Transition of microbial communities and degradation pathways in anaerobic digestion at decreasing retention time

Tuning of operational variables is a common practice to control the anaerobic digestion process and, in advanced applications, to promote the accumulation of fermentation products. However, process variables are interrelated. In this study, the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was decoupled from the organic loading rate (OLR) in order to isolate the effect of HRT as a selective pressure on: process performance, metabolic rates (hydrolytic, acetogenic, and methanogenic) and the microbial community. Four mesophilic anaerobic digesters were subjected to a sequential decrease in HRT from 15 to 8, 4 and 2 days while keeping the OLR constant at chemical oxygen demand of 1 gCOD L r−1 d−1. The results showed that HRT alone was insufficient to washout methanogens from the digesters, which in turn prevented the accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA). Methanosaeta was the dominant genus in the four digesters at all HRTs. Metabolic rates showed that process performance was controlled by hydrolysis, with a clear shift in acetogenic rates, from butyrate and propionate degradation to ethanol degradation at 4 and 2d HRT. The change in acetogenic pathways was attributed to a shift in the fermentation pathways co-current with changes in fermentative bacteria. At 2d HRT, biofilm was formed on the walls and paddles of the digesters, probably as a survival strategy. Most of the taxa in the biofilm were also present in the digester media. Overall, it is the combination of HRT with other operational parameters which promotes the washout of methanogens and the accumulation of VFA.