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Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Continuously-stirred Anaerobic Digester to Convert Organic Wastes into Biogas: System Setup and Basic Operation
Published on: July 13, 2012
Effects of trace element addition on process stability during anaerobic co-digestion of OFMSW and slaughterhouse
J Moestedt1, E Nordell2, S Shakeri Yekta3
1Department of R&D Biogas, Tekniska verken i Linköping AB, SE-581 15 Linköping, Sweden; Department of Microbiology, BioCenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; Biogas Research Center, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden.
Abstract:
This study used semi-continuous laboratory scale biogas reactors to simulate the effects of trace-element addition in different combinations, while degrading the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and slaughterhouse waste. The results show that the combined addition of Fe, Co and Ni was superior to the addition of only Fe, Fe and Co or Fe and Ni. However, the addition of only Fe resulted in a more stable process than the combined addition of Fe and Co, perhaps indicating a too efficient acidogenesis and/or homoacetogenesis in relation to a Ni-deprived methanogenic population. The results were observed in terms of higher biogas production (+9%), biogas production rates (+35%) and reduced VFA concentration for combined addition compared to only Fe and Ni. The higher stability was supported by observations of differences in viscosity, intraday VFA- and biogas kinetics as well as by the 16S rRNA gene and 16S rRNA of the methanogens.
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