Production of Bio-Energy from Pig Manure: A Focus on the Dynamics Change of Four Parameters under Sunlight-Dark Conditions

This study investigated the effect of sunlight-dark conditions on volatile fatty acids (VFAs), total ammonium nitrogen (TAN), total alkalinity (TA) and pH during pig manure (PM) digestion and then the subsequent influence on biogas yield of PM. PM(1) and PM(2) were performed in a transparent reactor and a non-transparent reactor, respectively. Two sets of experiments were conducted with a temperature of 35.0±2.0 °C and a total solid concentration of 8.0% to the digestion material. The dynamic change of the four parameters in response to sunlight-dark conditions resulted in variations of the physiological properties in the digester and affected the cumulative biogas production (CBP). PM(1) obtained higher CBP (15020.0 mL) with a more stable pH and a lower TAN concentration (1414.5 mg/L) compared to PM(2) (2675.0 mL and 1670.0 mg/L, respectively). The direct path coefficients and indirect path coefficients between the four parameters and CBP were also analyzed.