A study of the kinetics and the effect of trace elements on mixed anaerobic fermentative biogas production by ternary quadratic general rotary unitized design

In this study the effect of trace elements on methanogenesis was investigated during mixed anaerobic fermentation using a single-factor experiment in the present study. The most effective concentrations of Fe0, Fe2+, Co2+ and Ni2+ that were added were 1500, 250, 0.3 and 0.6 mg/L, respectively. The optimal trace element combination was 0.58 mg/L Ni2+, 1200 mg/L Fe0 and 0.34 mg/L Co2+ by the ternary quadratic general rotary unitized design method. The degree of influence exerted by trace elements on the cumulative methane yields decreased in the order of Ni2+, Fe0 and Co2+, and the maximum CH4 yield was 241.6 mL/g volatile solids (VS), according to a regression equation. The non-dissolved organic carbon hydrolytic process showed a good fit with the first-order kinetic model. The maximum value of CH4 was 312.87 mL/g VS. Compared to the control, the bioconversion efficiencies of CH4 and CO2 production increased by 36.76% and 74.50%, respectively, at the optimal trace element combination. The obtained results provide new knowledge for improvements in the efficiency of anaerobic fermentation biogas production.