Oxygen Effects in Anaerobic Digestion - II

Standard models describing bio-gasification using anaerobic digestion do not include necessary processes to describe digester dynamics under the conditions of oxygen presence. Limited oxygenation in anaerobic digestion can sometimes be beneficial. The oxygen effects included anaerobic digestion model, ADM 1-Ox, was simulated against experimental data obtained from laboratory scale anaerobic digesters operated under different oxygenation conditions. ADM 1-Ox predictions are generally in good agreement with the trends of the experimental data. ADM 1-Ox simulations suggest the existence of an optimum oxygenation level corresponding to a peak methane yield. The positive impact of oxygenation on methane yield is more pronounced at conditions characterized by low hydrolysis rate coefficients (slowly degradable feed) and low biomass concentrations. The optimum oxygenation point moves towards zero when the hydrolysis rate coefficient and the biomass concentration increase. Accordingly, the impact of oxygenation on methane yield can either be positive or negative depending on the digestion system characteristics. The developed ADM 1-Ox model can therefore be a valuable tool for recognizing suitable operating conditions for achieving the maximum benefits from partial aeration in anaerobic digestion.