,000 tons of ruminal content (RC) and 30,000 tons of blood per year. In order to determine the influence of the solids and blood contents, the ammonia inhibition and the inoculum adaptation co-digestion batch tests were performed. A set of experiences with TS concentration of 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% and different ratios of RC/blood were carried out using an inoculum from an UASB reactor. In all experiences fast blood hydrolisation was observed. A higher methane production was detected in the experiences with higher TS content. However, the fraction of solids degradation was lower in these experiences. A plateau in the biogas production was found. The free ammonia level, which was above the reported inhibitory levels, could explain this behaviour. After the inhibition period the biogas production restarted probably due to the biomass acclimatisation to the ammonia. In order to determine the inoculum adaptation a new experiment was performed. The inoculum used was the sludge coming from the first set of experiences. Based upon batch tests a 3.5 m3 pilot reactor was designed and started up. Ammonia inhibition was avoided by the start-up strategy and in two weeks the biogas production was 3.5 m3/d. The VS stabilisation with a solid retention time of 20 days was of 43%. The pilot reactor working at steady state had a TS concentration of 3-4% with a ratio of RC/blood of 10:1 at the entrance.     

Laboratory pilot scale study for H2S removal from biogas in an anoxic biotrickling filter

The purpose of this laboratory pilot scale study at the Wastewater Technology Centre (WTC), Environment Canada, Burlington, ON was to investigate the anaerobic biological removal of H2S from biogas under real-time operating conditions. Biogas produced in a 538 litre pilot anaerobic digester was continuously fed into a 12 litre biotrickling filter containing plastic fibres as packing bed media. The process was monitored for several months. The biogas flowrate and H2S concentration ranged between 10 to 70 L/h and 1,000 to 4,000 ppmv respectively over the course of the test period. Nitrate-rich wastewater from a pilot scale sequencing batch reactor effluent was used as the nutritive solution for the biotrickling filter. The paper presents the influence of several operational parameters such as biogas flowrate, hydrogen sulphide concentration and composition of nutrient solution on process performance. To date, our results show H2S removal rates up to 100% without adverse effects on the methane concentration of the biogas. No system deterioration was observed over long term operation. This non-conventional technology is very promising and could be considered for full scale applications.     

The impact of increasing energy crop addition on process performance and residual methane potential in anaerobic digestion.

In a full-scale agricultural biogas plant, the changes in process performance connected with the increasing energy crop addition were monitored. The substrates applied were pig manure, solid energy crops and agricultural residues. During the study, the organic loading rate and the volume-related biogas productivity were doubled to 4.2 kg VS/(m(.3)d) and 2.83 Nm(3)/(m(3).d) respectively, by means of increasing the energy crop ratio in the feedstock to 96.5% (volatile solids). This resulted in an increase of the electrical capacity on a level twice as high as before. At the same time, methane yield and organic degradation rate decreased slightly to 0.35 Nm(3)/kg VS(added) and 87.4%, respectively. The strongest impact observed was on the transfer of partly degraded organic material into the digestate storage and with this, an increase of the residual methane potential of the digestate. A maximum theoretical methane load in the digestate of 14.4% related to total methane production of the biogas plant was observed. This maximum level could be reduced to 5.5%.     

Determination of the optimal rate for the microaerobic treatment of several H2S concentrations in biogas from sludge digesters

The treatment of H2S in the biogas produced during anaerobic digestion has to be carried out to ensure the efficient long-lasting use of its energetic potential. The microaerobic removal of H2S was studied to determine the treatment capacity at low and high H2S concentrations in the biogas (0.33 and 3.38% v/v) and to determine the optimal O2 rate that achieved a concentration of H2S of 150 mg/Nm3 or lower. Research was performed in pilot-plant scale digesters of sewage sludge, with 200 L of working volume, in mesophilic conditions with a hydraulic retention time of 20 d. O2 was supplied at different rates to the headspace of the digester to create the microaerobic conditions. The treatment successfully removed H2S from the biogas with efficacies of 97% for the low concentration and 99% for the highest, in both cases achieving a concentration below 150 mg/Nm3. An optimal O2 rate of 6.4 NLO2/Nm3 of biogas when treating the biogas was found with 0.33% (v/v) of H2S and 118 NLO2/ Nm3 of biogas for the 3.38% (v/v) concentration. This relation may be employed to control the H2S content in the biogas while optimising the O2 supply.     

Optimizing volatile fatty acid production in partial acidogenesis of swine wastewater.

