Effects of sludge inoculum and organic feedstock on active microbial communities and methane yield during anaerobic digestion.

ABSTRACT: Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a widespread microbial technology used to treat organic waste and recover energy in the form of methane ("biogas"). While most AD systems have been designed to treat a single input, mixtures of digester sludge and solid organic waste are emerging as a means to improve efficiency and methane yield. We examined laboratory anaerobic cultures of AD sludge from two sources amended with food waste, xylose, and xylan at mesophilic temperatures, and with cellulose at meso- and thermophilic temperatures, to determine whether and how the inoculum and substrate affect biogas yield and community composition. All substrate and inoculum combinations yielded methane, with food waste most productive by mass. Pyrosequencing of transcribed bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA showed t

SUBMITTER: Wilkins D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4602121 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature