Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Detection of acidification limit in anaerobic membrane bioreactors at ambient temperature

Kjerstadius, Hamse LU ; de Vrieze, Jo ; la Cour Jansen, Jes LU and Davidsson, Åsa LU orcid (2016) In Water Research 106. p.429-438
Abstract

High-volume, low-strength industrial wastewaters constitute a large potential for biogas production, which could be realized by membrane bioreactors operating at the ambient temperature of the wastewater. However, the start-up of low-temperature anaerobic processes using unadapted inoculum can be sensitive to overloading, which results in acidification. This study assessed if a novel acidification limit test can be used to identify stable organic loading rates as well as process over-loading. The test is based on easy-to-apply batch experiments for determination of the hydrolysis rate constant and the specific methanogenic activity of the acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic pathways. For evaluation, two anaerobic membrane bioreactors,... (More)

High-volume, low-strength industrial wastewaters constitute a large potential for biogas production, which could be realized by membrane bioreactors operating at the ambient temperature of the wastewater. However, the start-up of low-temperature anaerobic processes using unadapted inoculum can be sensitive to overloading, which results in acidification. This study assessed if a novel acidification limit test can be used to identify stable organic loading rates as well as process over-loading. The test is based on easy-to-apply batch experiments for determination of the hydrolysis rate constant and the specific methanogenic activity of the acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic pathways. For evaluation, two anaerobic membrane bioreactors, treating synthetic dairy wastewater at an ambient temperature of 24 °C, were used with a slow or a rapid start-up regime, respectively. Tests for hydrolysis rate and methanogenic activity were performed throughout the experiment and were used to calculate acidification limits for each system throughout the start-up. The acidification limit test was able to successfully identify both stable operation of one reactor and process failure of the other reactor as the organic loading rate increased. The reactor failure was caused by over-loading the acetotrophic pathway and coincided with microbial changes observed in real-time PCR and moving window analysis. Overall, the acidification limit tests seem promising as an easy applicable method for estimating what organic loading rate can be utilized, without risking acidification of anaerobic systems.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Acidification limit, Anaerobic digestion, Anaerobic membrane bioreactor, Hydrolysis rate, Specific methanogenic activity
in
Water Research
volume
106
pages
10 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85006746620
  • pmid:27760410
  • wos:000388047500044
ISSN
0043-1354
DOI
10.1016/j.watres.2016.10.032
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6815c7cf-fdd0-4da0-94b2-529b83895079
date added to LUP
2017-01-11 14:12:17
date last changed
2024-01-04 20:29:40
@article{6815c7cf-fdd0-4da0-94b2-529b83895079,
  abstract     = {{<p>High-volume, low-strength industrial wastewaters constitute a large potential for biogas production, which could be realized by membrane bioreactors operating at the ambient temperature of the wastewater. However, the start-up of low-temperature anaerobic processes using unadapted inoculum can be sensitive to overloading, which results in acidification. This study assessed if a novel acidification limit test can be used to identify stable organic loading rates as well as process over-loading. The test is based on easy-to-apply batch experiments for determination of the hydrolysis rate constant and the specific methanogenic activity of the acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic pathways. For evaluation, two anaerobic membrane bioreactors, treating synthetic dairy wastewater at an ambient temperature of 24 °C, were used with a slow or a rapid start-up regime, respectively. Tests for hydrolysis rate and methanogenic activity were performed throughout the experiment and were used to calculate acidification limits for each system throughout the start-up. The acidification limit test was able to successfully identify both stable operation of one reactor and process failure of the other reactor as the organic loading rate increased. The reactor failure was caused by over-loading the acetotrophic pathway and coincided with microbial changes observed in real-time PCR and moving window analysis. Overall, the acidification limit tests seem promising as an easy applicable method for estimating what organic loading rate can be utilized, without risking acidification of anaerobic systems.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kjerstadius, Hamse and de Vrieze, Jo and la Cour Jansen, Jes and Davidsson, Åsa}},
  issn         = {{0043-1354}},
  keywords     = {{Acidification limit; Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobic membrane bioreactor; Hydrolysis rate; Specific methanogenic activity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  pages        = {{429--438}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Water Research}},
  title        = {{Detection of acidification limit in anaerobic membrane bioreactors at ambient temperature}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.10.032}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.watres.2016.10.032}},
  volume       = {{106}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}