Hydraulic retention time and pressure affect anaerobic digestion process treating synthetic glucose wastewater

Abstract

High-pressure anaerobic digestion (HPAD) can directly upgrade biogas (CH4 content to 90 %) within a reactor. Understanding of how HPAD-related microbiomes are constructed by operational parameters (hydraulic retention time (HRT) and pressure) and their interactions within the biochemical process remain underexplored. In this study, an HPAD reactor was operated at five different HRT (from 40 to 13 d), with pressure around 10–13 bar. In HPAD, pressure was the driving force behind CH4 content. Low HRTs (13–20 d) for HPAD led to volatile fatty acids accumulation, which occurred earlier than that in normal-pressure digestion. HRT mainly affected the archaeal community, whereas pressure mostly affected the bacterial community. Hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanobacterium prevailed at low HRTs (13–20 d). When operating continuous HPAD, attention should be paid to HRT optimization, as low HRTs (e.g., 13 d) impaired the activity of CH4-synthesizing enzyme Methyl-coenzyme M reductase.