Acidogenic and Methanogenic Activities of Biowaste Anaerobic Sludge Under Different Length of Storage Time
Satoto E. Nayono (a*), Norhafezah binti Kasmuri (b), and Suwartanti Nayono (a)

a) Deparment of Civil Engineering and Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia
*) satoto.nayono[at]uny.ac.id
b) School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Abstract

During a new start-up or regular maintenance of an anaerobic reactor for biowaste, the anaerobic sludge (as an inoculum) is stored in different containers (not in the reactor). To reduce the costs, the storage of the anaerobic sludge is mostly carried out at ambient temperature and not exclusively under anaerobic conditions. After the startup or re-startup, the anaerobic sludge needs time to regain its activity to degrade organic matters from biowaste. The objectives of this research are to examine the methanogenic activity of the anaerobic sludge that has been stored at room temperature for different length of storage time and to determine the acid formation profile of the different substrates such as different types of carbohydrates and organic waste to evaluate the reactivation process of the anaerobic sludge. From this research, some conclusions can be drawn such as unstrictly anaerobic storage at ambient temperature is not really a problem for anaerobic sludge. Although loss of activity is to be expected, the aerobic condition does not totally hinder the activity of the sludge even with longer storage time. There are considerable differences in the substrate used in the re-startup of anaerobic reactor. From the substrates used in this experiment, glucose and organic waste gave the highest methanogenic activity.

Keywords: methanogenic activity, acidogenic activity, anaerobic reactor, anaerobic sludge, startup

Topic: The Role of Education in Global Warming and Climate Change Mitigation