Floating layer formation, foaming, and microbial community structure change in full-scale biogas plant due to disruption of mixing and substrate overloading

Lienen, Tobias; Kleyböcker, Anne; Brehmer, Manuel; Kraume, Matthias; Moeller, Lucie; Görsch, Kati; Würdemann, Hilke

doi:10.1186/2192-0567-3-20

Cited by 25 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Recently, two research papers have been published dealing with foam formation in manure digesters due to organic overloading [12,13]. To our knowledge, there exist only two papers dedicated to foam formation in a full-scale biogas plant treating biogenic waste until now [5,14]. Lienen et al [5] analyzed the formation of floating layer and foam in a full-scale biogas plant treating biogenic waste.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To our knowledge, there exist only two papers dedicated to foam formation in a full-scale biogas plant treating biogenic waste until now [5,14]. Lienen et al [5] analyzed the formation of floating layer and foam in a full-scale biogas plant treating biogenic waste. The authors demonstrated that both phenomena can be reduced by proper stirring and well-controlled substrate feeding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic matter is the core of the overall biogas production process, the main problems of which are over-acidification [3,4], forming of floating layers [5], and excessive foam formation. While the causes of over-acidification and floating layer formation are relatively well understood, the causes of foam formation have remained unidentified to a large extent in practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Foam formation in full-scale biogas plants processing biogenic waste

Moeller

Görsch

2015

Energ Sustain Soc

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Background: The proportion of biogas in the mix of renewable energies is still remarkably high. The process of anaerobic digestion (AD) provides the basis of biogas production but often leads to excessive foaming. Identifying the reasons for foaming is difficult for biogas plant operators because many factors may play a role. It is therefore difficult for laboratory research to give answers to this specific problem, as the consistency of the digestate itself plays a crucial part in the foam formation process. Hence, careful investigation of foaming in full-scale biogas plants is important in order to identify the main causes and to develop strategies for the prevention of foaming.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Foam formation in full-scale biogas plants processing biogenic waste

Moeller

Görsch

2015

Energ Sustain Soc

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“…The VFA/TIC ratio is generally used for routine checking of biogas plants [3] as this method is cheap and simple. This parameter also showed a good predictive ability for process upsets in the case of the over-acidified AD plant described in this paper, as is also shown in Table 3.…”

Section: Process Upset Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there are issues still remaining unclear. The most common upsets of the biogas process are over-acidification [1] as well as the formation of foam [2] and floating layers [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Process upsets in a full-scale anaerobic digestion bioreactor: over-acidification and foam formation during biogas production

Moeller

Zehnsdorf

2016

Energ Sustain Soc

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Background: Biogas plays a worthwhile role as a renewable, storable energy source. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the core process in biogas production. The two most common process upsets that occur during this biotechnological process in practice are over-acidification and foam formation. Several research projects have been carried out so far to identify the causes of these upsets and to develop early warning indicators. However, the relevant laboratory resultshave not yet been verified in practice. Accordingly, the aim of this work was to study the practical application of the published tools in the case of a full-scale biogas plant. Methods: A full-scale AD plant utilizing cattle manure and energy crops was sampled over a period of 12 weeks. During this time, over-acidification and foam formation occurred in the primary digester. Results: The sum of acetate, propionate and butyrate (VFA S ) and the ratios of VFA S to magnesium (VFA S /Mg), calcium (VFA S /Ca), and phosphorus (VFA S /P) were found to be good predictive tools to identify over-acidification for the given AD system. Their values increased by factors of 6 (VFA S /Mg and VFA S /Ca) and 13 (VFA S , VFA S /P) in the early overacidification phase. In contrast, the VFA/TIC ratio, which is a common indicator in practice, increased only by a factor of 2 during this phase. An ammonium-nitrate-urea solution proved to be an effective agent for foam suppression when sugar beet was used as a substrate. Its application showed no negative effect on the daily electricity production and the achieved long-term foam elimination. Conclusions: Several parameters were verified to be able to serve as an early warning indicator of over-acidification, but not one was found to be able to serve as an early warning indicator of foam formation in AD. Further research is needed to identify parameters with predictive potential for indicating foaming in AD.

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