Mesophilic condition is more conducive to methane production yield and tylosin removal on tylosin fermentation dreg anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of antibiotic fermentation dreg is effective because of its satisfactory methanogenic performance and antibiotic removal rate. Thermophilic AD, an important branch, has not been studied. This study explored the effects of mesophilic and thermophilic AD on tylosin fermentation dreg (TFD) alone-digestion and co-digestion with food waste. The methane production (245-420 mL/g-VS) of mesophilic AD was 20.7%- 28.6% higher than thermophilic AD, but the maximum methane production rate (RM), lag period (lambda), and hydrolysis rate constant (kh) of thermophilic AD were 1.81, 0.236 and 3.16 times higher than those of mesophilic AD, respectively. However, the residual tylosin in mesophilic AD was always higher than that in thermophilic AD. The addition of food waste increased the methane production rate and yield under both temperature conditions. Therefore, due to the higher rate and yield of methane production, mesophilic AD, especially codigestion, is more suitable for the treatment of TFD.

Automated summary

The study found that mesophilic anaerobic digestion is more effective for treating tylosin fermentation dreg, especially when co-digesting with food waste. However, thermophilic anaerobic digestion has higher methane production rate and hydrolysis rate, but lower residual antibiotics. The addition of food waste can enhance methane production rate and yield under both temperature conditions.