Single bubble probe atomic force microscope and impinging-jet technique unravel the interfacial interactions controlled by long chain fatty acid in anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion of lipid-rich wastewater generally suffers from foaming induced by long chain fatty acid (LCFA). However, a systematic understanding of LCFA inhibition, especially the physical inhibition on interfacial interaction still remains unclear. Here, we combined bubble probe atomic force microscope and impinging-jet technique to unravel the interfacial interactions controlled by long chain fatty acids in anaerobic digestion. We showed that LCFA had a significant inhibition on methane production in anaerobic reactors for the inhibition of the conversion of VFAs to methane. By measuring the LCFA influence on methanogenic archaea Meth-anosarcina acetivorans C2A, the results demonstrated that methanogenesis was limited for substrates utilization but not metabolic pathways. The impinging-jet technique results indicated that LCFA enhanced bubble sepa-ration from anaerobic granules and reduced the bubble-bubble coalescence probability. In addition, the bubble probe atomic force microscope (AFM) revealed that LCFA enhanced the adhesion force between bubbles by enhancing electrical double layer (EDL) repulsion and decreasing hydrophobic interactions. Overall, these results complement framework of LCFA inhibition in anerobic digestion and provide a nanomechanical insight into the fundamental interfacial interactions related to bubbles in anaerobic reactors.

Automated summary

The inhibition of methane production in anaerobic digestion by long chain fatty acids (LCFA) is mainly caused by the limitation of VFAs conversion to methane. It was found that LCFA enhances the adhesion force between bubbles by increasing electrical double layer (EDL) repulsion and decreasing hydrophobic interactions, which leads to enhanced bubble separation from anaerobic granules and reduced bubble-bubble coalescence probability.