This research has been conducted based on the fact that acetic and butyric acids are favorable substrates for methanogens, and that a low level of propionic acid production during acidogenesis minimizes the inhibition effect on methanogenic growth. Raw swine wastewater was pretreated with ammonia stripping to enhance acidogenesis. The ammonia nitrogen concentration of less than 1.2 g/L did not significantly affect the biochemical acidogenic potential of swine wastewater. For acidogenesis of swine wastewater, a set of experiments were carried out to produce short chain volatile fatty acids (VFA) in laboratory-scale continuously stirred tank reactors. The production of acetic, propionic, and butyric acids associated with simultaneous changes in hydraulic retention time (HRT) and temperature was investigated. Response surface methodology was successfully applied to approximate the responses of the VFA productions. The optimum physiological conditions where the maximum acetic and butyric acids production occurred were 2.4 days HRT at 34 degrees C and 2.1 days HRT at 35 degrees C, respectively. The propionic acid production linearly increased as both HRT and temperature increased.     

Two-stage anaerobic digestion process for complete inactivation of enteric bacterial pathogens in human night soil.

Anaerobic digestion offers a good alternative for human waste treatment. However, the fate of enteric bacterial pathogens present in human night soil (HNS) remains a major concern for hygienic safety of the process. A two-stage anaerobic digestion process, consisting of separate acidogenic and methanogenic digesters, was designed and its efficacy in the inactivation of Salmonella typhi was compared to a single-stage digestion process. In a single-stage digestion, complete pathogen inactivation was achieved only in the digesters with high levels of volatile fatty acids (VFA approximately equal to 18,000 mg/l) and acidic pH (approximately equal to 6.0). These digesters, however, showed drastic reduction in methane yield. In the two-stage digestion process, S. typhi was completely inactivated in the acidogenic digester and the methanogenic digester was free from the pathogen even after receiving a daily dose of the pathogen. The process also achieved complete inactivation of other enteric pathogens, viz., Shigella dysenteriae and Vibrio cholerae. The two-stage process was efficient in biogas generation from HNS. Thus, the two-stage process ensures complete hygienic safety in anaerobic digestion of human night soil.     

Methane potential and biodegradability of rice straw, rice husk and rice residues from the drying process

Agricultural solid residues are a potential renewable energy source. Rice harvesting and production in Sancti Spíritus province, Cuba, currently generates residues without an environmentally sustainable disposal route. Rice residues (rice straw, rice husk and rice residues from the drying process) are potentially an important carbon source for anaerobic digestion. For this paper, rice residues were placed for 36 days retention time in anaerobic batch reactor environments at both mesophilic (37 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) conditions. Biogas and methane yield were determined as well as biogas composition. The results showed that rice straw as well as rice residues from the drying process had the highest biogas and methane yield. Temperature played an important role in determining both biogas yield and kinetics. In all cases, rice straw produced the highest yields; under mesophilic conditions the biogas yield was 0.43 m(3) kg(VS)(-1), under thermophilic conditions biogas yield reached 0.52 m(3) kg(VS)(-1). In the case of the rice husk, the biodegradability was very low. Methane content in all batches was kept above 55% vol. All digested material had a high carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratio, even though significant biodegradation was recorded with the exception of rice husk. A first-order model can be used to describe the rice crop residues fermentation effectively.     

ADM1 performance using SS-OFMSW with non-acclimated inoculums

This paper assesses the anaerobic digestion (AD) of the source-sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste (SS-OFMSW). For this purpose, an experimental programme was implemented involving the operation and monitoring of two bench-scale anaerobic digesters, continuously fed with SS-OFMSW. The mathematical model (ADM1) was then applied to simulate the process of AD of SS-OFMSW. While start-up of the digesters was relatively slow, re-inoculation with cattle manure with effluent dilution reduced the acclimation period and achieved better stability, accommodating a feeding rate at an OLR = 2.39 kg TVS m(-3) day(-1). The high recorded methane gas production rate, reaching (0.1-2.5 m(3) CH(4)/m(3) reactor day), confirms the excellent biodegradability of the type of waste used (SS-OFMSW) and its suitability for AD. Satisfactory simulations of soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, and methane composition of biogas were obtained, whereas volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in both reactors were over-predicted albeit capturing its general trend.     

