Impact of feeding and stirring regimes on the internal stratification of microbial communities in the fermenter of anaerobic digestion plants

Robert Heyer; Johanna Klang; Patrick Hellwig; Kay Schallert; Philipp Kress; Benedikt Huelsemann; Susanne Theuerl; Udo Reichl; Dirk Benndorf

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123679

Impact of feeding and stirring regimes on the internal stratification of microbial communities in the fermenter of anaerobic digestion plants

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Oct:314:123679. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123679. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

Authors

Robert Heyer¹, Johanna Klang², Patrick Hellwig³, Kay Schallert⁴, Philipp Kress⁵, Benedikt Huelsemann⁶, Susanne Theuerl⁷, Udo Reichl⁸, Dirk Benndorf⁹

Affiliations

¹ Otto von Guericke University, Bioprocess Engineering, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department Bioengineering, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Otto von Guericke University, Bioprocess Engineering, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Otto von Guericke University, Bioprocess Engineering, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstraße 9, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstraße 9, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Department Bioengineering, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Bioprocess Engineering, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany; Otto von Guericke University, Bioprocess Engineering, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Bioprocess Engineering, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32629381
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123679

Abstract

In anaerobic digestion plants (ADs), homogenization of the feed, fermenter content and microbial communities is crucial for efficient and robust biogas production. However, mixing also requires a significant amount of energy. For an 850 m³ agricultural AD equipped with eight sampling ports, we investigated whether different feeding and stirring regimes enable a sufficient homogenization of the microbial community using metaproteomics and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis. Systematic comparison of samples taken at the top and the bottom as well as at the rim and the center of the AD using scatter plots and students t-test revealed only a small number of differences in metaproteins, taxonomies and biological processes. Obviously, the applied stirring and feeding conditions were sufficient to largely homogenize the content of the AD.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Biogas; Metaproteomics; Microbial communities; Stirring; TRFLP.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Biofuels
Bioreactors*
Microbiota*
Plants

Substances

Biofuels