Abstract
This study is the initial phase of an investigation designed to supply criteria for combining various agricultural wastes to produce maximum methane per unit volume of an anaerobic digester. The parameter investigated for establishing proper mixtures of manure and carbonaceous waste was the ‘available-carbon to nitrogen’ ratio (C:N). Available-carbon was defined as the total organic carbon minus the lignin carbon. Six four-litre laboratory digesters were operated for 11 months. Screened dairy cow manure, which had a C:N ratio of 8·0, was combined with glucose and later in the experiment, cellulose, to obtain C:N ratios varying between 8·0 and 51·7. The loading rate was also varied: 1·0, 1·5 and 2·0 kg Volatile Solids m −3 day −1. With an increasing feed C:N ratio, the concentration of methane in the digester gas decreased (e.g. C: N = 8, CH 4 = 67%; C: N = 51·7, CH 4 = 51·7%). The greatest methane production per unit loading rate occurred when the C:N ratio of the feed was 25.
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