Cargando…

Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate

Biogas production from nitrogen‐rich feedstock results in release of ammonia (NH(3)), causing inhibition of the microbial process. The reported threshold ammonia value for stable biogas production varies greatly between studies, probably because of differences in operating conditions. Moreover, it i...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Moestedt, Jan, Müller, Bettina, Westerholm, Maria, Schnürer, Anna
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4767286/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26686366
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12330
_version_ 1782417800250261504
author Moestedt, Jan
Müller, Bettina
Westerholm, Maria
Schnürer, Anna
author_facet Moestedt, Jan
Müller, Bettina
Westerholm, Maria
Schnürer, Anna
author_sort Moestedt, Jan
collection PubMed
description Biogas production from nitrogen‐rich feedstock results in release of ammonia (NH(3)), causing inhibition of the microbial process. The reported threshold ammonia value for stable biogas production varies greatly between studies, probably because of differences in operating conditions. Moreover, it is often difficult to separate the effect of ammonia inhibition from that of organic loading rate (OLR), as these two factors are often interrelated. This study attempted to distinguish the effects of ammonia and OLR by analysis of two laboratory‐scale biogas reactors operating with thin stillage and subjected to an increase in free ammonia (from 0.30 to 1.1 g L(−1)) either by addition of an external nitrogen source (urea) or by increasing the OLR (3.2–6.0 g volatile solids L(−1) d(−1)). The results showed that ammonia concentration was detrimental for process performance, with the threshold for stability in both processes identified as being about 1 g NH3‐N L (−1), irrespective of OLR. Analysis of the methanogenic community showed limited differences between the two reactors on order level and a clear increase in the abundance of M ethanomicrobiales, particularly M ethanoculleus sp., in response to increasing ammonia concentration. Further comprehensive molecular analysis revealed that diverse M ethanoculleus species dominated in the reactors at a given ammonia level at different OLR. The acetogenic community was clearly affected by both ammonia concentration and OLR, suggesting that the volatile fatty acid load in relation to the higher OLR was important for the dynamics of this community.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4767286
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-47672862016-03-24 Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate Moestedt, Jan Müller, Bettina Westerholm, Maria Schnürer, Anna Microb Biotechnol Research Articles Biogas production from nitrogen‐rich feedstock results in release of ammonia (NH(3)), causing inhibition of the microbial process. The reported threshold ammonia value for stable biogas production varies greatly between studies, probably because of differences in operating conditions. Moreover, it is often difficult to separate the effect of ammonia inhibition from that of organic loading rate (OLR), as these two factors are often interrelated. This study attempted to distinguish the effects of ammonia and OLR by analysis of two laboratory‐scale biogas reactors operating with thin stillage and subjected to an increase in free ammonia (from 0.30 to 1.1 g L(−1)) either by addition of an external nitrogen source (urea) or by increasing the OLR (3.2–6.0 g volatile solids L(−1) d(−1)). The results showed that ammonia concentration was detrimental for process performance, with the threshold for stability in both processes identified as being about 1 g NH3‐N L (−1), irrespective of OLR. Analysis of the methanogenic community showed limited differences between the two reactors on order level and a clear increase in the abundance of M ethanomicrobiales, particularly M ethanoculleus sp., in response to increasing ammonia concentration. Further comprehensive molecular analysis revealed that diverse M ethanoculleus species dominated in the reactors at a given ammonia level at different OLR. The acetogenic community was clearly affected by both ammonia concentration and OLR, suggesting that the volatile fatty acid load in relation to the higher OLR was important for the dynamics of this community. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2015-12-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4767286/ /pubmed/26686366 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12330 Text en © 2015 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Moestedt, Jan
Müller, Bettina
Westerholm, Maria
Schnürer, Anna
Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
title Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
title_full Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
title_fullStr Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
title_full_unstemmed Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
title_short Ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
title_sort ammonia threshold for inhibition of anaerobic digestion of thin stillage and the importance of organic loading rate
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4767286/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26686366
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12330
work_keys_str_mv AT moestedtjan ammoniathresholdforinhibitionofanaerobicdigestionofthinstillageandtheimportanceoforganicloadingrate
AT mullerbettina ammoniathresholdforinhibitionofanaerobicdigestionofthinstillageandtheimportanceoforganicloadingrate
AT westerholmmaria ammoniathresholdforinhibitionofanaerobicdigestionofthinstillageandtheimportanceoforganicloadingrate
AT schnureranna ammoniathresholdforinhibitionofanaerobicdigestionofthinstillageandtheimportanceoforganicloadingrate