Turf as rapid start-up of thermophilic anaerobic digestion

Suwannoppadol, S., Cord-Ruwisch, R. and Ho, G.ORCID: 0000-0001-9190-8812 (2013) Turf as rapid start-up of thermophilic anaerobic digestion. In: Wong JWC, Tyagi RD, Nelles M, Ammaiyappan S (Eds) Proceedings of International Conference on Solid Waste, 5 - 9 May, Hong Kong pp. 300-302.

Abstract

Start-up of thermophilic anaerobic digestion is a critical process due to lack of readily available inoculum. This paper reports on the use of turf, which is readily available as an inoculum, for start-up thermophilic anaerobic digestion. Results show that anaerobic process seeded with turf produced methane at 0.3 L/L/day after four days of incubation at 55˚C. Furthermore, acetate degradation took place and indicates that acetoclastic methanogens were present. Possible origins of thermophilic methanogens present in turf were investigated. Results show evidence of methane production from the incubation with biomass from groundwater. This implies that groundwater used for irrigation would be one of the thermophilic methanogenic sources present in grass lawn. In conclusion methanogens in turf can be an inoculum for the start-up of thermophilic anaerobic digestion.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Engineering and Information Technology
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/21865

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