Abstract:
Given the issue that food waste tends to accumulate propionic acid during anaerobic digestion in low-frequency feeding modes, leading to system instability, this study used sodium propionate as the sole carbon source to domesticate and enrich propionic acid methanogenic bacteria in a semi-continuous feeding mode. Different feeding frequencies (100, 200, 300 and 450 mL/d, daily, every 2, 3 and 4.5 days, respectively) were employed. The results showed that the anaerobic digestion system enriched propionic acid methanogens with a semi-continuous feeding mode with 100, 200, 300 and 450 mL of feed every 2, 3 and 4.5 d. The effects of different feeding frequencies on the changes in gas production, TAN concentration, volatile fatty acid, and other components as well as the structure of the microbial community were investigated. The system effectively handled a large propionic acid load (1.5 g/(L·d) period), with an average daily methane production of 409.82 mL, outperforming other feeding frequencies. Comparing the kinetic characteristics of each group, the hysteresis time of the propionic acid anaerobic digestion system decreased with increasing feed frequency within the tested parameters. Analysis of microbial community structure revealed that the relative abundance of genera responsible for propionic acid oxidation increased from 5.19% to 13.55%, 13.64%, 9.31% and 8.41% in groups of R1, R2, R3 and R4, respectively, by day 60. The relative abundance of the hydrogenotrophic methanogenic bacterium
Methanoculleus was also assessed, with
Methanoculleus hydrophilicus showing relative abundances of 33.63%, 29.96%, 41.77% and 41.47% in R1, R2, R3 and R4 anaerobic groups, respectively. The study demonstrates that the anaerobic digestion systems with feeding frequencies of 2, 3 and 4.5 days effective promote the enrichment and retention of propionic acid methanogens under larger transient propionic acid loads compared to daily feeding, and the promotion of the feed system every 2 or 3 days was superior after a comprehensive evaluation.