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Recovery of unstable digestion of vegetable waste by adding trace elements using the bicarbonate alkalinity to total alkalinity ratio as an early warning indicator

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Abstract

Vegetable waste (VW) is highly perishable and susceptible to acidification during anaerobic digestion, which inhibits biogas production. Effective process monitoring, diagnosis and control are necessary to maintain stable anaerobic digestion at a high organic loading rate (OLR). Continuous mesophilic digestion was conducted at OLRs of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 g volatile solids (VS)/(L d) with effluent recirculation (ER) in a reactor with total volume of 70 L. The effectiveness of three early warning indicators was validated. The ability of trace elements (TEs) (Fe, Co and Ni) to recover unstable VW digestion systems was evaluated. The results showed that the ratio of bicarbonate alkalinity (BA) to total alkalinity (TA) was a more effective warning indicator than the ratios of methane (CH4) to carbon dioxide and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) to TA. When the ratio of BA/TA was lower than 0.9, the digestion system tended to be unstable. ER maintained a stable OLR of 1.5 g VS/(L d). The addition of TEs achieved a maximum stable OLR of 3.5 g VS/(L d) with an average volumetric biogas production rate of 1.91 L/(L d). Severe VFAs accumulation and unrecoverable instability occurred at an OLR of 4.0 g VS/(L d). The supplementation of ammonium bicarbonate was not useful for the recovery of the unstable system when the OLR was greater than 3.5 g VS/(L d) for the digestion of VW. The specific methane production was approximately 340 L/kg VS during the stable period with a digestion efficiency of 85%.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Anaerobic digestion

BA:

Bicarbonate alkalinity

ER:

Effluent recirculation

FVW:

Fruit and vegetable wastes

HRT:

Hydraulic retention time

IA:

Intermediate alkalinity

OLR:

Organic loading rates

ORP:

Oxidation–reduction potential

SBP:

Specific biogas production

SMP:

Specific methane production

TA:

Total alkalinity

TAN:

Total ammonia nitrogen

TE:

Trace element

TMP:

Theoretical methane potential

TS:

Total solids

VBPR:

Volumetric biogas production rate

VFA:

Volatile fatty acid

VS:

Volatile solids

VW:

Vegetable waste

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported jointly by the National Key R & D Program of China [2018YFD0501405], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21476222], West Light Foundation of Chinses Academy of Sciences [2018XBZG_XBQNXZ_A_004], Special fund for talented persons of Sichuan provincial Party Committee Organization Department, the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences [2017423], Key project for foreign cooperation of International Cooperation Bureau of Chinese Academy of Sciences [182344KYSB20170009], the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP) of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

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Correspondence to Yi Ran.

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Li, D., Sun, J., Cao, Q. et al. Recovery of unstable digestion of vegetable waste by adding trace elements using the bicarbonate alkalinity to total alkalinity ratio as an early warning indicator. Biodegradation 30, 87–100 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-019-09868-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-019-09868-9

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