Vol. 24, No. 2 (2025), IA25488 https://doi.org/10.24275/rmiq/IA25488

Changes in microbial diversity and methane yield caused by overloading in systems of chicken litter, microalgae oil-free and glycerol in co-digestion

 

Authors

G. Hernández-Eugenio, T. Espinosa-Solares, C. López-Ortiz, J. C. Meneses-Reyes, T. G. Ochoa-Bernal

Abstract

The objective of this study was to observe the response of chicken litter (CL), oil-free microalgae (M), and glycerol (G) in disturbed systems with organic loading rate (OLR) in mono, and co-digestion. To elucidate the impact of the OLR on the methane yield, Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs), and microbial communities. In this study, 3 treatments were performed CL, CL-M, CL-M-G, in different ratios 100: 0: 0 (CL), 70:30:0 (CL-M) y 67:30:3 (CL-M-G) which were based on the best substrates with the highest Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) reported in our previous research. Our results indicated that the CL-M system had the highest methane yield (12,481.16 mL CH4 gvs added-1) and a lower production of VFAs (70,842.07 mg L-1) compared with the CL and CL-M-G systems. In addition, the microbial analysis revealed that each methanogen was more related to a system, Methanoculleus to the CL system, Methanosarcina to the CL-M system, and Methanothrix to the CL-M-G system. Although the systems were disturbed, did not inhibit the anaerobic digestion (AD). These findings have shown that disturbances acidify the environment, reduce the abundance of bacteria, and promote methane production in the hydrogenotrophic pathway.

Keywords

Disturbances; Organic loading rate; Mesophilic; Chicken litter; Microbial diversity; Methane yield.

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