ALKALINE PRETREATMENT AND AIR MIXING FOR IMPROVEMENT OF METHANE PRODUCTION FROM ANAEROBIC CO-DIGESTION OF POULTRY LITTER WITH WHEAT STRAW

Highlights

● Integration of alkaline pretreatment and air mixing for co-digestion was validated.

● Alkaline pretreatment enhanced hydrolysis of poultry litter and wheat straw.

● Cumulative methane yield was improved by 46.7% compared to the control.

● The cone model best fitted the methane yield kinetics with R ² ≥ 0.9979.

● Total volatile solids removal was improved by 2.3 times in the digestate.

Abstract

Alkaline pretreatment (AL) and air mixing (air) both have the potential to improve anaerobic co-digestion (Co-AD) of poultry litter with wheat straw for methane production. In this study, the effects of the combination of AL (pH 12 for 12 h) and air mixing (12 mL·d⁻¹) on the Co-AD process were investigated. The substrate hydrolysis was enhanced by AL, with soluble chemical oxygen demand increased by 4.59 times and volatile fatty acids increased by 5.04 times. The cumulative methane yield in the group of Co-AD by AL integrated with air (Co-(AL + air)), being 287 mL·(g VS_added)⁻¹, was improved by 46.7% compared to the control. The cone model was found the best in simulating the methane yield kinetics with R² ≥ 0.9979 and root mean square prediction error (rMSPE) ≤ 3.50. Co-(AL + air) had a larger hydrolysis constant k (0.14 d⁻¹) and a shorter lag phase λ (0.99 d) than the control (k = 0.12 d⁻¹, λ = 2.06 d). The digestate improved the removal of total solids and total volatile solids by 2.0 and 2.3 times, respectively. AL facilitated substrate degradation, while air can enrich the microbial activity, together enhancing the methane generation. The results show that AL + air can be applied as an effective method to improve methane production from the Co-AD process.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

sodium hydroxide / air injection / cumulative methane yield / kinetic modeling analysis / digestate

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by USDA/NIFA/AFRI Applied Science and Foundational Program (2019-67021-29945) and the authors want to show appreciation for the financial support provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Yuanhang Zhan, Jun Zhu, Yiting Xiao, and Leland C. Schrader declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2023. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)