Comparison of One-Phase and Two-Phase Anaerobic Digestion Processes in Characteristics of Substrate Degradation and Bacterial Population Levels

Abstract

The comparison of one-phase and two-phase anaerobic digestion processes in the characteristics of substrate degradation and the bacterial population levels was investigated by using the chemostat-type reactors to which starch was fed as substrate when both processes were operated under the same experimental conditions. By decreasing the SRTs of both systems from 10.2 d to 5 d, 2.5 d and 1.75 d. it was found that the two-phase system was more stable to the change in pH than one-phase system. The CH4 recovery rates and COD removal rates in the two-phase system increased by 4 to 9% and 3 to 10%. respectively, although the CH4 recovery rate and the COD removal rate in the one-phase system were slightly higher than those in the two-phase system at the SRT of 10.2 d. The concentration of propionate in the effluent of the one-phase system was 30 to 50% higher than that in the two-phase system; while the concentrations of acetate and butyrate in the one-phase system were slightly lower than those in the two-phase one. The enumeration of the bacteria was performed by the MPN method. The population levels of acidogenic bacteria in both systems were in the same order (108 to 1010 MPN/ml). the population levels of hydrogenotrophs were also in the same order as the acidogenic bacteria in the two-phase system, while the population levels of hydrogenotrophs were 10 to 100 fold less than that of acidogenic bacteria in the one-phase system. The number of HAc-utilizing methanogens in the methanogenesis of the two-phase system were 2 to 10 times higher than that in the one-phase system. Therefore, the one-phase system cannot be regarded simply as the sum of acidogenesis and methanogenesis.