A new method for the fast determination of kinetic parameters in anaerobic digestion processes and application to...

A new method for the fast and efficient determination of the anaerobic degradability and for the calculation of kinetic parameters is proposed. It is based on the idea that monitoring of the acidification step in the anaerobic degradation cascade is sufficient, as the subsequent steps (acetogenesis, methanogenesis) are well known processes dependent on the intermediate concentrations and not on the original substrate used. The investigation of the acidification is subdivided into two steps. In the first step, biomass is adapted to the new substrate in a continuously operated bioreactor. The second step, the only step monitored, is the acidification of the substrate (or wastewater) in a batch experiment. Three different methods to monitor the acidification were tested: gas chromatography (offline), on-line titration and monitoring of the base consumption (direct titration). The results of these methods were compared to "traditional" batch tests. It is shown that the simplest method (direct titration) revealed the most important information. The investigated substrates were selected pollutants of textile wet processing wastewater.