Monitoring of two-stage anaerobic biodegradation using a BOD biosensor

A previously developed biosensor for fast estimation of short-term biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(st)) was used for off-line monitoring of intermediate products from the initial step of an anaerobic process in laboratory scale. Good agreement was generally achieved between the results from the biosensor method and the conventional 5-day test except for samples with high content of organic polymers. During the period of agreement between the measurement principles, good correlation was achieved between the biogas production rate and the organic loading rate. The results from this study demonstrate that BOD(st) can be a successful monitoring parameter to achieve a better process control.