Stable operation during pilot-scale anaerobic digestion of nutrient-supplemented maize/sugar beet silage

Biogas production from maize/sugar beet silage was studied under mesophilic conditions in a continuous stirred tank reactor pilot-scale process. While energy crop mono-digestion is often performed with very long hydraulic retention times (HRTs), the present study demonstrated an efficient process operating with a 50-day HRT and a corrected total solids (TScorr) based organic loading rate of 3.4 kg/m3 d. The good performance was attributed to supplementation with both macro- and micronutrients and was evidenced by good methane yields (318 m3/ton TScorr), which were comparable to laboratory maximum expected yields, plus low total volatile fatty acid concentrations (<0.8 g/L). A viscoplastic and thixotropic digester fluid behaviour was observed, and the viscosity problems common in crop mono-digestion were not seen in this study. The effluent also complied with Swedish certification standards for bio-fertilizer for farmland application. Nutrient addition thus rendered a stable biogas process, while the effluent was a good quality bio-fertilizer.