Effects of increasing organic loading rates on reactor performance and the methanogenic community in a new pilot upflow solid reactor for continuously processing food waste

Demao Li, Ruohao Tang, Liang Yu, Limei Chen, Shulin Chen, Song Xu and Feng Gao

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 153, issue C, 420-429

Abstract: A new pilot upflow solid reactor (USR) for the anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste was developed and the reactor performance was investigated. The methanogenic microbial community was examined using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology to identify changes in the community in the new reactor with continuous operation at different organic loading rates (OLRs, from 5.2 ± 0.5 to 18.8 ± 0.8 kg COD/(m³·d)) to help understand the reactor performance. A Methanosaeta-dominated methanogenic community was successfully established when the OLR was between 7.0 and 7.6 kg COD/(m³·d). Under these conditions, the average COD removal efficiency was greater than 82% and the average methane yield reached a 280 L/kg CODremoval. When the OLR was greater than 18.8 kg COD/(m³·d), the COD removal efficiency drastically decreased and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) quickly accumulated. The results confirmed that Methanosaeta dominance has a positive effect on reactor performance and methane yield when food waste is treated under an OLR of 7.0 ± 0.7 kg COD/(m³·d). This study demonstrates that the microbial population can be manipulated by changing the reaction conditions and the USR, which has a simple structure and operation, has great potential to handle high-OLR food waste.

Keywords: Food waste; Upflow solid reactor (USR); Anaerobic digestion (AD); Microbial community (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:153:y:2020:i:c:p:420-429

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.02.020

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