title: Methane production in a 100-L upflow bioreactor by anaerobic digestion of farm waste.
abstract: Manure waste from dairy farms has been used for methane production for decades, however, problems such as digester failure are routine. The problem has been investigated in small scale (1-2 L) digesters in the laboratory; however, very little scale-up to intermediate scales are available. We report production of methane in a 100-L digester and the results of an investigation into the effect of partial mixing induced by gas upflow/recirculation in the digester. The digester was operated for a period of about 70 d (with 16-d hydraulic retention time) with and without the mixing induced by gas recirculation through an internal draft tube. The results show a clear effect of mixing on digester operation. Without any mixing, the digester performance deteriorated within 30-50 d, whereas with mixing continuous production of methane was observed. This study demonstrates the importance of mixing and its critical role in design of large scale anaerobic digesters.
authors.affiliation: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6226, USA.
authors.forename: Abhijeet P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Borole
authors.forename: K Thomas
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Klasson
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ridenour
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: Khursheed
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karim
authors.forename: Muthanna H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Al-Dahhan
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000378:metabolism*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology*; D008697:Methane / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D008372:Manure; D008697:Methane