IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i12p3120-d1678578.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Process Performance and Biogas Output: Impact of Fluctuating Acetate Concentrations on Methanogenesis in Horizontal Anaerobic Reactors

Author

Listed:
  • Jovale Vincent Tongco

    (Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr, Moscow, ID 83844, USA)

  • Md Abu Hanifa Jannat

    (Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea)

  • Sangmin Kim

    (Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea)

  • Sang Hyeok Park

    (Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea)

  • Seokhwan Hwang

    (Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
    Institute for Convergence Research and Education in Advanced Technology (I-CREATE), Yonsei University, 85 Songdogwahak-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 21983, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

The influence of introducing fluctuations in acetate feeding concentrations on the process stability of a lab-scale horizontal anaerobic reactor (HAR) was investigated to ascertain its effects on acetoclastic methanogenesis. Acetate concentrations were randomized at 85 g COD/L ± 20% and discontinuously fed in the duplicate HARs for five days per week (giving the system time to rest and equilibrate for two days). The reactors were monitored daily with respect to performance indicators (physicochemical variables). The residual acetate concentration was observed to fluctuate at the initial stages, followed by a converging trend (decrease in variance) until the end of operation. Furthermore, letting the system self-neutralize and equilibrate during rest days resulted in improved process performance. The daily acetate degradation efficiency at ~90% and methane concentration at ~60% were attained after operating the reactors for 80 days. The results divulged that introducing fluctuations in acetate feeding concentrations does not affect the stability of biogas production and methane concentration. The acclimatization of the methanogenic population (predominantly Methanosaeta, then shifting to Methanosarcina ) was also observed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jovale Vincent Tongco & Md Abu Hanifa Jannat & Sangmin Kim & Sang Hyeok Park & Seokhwan Hwang, 2025. "Process Performance and Biogas Output: Impact of Fluctuating Acetate Concentrations on Methanogenesis in Horizontal Anaerobic Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:12:p:3120-:d:1678578
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/12/3120/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/12/3120/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chan, Pak Chuen & de Toledo, Renata Alves & Shim, Hojae, 2018. "Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and domestic wastewater – Effect of intermittent feeding on short and long chain fatty acids accumulation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 129-135.
    2. Willeghems, Gwen & Buysse, Jeroen, 2016. "Changing old habits: The case of feeding patterns in anaerobic digesters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 212-221.
    3. Seung Gu Shin & Sang Hyeok Park & Seokhwan Hwang, 2022. "Substrate Characteristics Fluctuations in Full-Scale Anaerobic Digesters Treating Food Waste at Marginal Organic Loading Rates: A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-9, May.
    4. Bi, Shaojie & Wang, Chunshuang & Wang, Haipeng & Du, Yanli & Yu, Xinhui & Wang, Yanjie, 2024. "Comparison of mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste: Focusing on methanogenic performance and pathogens removal," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. A. Sinan Akturk & Goksel N. Demirer, 2020. "Improved Food Waste Stabilization and Valorization by Anaerobic Digestion Through Supplementation of Conductive Materials and Trace Elements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-11, June.
    2. Dandikas, Vasilis & Heuwinkel, Hauke & Lichti, Fabian & Eckl, Thomas & Drewes, Jörg E. & Koch, Konrad, 2018. "Correlation between hydrolysis rate constant and chemical composition of energy crops," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 34-42.
    3. Willeghems, Gwen & Buysse, Jeroen, 2019. "Improving the profitability of anaerobic digestion: is the public support framework compatible with participation in the day-ahead electricity market?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 560-572.
    4. Zhen, Guangyin & Pan, Yang & Lu, Xueqin & Li, Yu-You & Zhang, Zhongyi & Niu, Chengxin & Kumar, Gopalakrishnan & Kobayashi, Takuro & Zhao, Youcai & Xu, Kaiqin, 2019. "Anaerobic membrane bioreactor towards biowaste biorefinery and chemical energy harvest: Recent progress, membrane fouling and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    5. Du, Haixia & Shao, Zongping, 2022. "Synergistic effects between solid potato waste and waste activated sludge for waste-to-power conversion in microbial fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    6. Yong Hu & Haiyuan Ma & Jiang Wu & Takuro Kobayashi & Kai-Qin Xu, 2022. "Performance Comparison of CSTR and CSFBR in Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste with Grease Trap Waste," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-11, November.
    7. Van Dael, Miet & Kreps, Sabine & Virag, Ana & Kessels, Kris & Remans, Koen & Thomas, Denis & De Wilde, Fabian, 2018. "Techno-economic assessment of a microbial power-to-gas plant – Case study in Belgium," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 416-425.
    8. Bi, Shaojie & Guo, Lili & Wang, Haipeng & Yu, Xinhui & Wei, Fangtong & Lei, Lifan & Zhao, Changjiang & Wang, Yanjie, 2025. "Performance of mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste at varying organic loading rate: Methane production, pathogens reduction, and dominant microbial community dynamics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    9. Morero, Betzabet & Montagna, Agustín F. & Campanella, Enrique A. & Cafaro, Diego C., 2020. "Optimal process design for integrated municipal waste management with energy recovery in Argentina," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 2626-2636.
    10. Al Afif, Rafat & Linke, Bernd, 2019. "Biogas production from three-phase olive mill solid waste in lab-scale continuously stirred tank reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1046-1052.
    11. De Coster, Jonas & Liu, Jia & Van den Broeck, Rob & Rossi, Barbara & Dewil, Raf & Appels, Lise, 2020. "Influence of electrochemical advanced oxidation on the long-term operation of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor treating 4-chlorophenol containing wastewater," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 683-692.
    12. Abbas, Tahir & Ali, Ghaffar & Adil, Sultan Ali & Bashir, Muhammad Khalid & Kamran, Muhammad Asif, 2017. "Economic analysis of biogas adoption technology by rural farmers: The case of Faisalabad district in Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 431-439.
    13. Bedoić, Robert & Špehar, Ana & Puljko, Josip & Čuček, Lidija & Ćosić, Boris & Pukšec, Tomislav & Duić, Neven, 2020. "Opportunities and challenges: Experimental and kinetic analysis of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and rendering industry streams for biogas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    14. Sarker, Swati Anindita & Wang, Shouyang & Adnan, K.M. Mehedi & Sattar, M. Nahid, 2020. "Economic feasibility and determinants of biogas technology adoption: Evidence from Bangladesh," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:12:p:3120-:d:1678578. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.