Abstract
This work investigated the degradation of propionic acid (PA) and its influence on anaerobic digestion (AD) at laboratory scale and in full scale. First, an increase in PA concentration was induced by adding PA at the laboratory scale and at full scale. Second, an internal increase was provoked in a full-scale plant by straining feeding. It was found that high PA concentrations correlated with a deterioration of the other process indicators, such as the ratio of volatile organic acids to total inorganic carbon (VOA/TIC) and pH. However, a sudden PA addition to a mismatched process affected process stability more than the addition to a matched process. Further, it was found that the addition of slurry and quasi-continuous feeding stabilized the biogas process in the full-scale plant. The knowledge gained will help to improve AD simulation models and provide plant operators with solutions in case of process disturbances.
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