Effects of Iron Powder Addition and Thermal Hydrolysis on Methane Production and the Archaeal Community during the Anaerobic Digestion of Sludge

Xiuqin Cao, Yibin Wang and Ting Liu
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Xiuqin Cao: School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
Yibin Wang: School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
Ting Liu: School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: The conventional anaerobic digestion of sludge has the disadvantages of long digestion time and low methane production. Pretreatment is often used to mitigate these problems. In this study, three pretreatment methods, namely, the addition of iron powder, high-temperature thermal hydrolysis, and a combination of these methods, were compared for application with conventional continuous anaerobic digestion reactors. The results showed that pretreatment improved methane yield by 18.2–22.9%, compared to the control reactor (conventional anaerobic digestion). Moreover, it was recognized that the archaeal community in the sludge underwent significant changes after pretreatment. Specifically, the addition of iron powder reduced the diversity in the archaeal community, but increased the abundance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens without changing the community composition. Thermal hydrolysis at high temperatures had the reverse effect, as it increased the diversity of the archaeal community but inhibited the growth of acetoclastic methanogens. In the case of the combined pretreatment, the thermal hydrolysis had a dominant influence on the archaeal community. By comparing the changes in functional gene content, it was found that the functional abundance of the archaeal community in the transport and metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids was higher after pretreatment than in the control group.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; biogas; archaeal community; hydrogenotrophic methanogens; acetoclastic methanogens (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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