Emissionsbewertung von biologischen Abfallbehandlungsanlagen mittels optischer Fernmesstechnik

Measuring greenhouse gas emissions at biological waste treatment facilities, especially methane (CH₄), represents an important precondition for reliably assessing the relevance of these emissions, and for justifying measures to avoid their release. In the context of recording emitted methane loads, sites characterized by large quantities of diffuse emissions are highly problematic, as to date it has been extremely difficult from a technical perspective to measure them with an acceptable degree of accuracy. A micrometeorological method in combination with an optical remote sensing system (open-path Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy—OP-TDLS) is currently being used to address emission-relevant questions concerning landfills and other waste management sites (biogas plants, composting areas at mechanical-biological waste treatment facilities, composting facilities, etc.) at the Institute of Waste Management (Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences). The potential offered by this method for measuring emissions at composting and anaerobic digestion facilities is illustrated on the basis of two case studies. The method allows large areas to be quickly scanned without affecting gas flows on the surface/at the outlet. The results indicate that the amount of CH₄ released by biogas plants and composting facilities fluctuates considerably in the course of a day. Given the comparatively long measurement periods, it was possible to interpret the emissions from both operational and meteorological perspectives. In comparison with conventional, small-scale measurement methods (e.g. chamber measurements), the optical remote sensing system allowed diffuse and temporary emission sources to be more easily recorded, and over a longer period of time.     

Successful solution for high nitrogen content wastewater treatment from rendering plants.

Specific composition of wastewater from rendering plants requires a sophisticated approach to treatment. COD content up to 10 g/l and nitrogen up to 2.5 g/l leads to many difficulties during treatment with activated sludge process. Performance of such wastewater treatment plants is generally very unstable: severe problems with filamentous and viscous sludge bulking occur due to macronutrient deficiency, nitrification is often inhibited by high ammonia and nitrite content, no sufficient carbon source for denitrification is available, and high temperatures up to 40 degree C negatively influence treatment processes. Appropriate control of pH, temperature, biocatalytic nutrient dosage, suitable external carbon source and restriction of inhibitory effects led to the successful operation of four wastewater treatment plants in the region reaching required effluent standards TIN = 60 mg/l and COD = 200 mg/l.     

Anaerobic waste activated sludge co-digestion with olive mill wastewater

Co-digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) with agro-industrial organic wastewaters is a technology that is increasingly being applied in order to produce increased gas yield from the biomass. In this study, the effect of olive mill wastewater (OMW) on the performance of a cascade of two anaerobic continuous stirred tank (CSTR) reactors treating thickened WAS at mesophilic conditions was investigated. The objectives of this work were (a) to evaluate the use of OMW as a co-substrate to improve biogas production, (b) to determine the optimum hydraulic retention time that provides an optimised biodegradation rate or methane production, and (c) to study the system stability after OMW addition in sewage sludge. The biogas production rate at steady state conditions reached 0.73, 0.63, 0.56 and 0.46 l(biogas)/l(reactor)/d for hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 12.3, 14, 16.4 and 19.7 d. The average removal of soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) ranged between 64 and 72% for organic loading rates between 0.49 and 0.75 g sCOD/l/d. Reduction in the volatile suspended solids ranged between 27 and 30%. In terms of biogas selectivity, values of 0.6 l(biogas)/g tCOD removed and 1.1 l(biogas)/g TVS removed were measured.     

Anaerobic digestion of macroalgae: methane potentials, pre-treatment, inhibition and co-digestion

In the present study we tested four macroalgae species--harvested in Denmark--for their suitability of bioconversion to methane. In batch experiments (53 degrees C) methane yields varied from 132 ml g volatile solids(-1) (VS) for Gracillaria vermiculophylla, 152 mi gVS(-1) for Ulva lactuca, 166 ml g VS(-1) for Chaetomorpha linum and 340 ml g VS(-1) for Saccharina latissima following 34 days of incubation. With an organic content of 21.1% (1.5-2.8 times higher than the other algae) S. latissima seems very suitable for anaerobic digestion. However, the methane yields of U. lactuca, G. vermiculophylla and C. linum could be increased with 68%, 11% and 17%, respectively, by pretreatment with maceration. U. lactuca is often observed during 'green tides' in Europe and has a high cultivation potential at Nordic conditions. Therefore, U. lactuca was selected for further investigation and co-digested with cattle manure in a lab-scale continuously stirred tank reactor. A 48% increase in methane production rate of the reactor was observed when the concentration of U. lactuca in the feedstock was 40% (VS basis). Increasing the concentration to 50% had no further effect on the methane production, which limits the application of this algae at Danish centralized biogas plant.     

投料A2/O工艺的硝化特性

中试条件下,通过控制活性污泥的泥龄为4 d,观察了投料A2/O工艺的硝化特性.试验表明,该工艺表现出良好的硝化效果,在水温较高的条件下,出水氨氮低于GB18918-2002标准中8 mg/L的一级排放标准.通过改变好氧池中悬浮填料的投加位置与投配率,发现在较高的氨氮填料表面负荷条件下,出水氨氮仍可控制在较低水平.