Modelling anaerobic digestion in a biogas reactor: ADM1 model development with lactate as an intermediate (Part I)

The Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1) was extended to include lactate, a crucial metabolic product during sugar fermentation. This study tests the validity of the modified ADM1 model in improving the predictions of a standard biogas reactor. This reactor was prepared in the laboratory with simple organic substrates with an intention to represent an 'average biogas plant'. Kinetic parameters were determined from a lactic acid enriched steady-state reactor. The parameters were adjusted further in order to acquire satisfying simulation results systematically with the batch experiments and then against the standard biogas reactor. Arresting methanogenesis revealed that lactate degradation occurred majorly via acetate followed by propionate, and a non-negligible proportion of butyrate too was found, which were further updated in the model. The modified ADM1 provided a successful correlation with the experimental results for the batch and continuous experiments. We justified that inclusion of lactate in the model resulted in optimized simulation for both biogas and methane content in the standard biogas reactor.