Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026

Measuring Biomethane Potential of Food Scrap Waste Anaerobically Co-Digested with Waste-Activated Sludge Using Respirometry
Published on: April 26, 2024
Trace element requirements for stable food waste digestion at elevated ammonia concentrations
Charles J Banks1, Yue Zhang, Ying Jiang
1Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. cjb@soton.ac.uk
Abstract:
The work investigated why anaerobic digesters treating food waste and operating at high ammonia concentrations suffer from propionic acid accumulation which may result in process failure. The results showed deficiency of selenium, essential for both propionate oxidation and syntrophic hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, leads to this while supplementation allows operation at substantially higher organic loading rates (OLR). At high loadings cobalt also becomes limiting, due to its role either in acetate oxidation in a reverse Wood-Ljungdahl or in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. Population structure analysis using fluorescent in situ hybridization showed only hydrogenotrophic methanogens. Critical Se and Co concentrations were established as 0.16 and 0.22 mg kg(-1) fresh matter feed at moderate loading. At this dosage the OLR could be raised to 5 g VS l(-1) day(-1) giving specific and volumetric biogas productions of 0.75 m(3) kg(-1) VS(added) and 3.75 STP m(3) m(-3) day(-1), representing a significant increase in process performance and operational stability.
Related Concept Videos
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this nitrogen...
2° Amines to N-Nitrosamines: Reaction with NaNO2
Comparative Excretory Systems
Amino Acid Catabolism

