Evaluation of Microbial Population Dynamics in Anaerobic Digesters during Stable Operation, Reactor Failure and Performance Recovery

利用农业和工业废液作为厌氧生物反应器系统的原料，已成为一种很有前途的增值产品合成技术。将来自食品加工和生物燃料生产行业的动物粪便和废物转化为具有商业价值的生物产品(如沼气)可服务于环境回收、可再生燃料生产、温室气体减排和经济发展的多个目标。农业和工业废物的厌氧共消化在加拿大是一个正在发展的行业，具有显著扩张的潜力。厌氧消化器的长期挑战之一是面对不同的原料质量时的系统稳定性，以确保可靠的能源供应和不间断的运行。有毒、有机或水力过载可能导致工艺不稳定。导致毒性超载的因素包括有毒化合物(抗菌消毒剂、抗生素)意外溢出到进水中，而可变的进料浓度、过多的固体含量或停留时间不足可能导致有机超负荷。因此，为了避免天然气生产崩溃，消化器通常不会以其最大设计能力运行。需要更好地了解厌氧消化中涉及的复杂过程，以提高过程的稳定性、监控和整体效率。

The co-utilization of agricultural and industrial waste streams as feedstock for anaerobic bioreactor systems has emerged as a promising technology for value-added product synthesis. Conversion of animal manures and waste streams originating from food processing and biofuel production industries to commercially important bio-products (such as biogas) serves multiple goals of environmental reclamation, renewable fuel production, greenhouse gas mitigation, and economic development. Anaerobic co-digestion of agricultural and industrial wastes is a growing industry in Canada with potential for significant expansion. One of the enduring challenges of anaerobic digesters is system stability in the face of varying feedstock quality to ensure reliable energy supplies and uninterrupted operations. Process instability can be caused by toxic, organic, or hydraulic overload. Factors leading to toxic overload include accidental spillage of toxic compounds (antimicrobial disinfectants, antibiotics) into the influent, while variable feed consistency, excessive solids content or insufficient retention time can lead to organic overload. Consequently, digesters are usually not operated at their maximum design capacity in order to avoid collapse of gas production. A better understanding of the complex processes involved in anaerobic digestion is needed to improve process stability, monitoring and overall efficiency.