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Evaluation of an electronic nose for the early detection of organic overload of anaerobic digesters

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Abstract

This study aimed at analysing the utilization of an electronic nose (e-nose) to serve as a specific monitoring tool for anaerobic digestion process, especially for detecting organic overload. An array of non specific metal oxide semiconductor gas sensors were used to detect process faults due to organic overload events in twelve 1.8-L anaerobic semi-continuous reactors. Three different load strategies were followed: (1) a cautious organic load (1.3 gVS L−1 day−1); (2) an increasing load strategy (1.3–5.3 gVS L−1 day−1) and (3) a cautious organic load with load pulses of up to 12 gVS L−1 day−1. A first monitoring campaign was conducted with three different substrates: sucrose, maize oil and a mix of sucrose/oil during 60 days. The second campaign was run with dry sugar beet pulp for 45 days. Hotelling’s T 2 value and upper control limit to a reference set of digesters fed with a cautious OLR (1.3 gVS L−1 day−1) was used as indirect state variable of the reactors. Overload situations were identified by the e-nose apparatus with Hotelling’s T 2 values at least four times higher in magnitude than the upper control limit of 23.7. These results confirmed that the e-nose technology appeared promising for online detection of process imbalances in the domain of anaerobic digestion.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg (FNR) for the AFR doctoral grant (TR-PHD-BFR08/117). The research was partly realized in the framework of the Interreg IVA OPTIBIOGAZ project (001/GR/2/3/003), which is co-financed by the European Union through the FEDER for the INTERREG IVa program. The authors are most thankful to Marcel Nickers from the ASBL Au Pays de l’Attert for his never-ending support to agricultural biomethanation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences and Management Department, University of Liège, Arlon campus environnement, Avenue de Longwy 185, 6700, Arlon, Belgium

    Gilles Adam, Anne-Claude Romain & Jacques Nicolas

  2. EVA Environment and Agro-biotechnologies Department, Centre de Recherche Public-Gabriel Lippmann, Rue du Brill 41, 4422, Belvaux, Luxembourg

    Sébastien Lemaigre & Philippe Delfosse

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  1. Gilles Adam
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  2. Sébastien Lemaigre
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Correspondence to Philippe Delfosse.

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Adam, G., Lemaigre, S., Romain, AC. et al. Evaluation of an electronic nose for the early detection of organic overload of anaerobic digesters. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 36, 23–33 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-012-0757-6

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