Interactions between substrate characteristics and microbial communities on biogas production yield and rate

Jongkeun Lee; Jeongseop Hong; Seulki Jeong; Kartik Chandran; Ki Young Park

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122934

Interactions between substrate characteristics and microbial communities on biogas production yield and rate

Bioresour Technol. 2020 May:303:122934. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122934. Epub 2020 Feb 7.

Authors

Jongkeun Lee¹, Jeongseop Hong¹, Seulki Jeong², Kartik Chandran³, Ki Young Park⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea.
² Seoul Center, Korea Basic Science Institute, 6-7, Inchon-ro 22-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02855, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kypark@konkuk.ac.kr.

PMID: 32036325
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122934

Abstract

In this study, leather fleshing waste (LFW) and a complementary substrate (food waste leachate; FWL) were co-digested. The main focus of research was to study effects on biogas production caused by interactions between co-substrates when combined in different mixing ratios and changes on microbial community structures. Due to a positive effect of co-digestion (i.e., establishing nutrient equilibrium), the adjusted substrates for optimum C/N ratio by blending LFW and FWL resulted in significantly higher biodegradability and biomethane production (375.5-520.8 mL CH₄ g^-1 VS) than the mono-digestion of each substrate. According to co-digestion of LFW and FWL, microbial communities became more diverse and the changes of microbial structure influenced the biomethane production performance. Among the co-digesting conditions, the biomethane production yield and rate of the samples were in reverse order and the results were firmly associated with the relative richness of lipids (yield-related) and proteins (rate-related) in the co-substrates.

Keywords: Anaerobic co-digestion; Digestion efficiency; Lipid-rich substrate; Protein-rich substrate.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Biofuels
Bioreactors
Food
Methane
Microbiota*
Refuse Disposal*

Substances

Biofuels
Methane