Abstract
This study focuses on the influence of sodium hydroxide pretreatment on anaerobic digestion of pig faeces using either sheep rumen liquor or anaerobic digester mixed liquor as the inoculum. Pretreatment with sodium hydroxide improved the anaerobic digestion of pig faeces resulting in a higher volume of gas produced and a faster rate of gas production. Using sheep rumen microorganisms as inoculum resulted in a fast rate of reactivity, but the total amount of gas produced and the estimated methane content were both comparatively low. The reverse was found to be true for the anaerobic digester microorganisms. A pH close to 7.0 was essential for the growth of both types of microorganisms. A buffer was essential to maintain this pH in the case of the rumen microorganisms. Sodium toxicity became significant when the concentration of sodium in the digester mixtures approached 0.2 M. Potassium additions alleviated such toxicity. The maximum gas production (568 ml/g organic matter) was obtained by pretreating the faeces with 7 g NaOH/100 g dry matter and using anaerobic digester mixed liquor as inoculum without the use of buffer solution.
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