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Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences

Year: 2012 | Volume: 15 | Issue: 23 | Page No.: 1111-1118
DOI: 10.3923/pjbs.2012.1111.1118
Dry Anaerobic Digestion of Cow Dung for Methane Production: Effect of Mixing
Ajay Kumar Jha, Jianzheng Li, Qiaoying Ban, Liguo Zhang and Bowei Zhao

Abstract: The performance characteristics of a dry batch reactor with a blender treating cow dung has been evaluated for 35 days in a single-stage batch reactor of 3 L effective volume at 35±1°C to investigate the effect of continuous-mixing on biogas production and organic materials removal. The results showed that the performance of unmixed and mixed digesters was quite different and the dry digester with mixing system produced methane of 0.358 LCH4/gVSr which was 7.50% higher than that for unmixed digester. Moreover, the organic material removal efficiency was increased by 9.73% in term of VS. The wide diversity of prominent bacteria and methanogenic archaea affiliated with all steps along the anaerobic degradation pathway made the process stable. But the dry digester with mixing system during start up was not beneficial, as it resulted in relatively higher volatile fatty acids, higher volatile fatty acid to alkalinity ratio, lower pH and consequently prolonged start up time.

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How to cite this article
Ajay Kumar Jha, Jianzheng Li, Qiaoying Ban, Liguo Zhang and Bowei Zhao, 2012. Dry Anaerobic Digestion of Cow Dung for Methane Production: Effect of Mixing. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 15: 1111-1118.

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