Impact of bioaugmentation by compost on the performance and ecology of an anaerobic digester fed with energy crops

Performance of thermophilic anaerobic digesters using inoculum mixes with enhanced methanogenic diversity

“…During startup, methane generation was slightly (6%) higher in digester B (366 mL g −1 VS compared with 344 mL g −1 VS in digester A), similar to reported observations by Neumann and Scherer upon adding compost. However, this difference remains within the margin of error of the measurements and the results can be considered comparable.…”

“…Accordingly, the addition of leachate and compost seems to have shifted the microbial community by ∼10% toward acetotrophs. This observation differs from reported findings in mesophilic systems, where the addition of hydrogenotroph‐rich compost resulted, at the end of the experiment, in a shift toward hydrogenotrophic methanogens . However, in this study, the hydrogenotroph‐rich leachate, added to digester B, was 94% dominated by the Methanomicrobiales order, which did not proliferate, presumably because of selective operational conditions and substrate composition.…”

“…(14%) . The addition of the waste compost to a mesophilic digester, inoculated with manure and sewage sludge, induced a shift in the methanogenic community toward hydrogenotrophs and reduced the required hydraulic retention time …”

Perspectives for microbial community composition in anaerobic digestion: from abundance and activity to connectivity

“…In some cases, an unexplained positive or negative effect takes place. For instance, bioaugmentation with compost, which can be considered aerobic, resulted in a minor, but effective increase in methane production and faster start‐up of fodder beet silage digestion (Neumann and Scherer, ). In other cases, the addition of syntrophic bacteria led to an increase in methane production (Cavaleiro et al ., ), while other syntrophic strains could not stabilize or increase methane production (Westerholm et al ., ), despite an apparent similar role in the AD process.…”

Effect of Bioaugmentation on Biogas Yields and Kinetics in Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge

“…This approach has been used for hazardous waste remediation, as well as for the biodegradation of wastewater in wastewater treatment plants and many others biological treatment processes [4]. In aerobic wastewater treatment, bioaugmentation has resulted in more reliable nitrification, biological phosphorous removal, improved sludge settling, enhanced grease degradation, and accelerated transformation of xenobiotic organic contaminants, such as pentachlorophenol [5,6,7,8]. Bioaugmentation has also been studied at laboratory scale to increase the methane production during the anaerobic digestion of animal manure [9], cellulose-rich [10,11], and lipid-rich waste [12] as well as seed biomass [13].…”