Modelling anaerobic digestion in an industrial biogas digester: Application of lactate-including ADM1 model (Part II)

ABSTRACT

A modified Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1xp) including lactate was applied to a full-scale biogas plant. This model considers monosaccharides to degrade through lactic acid, which further degrades majorly into acetate followed by propionate and butyrate. Experimental data were derived from the previous works in the same laboratory, and the proposed parameters were validated against batch experiments. After successful validation, the biogas plant bearing a fermenter size of 7 dam³ and operated with food waste and cattle manure was simulated. The biogas production and methane content were reliably simulated, and a good fit could be obtained against the experimental data with an average difference of less than 1%. When compared to the original ADM1 model, the performance of the lactate-incorporated model was found to be improved. Inclusion of lactate as a parameter in the ADM1xp model is recommended for an increased sensitivity and enhanced prediction principally for systems dealing with high carbohydrate and lactate loads.

KEYWORDS:

• ADM1xp
• lactate
• food waste
• cattle manure
• biogas

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Eike Siefert and Dr. Frank Uhlenhut from the EUTEC Institute for their support and guidance. We greatly acknowledge Mrs. Manuela Bayer from the EWE biogas plant for providing us with data and materials from the plant.

Funding

This research was funded by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) and was conducted in Hochschule Emden/Leer in collaboration with Carl von Ossietzky University, Germany.