Comparing mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of chicken manure: Microbial community dynamics and process resilience

- Microbial community dynamics and process functional resilience were investigated.
- The threshold of TAN in mesophilic reactor was higher than the thermophilic reactor.
- The recoverable archaeal community dynamic sustained the process resilience.
- Methanosarcina was more sensitive than Methanoculleus on ammonia inhibition.
- TAN and FA effects the dynamic of hydrolytic and acidogenic bacteria obviously.

While methane fermentation is considered as the most successful bioenergy treatment for chicken manure, the relationship between operational performance and the dynamic transition of archaeal and bacterial communities remains poorly understood. Two continuous stirred-tank reactors were investigated under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions feeding with 10%TS. The tolerance of thermophilic reactor on total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) was found to be 8000 mg/L with free ammonia (FA) 2000 mg/L compared to 16,000 mg/L (FA1500 mg/L) of mesophilic reactor. Biomethane production was 0.29 L/gV Sin in the steady stage and decreased following TAN increase. After serious inhibition, the mesophilic reactor was recovered successfully by dilution and washing stratagem compared to the unrecoverable of thermophilic reactor. The relationship between the microbial community structure, the bioreactor performance and inhibitors such as TAN, FA, and volatile fatty acid was evaluated by canonical correspondence analysis. The performance of methanogenic activity and substrate removal efficiency were changed significantly correlating with the community evenness and phylogenetic structure. The resilient archaeal community was found even after serious inhibition in both reactors. Obvious dynamics of bacterial communities were observed in acidogenic and hydrolytic functional bacteria following TAN variation in the different stages.