Using Pulsed Electric Field Pre-treatment to Improve Methane Production

The efficiency of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process mostly depends on the bioavailability of the organic solids. Through specific pre-treatments of the substrate the AD process will convert the organic solids better and faster. Laboratory-scale batch AD tests were run to analyze the influence of pulsed electric fields on the methane production from pig slurry (PS), landfill leachate (LL) and fruit/vegetable waste (FVW). The results were compared with untreated samples (control). Methane production of the PS and LL compared to the control was significantly increased up to 50 and 48%, respectively, with the highest intensity (180 kJ/kg). The result of PEF pre-treatment on FVW showed that lowest intensity (54 kJ/kg) was the intensity by which the highest amount of methane (up to 13%) was achieved. Chemical oxygen demand removals were increased up to 45, 100 and 17% for PS, LL and FVW, respectively, compared to the control.